PC Graphics

[mikehcl]

Hello everyone, I bought a rx 6900 xt Powercolor and I must say that it is a fantastic card but I have an annoying problem in several games (not all, for example elite dangerous does not cause me this problem), in practice when I activated the Freesync premium I have flickering in several games, if I turn off the freesync everything works perfectly. I tried another cable but the problem is still there. My monitor is an asus asus tuf gaming vg34vql1b VA. Then I tried another monitor, an MSI Optix MPG341CQR and it also reproduces the flickering problem with games. What could it be, a problem with the 21.6.1 drivers? Thanks.

[joshieecs · Accepted solution]

When you go below your display's minimum VRR framerate, your framerate doubles. This is low framerate compensation, and it's what you want to happen.

The problem is that many displays aggressively drive their pixels for a fast response, but in such a way that an abrupt shift in framerate can cause the pixel voltage to overshoot (or is it undershoot?) the target, causing a perceptible shift in brightness between the two framerate levels. If you hover around the lower bound of VRR range where LFC is switching on and off frequently, it causes flicker.

A proper fix would be a bit of hardware that considers the frametime of the current frame when setting the voltages, and scaling them to values that provide consistent brightness. You could possibly do it in software, but it might add latency.

A workaround I have considered is having something like Reshade adjust the gamma of each frame before sending it to the display, to eliminate (or at least lessen) the display flaw -- literally sending the display darker or brighter frames based on the frametime, particularly when LLVM engages. On a fast GPU it would add be 1-2ms at most.

I have an LG NANO85 that boasts FreeSync "Premium" and it suffers from the same problem. VRR is virtually unusable. But it also plagues more expensive LG OLED's. On the bright side, having one frame of stutter at 165 Hz is not that terrible if you just use vsync.

Though I am looking at the product page, and the VG34VQL1B claims to have a "variable overdrive" function specifically to address this issue. It manual says there is a slider bar from 0 - 100 for setting "variable overdrive" in the menu. I would imagine cracking it up should reduce the flickering, at least that is the intent.

That said, it's entirely a problem with the display, not the graphics card or drivers. If there is any reason to fault AMD it would be certifying displays as "freesync premium" when they exhibit terrible flickering with LFC.

It's possible maybe AMD could add some kind of setting in the drivers to send brighter or darker frames to the display as a crude workaround, but every user would have to fiddle with it on their specific display and their specific display settings. Display manufacturers should be responsible for issuing firmware updates with mitigations. That said, AMD should immediately add an LFC flicker test to any of their FreeSync certification tests.

[Matt_AMD]

Most likely related to the display than the drivers.

Is it flickering in menu screens or actual gameplay?

[mikehcl]

The flickering is present both in the menu and in the game. But how can it be a monitor problem? They are both AMD freesync certified and I am using an AMD card and not Nvidia.

[trek]

From what I experienced, flickering occurs when fps is out of range of freesync range - below freesync range.

Your both panels are both VA panels, so it will flicker when fps drops below freesync range (you can see freesync range of your monitor in adrenaline).

There is a solution to your issue though - to create custom resolution in CRU utility with custom freesync range or make sure fps does not drop below some value.

Also try other cables to make sure the problem is not caused by cable. Also try to use older drivers to make sure the issue was not introduced by drivers, this often happens with Radeon drivers.

[WhereFPS]

I have the same Problem. I tried all Options...

Just disable Freesync and forget it. No matter what you are doing, the Freesync will not work.

You have to wait until amd fixes the problem.

[mikehcl]

i only leave freesync on in games where there is no flickering... I've tried all the options too. However, I don't know if it's a problem that AMD can fix, as another user wrote above I have the doubt that the problem is caused by VA monitors and if it were really so it would be shameful, as they advertise them as compatible with fresync premium instead they are not at all! Absurd...

[trek]

Could you show at least how this flickering looks like on video? With FPS indicator, so we would see FPS and flickering?

[Matt_AMD]

Can you check Windows Display Properties to ensure the display is running at the correct maximum refresh rate?

[mikehcl]

Yes. The monitor has a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz, i tried 144Hz but didn't notice any change. however the flickering varies a lot depending on the game, on some games i don't have any flickering problem while on others I do, so maybe it really is a problem with VA panels.

[trek]

It is VA panel flickering, because your monitor has freesync range from 55Hz to 165Hz, and you can see that fps in game fluctuates around 55Hz.

You can search that e.g. Samsung fixed this in some monitors via firmware update (I suppose your monitor is using Samsung panel, so fix should be possible).

It is a monitor thing, so AMD will not be able to fix it in drivers, you can however create custom resolution in CRU utility with modified freesync range 45 - 165 or similar instead of 55 - 165 and test if it works.

For now, write to Asus and demand monitor firmware fix for this issue - also take a look at monitor menu if there are some options related to this (you need to turn off low framerate compensation if possible).

[cvzone]

It is pretty sure a monitor thing, because this problem exists since the first Freesync Displays. Some manufactures fixed it, most not. If AMD could fix it via the driver, i guess they would.

Unfortunately most Displays cant update there firmware. And it even took Samsung several tries to fix this problem on there latest High End Displays.

Just google for "freesync flickering" - Internet is full of complains since years.

[joshieecs · Accepted solution]

When you go below your display's minimum VRR framerate, your framerate doubles. This is low framerate compensation, and it's what you want to happen.

The problem is that many displays aggressively drive their pixels for a fast response, but in such a way that an abrupt shift in framerate can cause the pixel voltage to overshoot (or is it undershoot?) the target, causing a perceptible shift in brightness between the two framerate levels. If you hover around the lower bound of VRR range where LFC is switching on and off frequently, it causes flicker.

A proper fix would be a bit of hardware that considers the frametime of the current frame when setting the voltages, and scaling them to values that provide consistent brightness. You could possibly do it in software, but it might add latency.

A workaround I have considered is having something like Reshade adjust the gamma of each frame before sending it to the display, to eliminate (or at least lessen) the display flaw -- literally sending the display darker or brighter frames based on the frametime, particularly when LLVM engages. On a fast GPU it would add be 1-2ms at most.

I have an LG NANO85 that boasts FreeSync "Premium" and it suffers from the same problem. VRR is virtually unusable. But it also plagues more expensive LG OLED's. On the bright side, having one frame of stutter at 165 Hz is not that terrible if you just use vsync.

Though I am looking at the product page, and the VG34VQL1B claims to have a "variable overdrive" function specifically to address this issue. It manual says there is a slider bar from 0 - 100 for setting "variable overdrive" in the menu. I would imagine cracking it up should reduce the flickering, at least that is the intent.

That said, it's entirely a problem with the display, not the graphics card or drivers. If there is any reason to fault AMD it would be certifying displays as "freesync premium" when they exhibit terrible flickering with LFC.

It's possible maybe AMD could add some kind of setting in the drivers to send brighter or darker frames to the display as a crude workaround, but every user would have to fiddle with it on their specific display and their specific display settings. Display manufacturers should be responsible for issuing firmware updates with mitigations. That said, AMD should immediately add an LFC flicker test to any of their FreeSync certification tests.

[mikehcl]

In the end i decided to return the monitor and buy a lg 34gn850-b.
Moreover yesterday i wrote an email to ASUS and their answer was incredible

Here is the answer:

"As the issue only occurs with some games, this may depend on the game itself, drivers that are not fully compatible with the games themselves or the video card."

[trek]

Asus cannot acknowledge this issue as official, because as soon as they do that, they would have to recall all monitors for repair and probably bankrupt. The best is what you did = test product within return period and if slightest issue emerges return said product.

[mikehcl]

Yes, I made the return, this morning I got the new LG 34GN850-B and it works great with freesync, 0 flickering, I even found a lucky panel, or dead pixels, no Backlight Bleed and almost no Ips Glow problem, I'm glad, for once I was lucky. Anyway thanks to all for the answers and advice given.

[Geforsikus_2021 · Accepted solution]

It is possible that in games when the frame rate falls below 60 or 70, the monitor cannot synchronize with the frame rate(arbitrary values of the monitor frequency occur), and if the fps is for example 90+ , then it falls into the freesync range and everything works as it should. Try to increase the fps in the game where there is this problem, apparently this is an old game or it just can't go above 60 frames per second.