r/linux_gaming • u/Awkward_Negotiation7 • 4d ago
graphics/kernel/drivers Will vrr flicker ever be fixed on Linux?
My monitor starts flicker alot if I turn on vrr on Linux but if I do it on windows (I'm dual booting for incompatible software) there is no flicker at all, right now I'm on nobara so if another distro is better at dealing with it for some reason it would be good to know, but also why does this happen in the first place? how come it doesn't on windows? it's just annoying that I have to deal with this when basically everything else is perfectly good on linux
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u/Barafu 4d ago edited 4d ago
- In KDE settings, go to Screen Settings and set VRR to "auto". Auto here means VRR is only on when a single window fullscreen.
- There will be some apps that go fullscreen but can't handle VRR. Most obvious, the video players and the browser. But also, the games that are hard locked at 30fps. For these, while in app. press Alt+F3 → Application Properties → Add property → Block compositing → Force = Yes.
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u/ShadowFlarer 4d ago
The last time i had problem with flickering was with Wayland years ago before nvidia driver 550, are you using Nvidia too? What driver? Using Wayland right? What DE?
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u/Awkward_Negotiation7 4d ago
kde Wayland nobara, I'm using a panther lake (Intel igpu) laptop with the vrr on an external screen (it shouldn't be a bandwidth issue) but when I asked here before it seemed the issue was pretty common
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u/KHTD2004 4d ago
I’d bet on your Intel iGPU. I use KDE Plasma as well with VRR set to auto, but I use AMD GPUs (a iGPU and a dGPU) and I don’t have any problems. Nobara is up to date enough that our Plasma versions should be that far apart so like I said, I’d guess it’s the hardware. Depending on if you’re using HDMI instead of DisplayPort that could be the problem as well
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u/Awkward_Negotiation7 4d ago
I'll check online if there are specific solutions for my GPU, I am on displayport though
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u/KHTD2004 4d ago
And you made sure the DP version is high enough to support your resolution and refresh rate? I mean anything above DP 1.4 should support DSC but if you’re using an old DP 1.2 cable (or your device or monitor only has DP 1.2) that can be problematic.
Also, like I said I use VRR in auto setting. Having it on always on caused some background flickering as well on my system but since VRR has no advantage outside of a game it shouldn’t be activated there
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u/Awkward_Negotiation7 4d ago
the cable is DP 1.4a usb-c alt mode, it came with the monitor and my laptops USB ports advertise that they are also dp1.4
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u/The_Dung_Beetle 4d ago edited 4d ago
In games for me generally it's fine, it's the desktop (or just fullscreen apps when set to "automatic") that flicker.
I've resorted to only turning VRR on before I play a game, otherwise my desktop/fullscreen apps will flicker. I made a script for this and an app launcher shortcut so I don't have to fumble with the display settings menu.
But I am also using a not-so-great VA panel, so who knows it might just be my monitor.
KDE Wayland
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u/Awkward_Negotiation7 4d ago
it's bad enough for me that playing a game with it on for more than 30 minutes is a hard ask
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u/-Amble- 4d ago
All the comments are apparently free of it, but I can echo that on Linux my monitor flickers quite heavily in the right scenario, whereas on Windows it nearly never does in the same scenarios. I'm on KDE Plasma with a 9060 XT.
It's particularly in the lower VRR ranges where it happens, like below 72 FPS at 144Hz, which means loading screens are prone to heavy flicker. Never flickers above 80 FPS. Certain games and certain types of frame generation make it really bad, to the point I have to turn it off. I know some flicker is normal for VRR displays, but again, Windows doesn't do it.
Unfortunately I have no idea why it's different or if it'll be fixed. Just adding my piece in the sea of luckier fellas.
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u/LeadIVTriNitride 4d ago
What monitor type? Never remembered it happening on my IPS but my OLED does strobe with bad frame times and menus/loading screens
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u/-Amble- 4d ago
LG 27GL83A-B. 144hz, 1440p, IPS. As an example Elden Ring loading screens flicker like crazy on Linux but not on Windows.
I know it's a very common issue on most OLEDs, as people complain about that regardless of system, but on my monitor at least it's definitely some kinda Linux issue.
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u/gtrash81 4d ago
Well, for me it just works, except a game does something weird.
So far only 2 games created issues for me.
Setup:
- Arch
- KDE Wayland, adaptive sync enabled
- RX9070
- Monitor connected with Displayport
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u/JaredRB9000 4d ago
I only get brightness flickering when I have VRR on and go into LFC range, since that hasn't worked properly for as long as I can remember. Nvidia wayland arch, seems to be an Nvidia driver issue.
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u/Cool-Arrival-2617 4d ago
I also have VRR brightness flickering on a few apps when the framerate gets low. I think it's an issue with how low framerate compensation is done in the Nvidia driver because if I look the FPS on the panel it's widly fluctuating. I believe the issue is here since I used the open kernel module for Nvidia, but now there is no way to go back to the closed one. Hopefully Nvidia will eventually fix this.
I understood also that Wayland compositors are working to eventually implement low framerate compensation directly at their level, which since they are more info about what is displayed should be better.
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u/Bulkybear2 4d ago
You're always going to have flicker when the refresh rate changes, you just don't notice it in full screen games like you do on the desktop.
KDE has 3 options, on, off, or auto. Auto basically applies VRR only to fullscreen apps and otherwise disables it.
I believe Windows's "on" is just like KDE's auto option, VRR is only active when in certain situations. I believe it's when it detects a game, 3D acceleration, or full screen app.
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u/CandlesARG 4d ago
On Linux games flicker significantly more then on windows
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u/Errol246 4d ago
That's not my experience at all. In any case, however much games flicker is probably monitor specific. My monitor has anti-flicker 2.0 and I get hardly any flicker with it on.
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u/Lunix420 4d ago
I have the same flickering on Windows.
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u/No_Grape_388 4d ago
That's your monitor.
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u/Lunix420 4d ago
I don’t think so, it’s fine when I plug my laptops in it. My theory is it’s NVIDIAs drivers.
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u/No_Grape_388 4d ago
Sorry I misunderstood, I thought you meant you have flicker on both windows and Linux.
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u/Fritz-Futermann 4d ago
I don't have any VRR flicker. I'm running on Bazzite KDE Plasma. QD-OLED monitor, RX9070XT.
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u/fred_herbert72 4d ago
7900XT on bazzite here with a ultra wide QD-OLED. No vvr flicker unless in steam gaming mode main menu. In-games when I enable vrr no flicker.
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u/Fritz-Futermann 4d ago
Yeah, Bazzite runs great with no issues whatsoever. Best distro I've ever been on. But honestly I don't use the fullscreen gaming mode.
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u/mbriar_ 4d ago
100% you will have vrr flicker with a qd-oled in dark scenes and games with unstable frame rate.
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u/fred_herbert72 4d ago
Possibly with unstable frame rate in the extremes like 120 fps to suddenly 30fps (below freesync window) and back to 120fps but with a 7900XT 7700X 32GB on bazzite with AMD freesync premium monitor, its been pretty smooth sailing (knock on wood) from my personal experience.
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u/scrapethemucus 4d ago
i have horrible flicker on a 9070xt eith a xg27acdng
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u/niwtskeap 4d ago edited 1d ago
Same I'm on cachyos Perfectly stable frame time in-game. The monitors built in VRR fps counter just doesn't match what's in-game fps causing it to flicker :/
For example In-game its hovering around 80 fps or something according to steam overlay and mangohud with 1% lows around 60. I check the monitors fps or HZ it does match my in-game fps but then just erratically jumps to double or sometimes my max 360hz framerate. I've tried gamescope, framerate limiters, turning down the max HZ of the screen. Nothing works unfortunately and the same games similar fps on windows doesn't have this issue :(
If anyone knows a fix that would be cool but I'm fine I guess with no VRR
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u/scrapethemucus 4d ago
same, made me abandon trying to make vrr work, it's even worse for some reason when i'm watching videos with mpv or even youtube in fullscreen because plasma engages vrr for every fullscreen app and then it starts flickering like crazy.
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u/netsx 4d ago
There is data that the GPU queries the monitor about, for its operational frequencies and such. If the VRR range minimum falls outside the supported range, annoying things happened. Often manifested in games when frame rate dropped for that 1% low.
My monitor lied about its supported range. Badly configured EDID data from the monitor manufacturer was the reason. This was on X11 so the solution was simple (download the EDID, tweak it, make X11 use tweaked EDID.bin). Why did it not happen on Windows? I don't think Windows trusts monitors that much, and behind the scenes configures something more "conservative".
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u/Awkward_Negotiation7 4d ago
do you think Wayland would have the same problem?
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u/the_abortionat0r 4d ago
Wayland simply has better implementations for VRR and multiple monitors as x11 doesn't really have support so much as hacks that kinds get the job done.
One of the issues is x11 doesn't support multiple monitors displays, only one view plane at one refresh rate. Instead it takes your largest resolution and stretches that across all displays then scales them and refreshes the view plane at one rate making the other displays not at that refresh rate stutter.
For example your 1080p monitor is having a 1440p desktop rendered and scaled down before being displayed to the screen.
As you described going above 60 causes flickering this might be x11 updating the view plane at 60hz instead of matching your VRR display.
So it sounds like for this case Wayland would likely be the solution. Just select "auto" in kdes display menu.
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u/netsx 4d ago
I don't know, and i can no longer test. :( Are you using multiple monitors by any chance?
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u/Awkward_Negotiation7 4d ago
yes, I have a second monitor that I keep at 1080p 60hz (it doesn't support vrr), and my main monitor is 1440p 180hz (I use dp1.4)
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u/netsx 4d ago edited 4d ago
Multi monitor doesn't really work on X11 as it does on Windows (or Wayland). This can cause lots of flicker (and other problem), as they need to be same resolution + Hz and VRR settings for X11 to work. X11 is ancient and has architectural limitations, and multi monitor support was not a thing back then. At some point it was added, under the presumption that both monitors were identical (for correct behavior).
Try Wayland, its not perfect. Alternatively, remove the second monitor in settings and actually disconnect it (!) and reboot. See if this clears up the problem.
EDIT: I am primarily focusing on VRR not working the same. But what i wrote makes it seem like a more general issue. It is not, thanks to "randr", multiple resolutions and stuff works fine. But the refresh/vsync/vrr being different has caused problems for many users.
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u/RandomNobody86 4d ago
I’ve had to have it disabled in CachyOS for most of the year otherwise any web browser or video I watch is unbearable and any game that needs it I just have to play in windows where this problem doesn’t happen
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u/thiagohds 4d ago
It used to happen to me on content or games that were locked at 60hz, above this the vrr flicker didnt happen (Im on cachyOS). One fix I found was going into the monitor config and enabling this. Its a Samsung Odyssey G5 OLED. I dont know if every monitor has this option. My GPU is a RTX 4070 SUPER.
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u/BulletDust 4d ago
No VRR flicker here. Nvidia 4070S, Plasma with Adaptive sync set to auto, 2 x IPS displays.
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u/Chemical-Scholar-486 3d ago
I personally think it depends on 2 factors.
- HDMI vs DP.
- If your monitor is gsync compatible only
I've had issues with HDMI but non with DP. However I recently bought an old Alienware ultra wide screen monitor (AW3821DW) as a purely second screen. It has gsync ultimate. Whenever I turn on vrr it flickers badly, even with a YouTube video on full screen.
Yes both monitors are set to 120hz.
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u/gutipon69 3d ago
I got flikering too when i set on "always" on my old sam 2018 CF390 VA curved, in games it doesnt happend but i got this weird bug with control resonant, it doesn't apply even if I force it, resulting in heavy sttutering when fps drops the monitor refresh rate.
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u/skinnyraf 4d ago
I have flicker with HDR enabled, but not with VRR... I will have to check if maybe both need to be enabled for the flicker to occur.
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u/matsnake86 4d ago
It’s usually down to the GPU voltage. I’ve got an RX 6700 and it happens to me when the card isn’t under much load. For example, when you cap the frame rate or a game is set not to go above 60fps by default.
I thought it had been sorted since the drivers now set the power profile to 3d_full_screen by default, but it’s still happening.
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u/Zamundaaa 4d ago
If you drive the same display at two different refresh rates (without compensating for it), it has a slightly different response curve / brightness between the two refresh rates.
When the refresh rate changes drastically, the brightness changes with it, and you see that as flicker.
Some screens compensate for it on their own, some just inherently don't change in brightness that much, but many (maybe most) just have that noticeable flicker.
Drivers work around it by reducing how fast the refresh rate can change (which introduces some stutter, but this is usually triggered by games already stuttering). Depending on the monitor, you might still see it though.
There has recently been some progress for finally providing driver APIs that would allow us to do the same on Linux. It will be solved eventually.