diff --git a/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.cpp b/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.cpp
index 8e2801641..6330b0a14 100644
--- a/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.cpp
+++ b/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.cpp
@@ -66,6 +66,16 @@ void LaserScanDisplay::onInitialize()
   point_cloud_common_->initialize(context_, scene_node_);
 }
 
+void LaserScanDisplay::checkTolerance(int tolerance)
+{
+  if (tolerance > 1)
+    setStatus(StatusProperty::Warn, "Scan Time",
+              QString(
+                  "Laser scan time, computed from time_increment * len(ranges), is rather large: %1s.\n"
+                  "The display of any message will be delayed by this amount of time!")
+                  .arg(tolerance));
+}
+
 void LaserScanDisplay::processMessage(const sensor_msgs::LaserScanConstPtr& scan)
 {
   sensor_msgs::PointCloud2Ptr cloud(new sensor_msgs::PointCloud2);
@@ -76,6 +86,7 @@ void LaserScanDisplay::processMessage(const sensor_msgs::LaserScanConstPtr& scan
   {
     filter_tolerance_ = tolerance;
     tf_filter_->setTolerance(filter_tolerance_);
+    checkTolerance(filter_tolerance_.toSec());
   }
 
   try
@@ -105,6 +116,7 @@ void LaserScanDisplay::reset()
 {
   MFDClass::reset();
   point_cloud_common_->reset();
+  checkTolerance(filter_tolerance_.toSec());
 }
 
 } // namespace rviz
diff --git a/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.h b/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.h
index 09bb33b2a..374a812f3 100644
--- a/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.h
+++ b/src/rviz/default_plugin/laser_scan_display.h
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ class LaserScanDisplay : public MessageFilterDisplay<sensor_msgs::LaserScan>
   /** @brief Process a single message.  Overridden from MessageFilterDisplay. */
   void processMessage(const sensor_msgs::LaserScanConstPtr& scan) override;
 
+  /** create a status warning when tolerance is larger than 1s */
+  void checkTolerance(int tolerance);
+
   PointCloudCommon* point_cloud_common_;
 
   laser_geometry::LaserProjection* projector_;
diff --git a/src/rviz/frame_manager.cpp b/src/rviz/frame_manager.cpp
index ce758fcde..eb9c38e33 100644
--- a/src/rviz/frame_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/rviz/frame_manager.cpp
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ std::string FrameManager::discoverFailureReason(const std::string& frame_id,
     }
   }
 
-  return "Unknown reason for transform failure";
+  return "Unknown reason for transform failure (frame=[" + frame_id + "])";
 }
 
 void FrameManager::messageArrived(const std::string& /*frame_id*/,