Refresh rate issue "flickering" text in SP2.

[Ricochet90]

I just noticed something.

While I'm navigating the Metro interface in my SP2 text seems to "flicker" (that's the correct term?) Is like a little vibration in the text caused by the movement.

I notice it more navigating the metro interface but I can see it using other applications.

I checked my android tablet and it seems to be a normal thing in these kind of devices but is not as noticeable (and annoying) as in my SP2.

Theres a way to adjust the refresh ratio of the screen or something so this little "vibration" becomes less noticeable?

 

[GoodBytes]

The Surface Pro 2 refresh rate display, like all displays used in the PC space is by default at 60Hz.
Some select PC desktop monitors, can go to 120 or 144Hz, but those are using TN panels. A panel technology which was designed with a deep focus on being fast and low cost. It allowed to create a boost of affordable LCD monitors in the early days, but the view angles are crap, and the colors are awful. It got better over the years, but still nothing coming close to IPS panels color reproductions, view angles and sharpness.

A high refresh rate will provide you nothing more than smoother perceivable animation, at the cost of higher GPU processing (as it will need to render 120 frame per second (fps), for 120Hz, instead of 60 fps for 60Hz).

Let me guess, the vibration ONLY occurs when you using your finger to scroll. If that is not the case, I don't know what you are talking about. Please post a video. If it is, than this is the tracking speed of the finger of the touch screen, and the speed of the program, pulling that information. So the vibration your are seeing as you scroll varies between programs. you can see it is very smooth on the Start Screen, as you see a well implementation of the tracking of the touch screen.

If you use a screen protector, it can increase the vibrations visible due to the friction or imperfection in the plastic sheet, it sometimes creates your finger to perform micro vibrations which you don't sense, but the touch screen can.

To minimize the vibrations use flicks, and not a 1 to 1 movement.

Also, there is touch screen delay. Now the video is old, but still relevant and interesting.
[video=youtube;vOvQCPLkPt4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOvQCPLkPt4[/video]

 

[Ricochet90]

The Surface Pro 2 refresh rate display, like all displays used in the PC space is by default at 60Hz.
Some select PC desktop monitors, can go to 120 or 144Hz, but those are using TN panels. A panel technology which was designed with a deep focus on being fast and low cost. It allowed to create a boost of affordable LCD monitors in the early days, but the view angles are crap, and the colors are awful. It got better over the years, but still nothing coming close to IPS panels color reproductions, view angles and sharpness.

A high refresh rate will provide you nothing more than smoother perceivable animation, at the cost of higher GPU processing (as it will need to render 120 frame per second (fps), for 120Hz, instead of 60 fps for 60Hz).

Let me guess, the vibration ONLY occurs when you using your finger to scroll. If that is not the case, I don't know what you are talking about. Please post a video. If it is, than this is the tracking speed of the finger of the touch screen, and the speed of the program, pulling that information. So the vibration your are seeing as you scroll varies between programs. you can see it is very smooth on the Start Screen, as you see a well implementation of the tracking of the touch screen.

If you use a screen protector, it can increase the vibrations visible due to the friction or imperfection in the plastic sheet, it sometimes creates your finger to perform micro vibrations which you don't sense, but the touch screen can.

To minimize the vibrations use flicks, and not a 1 to 1 movement.

Also, there is touch screen delay. Now the video is old, but still relevant and interesting.
[video=youtube;vOvQCPLkPt4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOvQCPLkPt4[/video]

I don't think that this is the delay that you are talking about.

I notice this in almost all my devices (Laptop,android tablet etc) but it seems kinda worse in the SP2 (and as I said it's actually more noticeable in the start menu)

Is not that difficult to reproduce the issue.

Just do this,go to the apps section of the start menu and keep dragging your finger until the screen prevents you from scrolling more,then separate your finger and you will see the little vibrations in the text while the apps reaccommodate.

I noticed that if you see the screen from a distance the effect is far more noticeable than if you are close.

Sorry if my redaction (or instructions) are not that good,english is not my first language.

 

[GoodBytes]

Ah... I think I understand.
But that is just windows animation doing a jump back.
It's been programed to do this mini jump before sliding more smoothly to the end of scroll position.

Windows 8 Apps uses Windows API's, so it uses the same animation, hence why you see there as well.

 

[Ricochet90]

Ah... I think I understand.
But that is just windows animation doing a jump back.
It's been programed to do this mini jump before sliding more smoothly to the end of scroll position.

Windows 8 Apps uses Windows API's, so it uses the same animation, hence why you see there as well.

Yes it happens during the jump back animation,but is not the animation itself that bothers me.

I don't seem to explain myself properly.

When I scroll text (horizontally or vertically) text seems to "blink" while scrolling as the text moves.

In my other devices this happens but the blinking while scrolling is almost unnoticeable.

It happens in almost every situation when I scroll text in the SP2,but I notice it a lot in the start menu because the type of font.

If you don't see it,maybe its the screen of my unit that is faulty.

 

[GoodBytes]

Yea I really don't see it. I fired up News Bento (a free Windows 8 App), as it's black text on white (well has a little gray hashing texture on the back), but its to allow me to scroll contentiously. I tried in IE11, Firefox, Start Screen all apps, Word...

OOOHHHH, do you mean that the text gets sharper when you let go?
'cause if that is the case, that has to do with the GUI being GPU rendered. GPU rendering of fonts is actually difficult to do right, but easy for the CPU. To make sure that the GPU doesn't struggle and reducing your battery life, the font rendering, when you scroll is done quickly. When you let go, now it does a full detail render of the font which is more GPU demanding.

You will see this problem not happening on programs using the CPU to render itself. Meaning desktop applications. Try for example Notepad.

 

[Ricochet90]

Yea I really don't see it. I fired up News Bento (a free Windows 8 App), as it's black text on white (well has a little gray hashing texture on the back), but its to allow me to scroll contentiously. I tried in IE11, Firefox, Start Screen all apps, Word...

OOOHHHH, do you mean that the text gets sharper when you let go?
'cause if that is the case, that has to do with the GUI being GPU rendered. GPU rendering of fonts is actually difficult to do right, but easy for the CPU. To make sure that the GPU doesn't struggle and reducing your battery life, the font rendering, when you scroll is done quickly. When you let go, now it does a full detail render of the font which is more GPU demanding.

Yeah maybe is that.

Thanks for the responses and sorry for not knowing how to explain myself properly.

But since this seems to be normal I guess I have to get used to it.

Maybe it's because of how sharp the screen is that I'm able to notice this more in the SP2.

And I understand about how difficult is to notice it,I didn't noticed it before until I saw it in the SP2 and then I checked my other devices to see if they do the same thing and since then I had this in my mind.

As they say...once you see it,you can not unsee it.

 

[GoodBytes]

No problem. Glad I could help.

 

[kozak79]

You could also try running the ClearType wizard. I ran it on my SP2 and it made the text way easier to read. It may help, or it may not.