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Probable Hardware Issue? Monitor ripple effects.


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As everybody knows (because I never stop having problems :P), I've been trying to make an install of Skyrim Revisited work. As everybody knows, sometimes trying to solve some problem, minor or otherwise, just creates more problems.

 

I use a 32inch Samsung "generic PnP" monitor. It's a TV. I've had it for like 5 years and it's always been solid. As I've been trying to combat problems with transparency anti-aliasing, I have taken some steps:

 

-using Skyrim configurator

-calibrating monitor

-installing Radeonpro

-fiddling with settings in CCC (card is Radeon 6950)

-installed 13.10 BETA CCC drivers which also comes with a beta display driver (so up to date, corruption unlikely unless there's an issue with the driver itself)

 

What I am experiencing lately is a blur or ripple effect. It is not just Skyrim, but also other applications (I assume all games would be affected by this but haven't tested). I am noticing it in Skyrim and my browser.

 

It manifests as horizontal waves rippling across the screen as an image pans or scrolls. This means that I notice it when scrolling with my mouse in, say, Firefox. I also notice it when turning around, especially moving the camera quickly or in odd angles, in Skyrim.

 

I'm not sure if this is vsync as my Skyrimprefs.ini setting has vsync turned on. In CCC I've tried "always on, always off, on unless application specifies, off unless application specifies". Basically, all the settings. I've also tried triple buffering and various settings in Radeonpro with no effect.

 

Needless to say, it's strange and obviously some kind of issue.

 

Additional info:

 

My monitor's native resolution is 1280x720 so I use that in general, including while playing Skyrim. I have tried other resolution settings but 1280x720 has always worked nicely for me. Setting it to 1920x1080 (max I can do) doesn't seem to have much of an effect except to make the text in the Console smaller. :P I haven't tried to see if it'll fix my screen rippling issue but I doubt it as it did not fix it with other general computer use. Plus, 1920x1080 looks terrible on this monitor on desktop, browser, etc.

 

The refresh is 60hz, also. My card is not quite 2 years old and the cables are secure. I might try a different HDMI cable if someone suggests that (I've seen that tossed around on the net) but I really doubt that this will do anything. Like I said, this problem started when I began messing with graphics settings and programs in an effort to fix my transparency texture issues.

 

EDIT:

 

New development. I was using ENBoost and the other thread about screen rippling made me realize that this could be the issue. Sure enough I disabled ENBoost just to test and my rippling weirdness ceased.

 

But. It's been replaced by a bizarre stuttering effect when I pan the camera, especially if I pan diagonally. It's not too bad unless I do that. There's definitely something wrong, though. Still.

 

Sigh...

3 answers to this question

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Posted

The main issue is that it is a TV... and its 32".

If you say its 5 years old, then it most likely have a very horrible latency compared to todays depending on which panel technology is used, but I am guessing its more then 10ms in which case you will get blurring etc. of fast movements.

Also even at 1080p scaling of pixels is happening.. which will cause all sorts of flickering, shimmering, etc. effects to look MUCH worse then they would on a monitor that actually displays its best native resolution. 1080p is the best for 24" monitors. 1440p for 27" and higher for 32".

Also it depends on which technology there is present in said TV. Most of them have some sort of extra image editing software trying to do stuff as well.

 

Change of cables is not going to do anything... if you had too low bandwidth you would be seeing other issues.

 

I am almost certain its a latency issue due to the panel technology being old and not designed for the purpose.

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Posted

Yeah okay, but this never used to happen. It would seem like those would be constant problems since I started using this TV but that's not the case. These problems are RECENT and seem tied to changes I've made as per the list I gave of all the stuff I've been messing with since trying to fix other Skyrim-related graphical problems.

 

If it's just native hardware flaws, shouldn't I have experienced issues earlier on? Skyrim used to run, graphically, like a dreamboat. Something changed between Feb 2013 and Aug 2013 (the gap between my last playthrough before getting back into it) with either Skyrim's version or my GPU driver versions (or both) which has created a bunch of issues I never used to have. Trying to solve them has caused additional problems and demanded that I get in very deep with settings and options and tools while learning how to use them on the fly.

 

Maybe getting a new monitor is the solution. I just think that, before I go doing that, I should try and see if it COULD be something else given what I just told you.

 

How do you explain why turning off ENBoost fixed the screen ripples? It seems like there's something off in my vsync and monitor refresh. Like maybe my video driver settings are wrong for the display. I don't have the foggiest but I sincerely doubt it's because of my hardware for the reasons I've given.

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Posted

Cannot entirely rule out technical issues with the actual monitor. But if Skyrim is the only application that does it then that talks against it obviously.

What I am experiencing lately is a blur or ripple effect. It is not just Skyrim, but also other applications (I assume all games would be affected by this but haven't tested). I am noticing it in Skyrim and my browser.

This is what I hooked into the most, since as I understood it then it was not just Skyrim. 

 

Also you say that higher resolutions make the image look worse.... which is also a bit weird since normally higher resolution makes the image sharper all things considered. If its just the smaller icons in windows you do not like you can just increase their size. The same for browser content. But again the pixel scaling varies from TV to TV from that I have been able to gather looking at them. 

 

If ENBoost does it, then it most likely means you have bad settings in the enblocal.ini, and/or drivers that are not super optimal with it. 

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