Spectrum | Screen Flickering Issue

[MarvyMarvz]

Ohayō min’na!

The last couple of weeks has been exciting for you and us here at Eve. We’ve finally announced the glossy version for ES07D03 and ES07D02; the latter has received a free upgrade from 240Hz to 280Hz and with firmware v106 in its final testing stages, looking to be released sometime soon. As you can see, we’ve been swamped making significant improvements to the Spectrum line-up. Moreover, we would like to resolve issues in time for v107, so smooth sailing from here on out.

Some users have reported experiencing flickering and blanking issues. Though it only happens for a small group of users, it is important that we look into this so we can resolve it. To that end, we have set up this topic for people experiencing flickering, as well as its sister topic for people who are experiencing a similar but different issue of blanking.

What do we actually mean by flickering?

When we refer to flickering, we mean that part or all of the screen rapidly flashes or changes color or shows ‘snow’ or any other sort of aberration which would normally be referred to as artifacts. Typically, this lasts for a very short time (ms) but occurs much more frequently than blanking does. If your whole screen is blanking out, we have a separate post for that. Note that the differentiation between blanking and flickering may seem like we’re splitting hairs, but typically blanking affects the entire display, whereas flickering can be partial or full screen.

Does this sound familiar?

If you are experiencing blanking symptoms instead of this, please click here.
If you are experiencing both, please fill out both polls.

NOTE: Please ensure Adaptive-Sync / VRR (depending upon connection type) is enabled in the monitor OSD under Performance > Adaptive-Sync / VRR. Then, enable G-SYNC / FreeSync on your NVIDIA Control Panel / AMD Radeon Settings.

How often are you experiencing flickering?

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always

Device type

• PC / Laptop (Windows)
• Apple Mac (macOS)
• Console (PS / XBox)

Driver version & method of install

• Current (standard install)
• Current (clean install)
• Not current (standard install)
• Not current (clean install)
• Console default

Gaming type

• Fullscreen (console users pick this)
• Windowed fullscreen
• Windowed non fullscreen

GPU

• RTX 30 Series
• RTX 20 Series
• Older Nvidia cards
• AMD 6000 Series
• AMD 5000 Series
• Older AMD cards
• Intel UHD Series
• Intel Iris Xe Series
• Console default GPU

Connection type

• DisplayPort
• HDMI
• USB Type-C / Thunderbolt

This is something that you, the community, have voiced for a couple of months and thanks to @barron, we’ve taken a poll approach to eliminate as many factors as we can and get to the exact cause of the issue. We will be working closely with the firmware team and looking into resolving this.

Peace

[domshyra]

Thanks for making this a poll. This has been a frustrating issue.

[King]

@MarvyMarvz

Driver version & method of install

I’m not quite sure what this is means?

For how often are you experiencing flickering my vote is cast as “never” but if we follow my timeline I went from rarely to often to never all without updating monitor firmware.

I’m perhaps an outlier but when I originally got my Eve Spectrum I rarely experienced flickering to the point that I forgot it was even a thing. But when my PC crashed and I had to do a fresh windows 10 pro install I experienced extremely frequent flickering (and sometimes blanking) even with nvidia drivers updated. I kept monitor at stock firmware (original batch of shipped monitors). All ports on my 3080 FTW3 are in use.

However, when I switched from HDMI to DP (due to setup, I didn’t think it would change anything) I haven’t experienced a single display issue since November 2021.

All my cables are certified full spec DP 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 compatibility. So I thought that was interesting. Figured I’d provide this feedback as you’re gathering more information.

[Cas]

Hi @King,

Thank you so much for your feedback! It goes a long way for our team to try to single out the problem.

@King

@MarvyMarvz

Driver version & method of install

Driver version & method of install refers to the GPU drivers.

1. Standard Install: this type of installation is what usually we define as updating in a traditional sense, since it doesnt require us to uninstall the previous version. We simply update (or replace) the old files with new ones, so to speak.

2. Clean Install: this process involves complete uninstallation of the old driver, then followed by “clean” install of the new driver. Many people who are experiencing problems with their graphics may find a fix this way, so to allow the entire directory of driver data to be fresh and new with no old files leftover. This will prevent any possible clashes.

Since you did a fresh install of windows, then I can safely assume that you did a clean install (although flickering and even blanking still occur in your case until you change your setup)

[King]

Thanks for the explanation.

Prior to doing a clean install of windows 10, I did use DDU to completely uninstall nvidia drivers and then freshly install those Nvidia drivers when I was using HDMI that might have been what allowed my monitor to work great with rarely ever experiencing flickering.

I did do it again with fresh windows install since Nvidia is notorious for bad driver installs. That did not alleviate the problems, like flickering and the blanking was still happening frequently, which sometimes required me to restart my pc.

I also use an A/V receiver and when it turns on Windows refreshes all the monitors I have plugged into my GPU and that is mainly when the blanking would happen in my case but at times it would be when I launch a program or browser window into full screen or if i move browser window from spectrum monitor (that was full screen) to other monitor it would blank out the Spectrum monitor.

I’ll have to eventually switch back to HDMI to see if the problem comes back but as of right now clean windows 10 install + displayport connection has been perfect for me. If you want me to run any test scenarios to help the community just let me know.

[Cas]

Hi @King,

Well noted. Thank you so very much for your feedback!

At the moment we are still tallying up the possible source of problem. In your case, DP works great for you (and clean install). If we need help along the way for test scenarios, we will let you know!

[Epos7]

Thank you for making this topic. My Spectrum flickers very frequently at 144Hz - I would estimate 50% of the time. If it starts flickering, sometimes turning the monitor off and on multiple times will resolve it. Sometimes the monitor will turn on and not be flickering, then start flickering some time later. I have tried multiple HDMI certified cables but finally just decided to set the refresh rate to 120Hz, as that eliminates the issue.

Nvidia 3080 with standard drivers. Have tried clean install. Have tried multiple HDMI cables. Happens on all PC use cases - gaming, internet browsing, coding, Photoshop, Lightroom.

The Spectrum is my second display. 1st display is a 4K/60 monitor connected via a DP to HDMI cable.

I also have the screen blanking issue. I will try posting in the other topic as well.

[Epos7]

Update on my situation. Two days ago I redid my monitor connections. I left the Spectrum connected via HDMI using the same cable, but I swapped the cable on my second display out for a different one. That display was using a DP to HDMI cable, and now it’s using DP to DP cable. It’s a Dell UP2720Q and the DP to HDMI cable would not allow 10 bit color depth. It is still set to 4K/60Hz.

Since making that change, I’ve tried reenabling 144Hz on the Spectrum, and so far I am not seeing the flickering issue. It’s too soon to say for sure, but I’ll keep an eye on it and edit this post if the flickering returns.

edit: flickering has returned. I wondered if the 30xx series was having this issue when trying to send an HDMI signal to two 4K monitors where only one is VRR, but that is not the case

[Epos7]

I edited my post above. The flickering has returned. I wondered if the 30xx series was having this issue when trying to send an HDMI signal to two 4K monitors where only one is VRR, but that is not the case.

[Cas]

Hi @Epos7,

Following all the discussions so far it would seem that there is an odd interaction between device drivers and Spectrum. Have you tried doing a clean install of your Nvidia driver?

[Kelyn159]

Any news on a firmware update to fix this ridiculous issue. Like the last update is dated back to September 23 2021

[Cas]

Hi @Kelyn159,

Firmware 106 is due to be released this month.

[Kelyn159]

Thanks for the heads up. fingers crossed to see if this issue is fixed.

[domshyra]

I have been messing with settings, seems refresh rate doesn’t fix this issue for me.

Still on Nvidia 3080 and having hdmi flickering at all resolutions and refresh rates. Only on Hdmi. DP works fine for me, but I need that for work set up.

HDMI 1 and 2 both crap out after an hour or so.

[MarvyMarvz]

Hi @domshyra,

Thanks for sharing this with us.

Does it still occur when you turn G-Sync off?

Even though flickering and blanking are similar issues, they behave differently. Trying to drop your refresh rate will reduce blanking but not flickering.

[domshyra]

I will try this tomorrow and report back.
Flickering seems to happen less often than blanking for me so it’s hard to say if any refresh rate changes has a positive effect. So far I see no noticeable difference

[Epos7]

Have you tried doing a clean install of your Nvidia driver?

I have but it’s been a few months since my last attempt. Might be worth another shot.

[domshyra]

Turning off G-Sync seems to help. Don’t have enough data to say this is for sure.
But turning it to 1440p and 120Hz refresh with no g sync. I didn’t flicker or blank after an hour of use. Normally I would get it to happen at least once in an hour.

Still need more time testing this.

[MarvyMarvz]

Hi @domshyra,

Glad to hear this worked for you, but this is a temporary solution.

We are using these polls to find the exact cause to eliminate the issue with G-Sync/Freesync enabled.

[Lordantthemisfit]

clean installing drivers seems to have fixed the issue for me for now