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Mac Studio screen flickering
- Thread starter MaskedCarrot
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Syntech USB C to DisplayPort Cable[4K@60Hz], Thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort Cable Compatible with MacBook Air/Pro 2020 iPad Mini/Pro 2021 iMac 2021 iPad Air 4 Samsung Galaxy S10/S9, Dell XPS, etc. 1.8m
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tySyntech USB C to DisplayPort Cable[4K@60Hz], Thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort Cable Compatible with MacBook Air/Pro 2020 iPad Mini/Pro 2021 iMac 2021 iPad Air 4 Samsung Galaxy S10/S9, Dell XPS, etc. 1.8m
Up to 4K@60Hz: Syntech USB C[Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] to DisplayPort cable supports up to 4K@60Hz mirror mode and extend mode(backward compatible with 1080p displays), no lag, no buffer. View your favorite movies, TV shows, your photo collection in full HD with multichannel digital audio output....www.amazon.co.uk
Snowkids 4K HDMI Cable 1M HDMI Lead 4K HDMI Cable 4K@60Hz Compatible 3D Support, Ethernet Function, Video 4K 2160p, 1080p, 3D, 4K TV/HDTV/Blu-ray
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I have the same panel as the OP, but in an EVE Spectrum connected via Thunderbolt to my Mac Studio.
I can confirm that some flickering occurs in a few situations. Specifically, at least for me, this seems to happen when the monitor is set to a variable refresh rate in the macOS preferences. In some cases it will then drop to 48Hz, which seems to generate a flickering effect, likely because the refresh rate drops low enough that one can actually pick it up.
I can fix this completely by going into the preferences and setting it to a fixed 144Hz, which eliminates the flickering entirely.
The only problem thus far is that in rare cases, macOS will -seemingly at random- decide to reset it back to enable variable refresh rate, which causes the flickering to occur again. Resetting it in the preferences resolves it once more, but is slightly annoying. Luckily it doesn't happen all that often (once a week or so).
I can confirm that some flickering occurs in a few situations. Specifically, at least for me, this seems to happen when the monitor is set to a variable refresh rate in the macOS preferences. In some cases it will then drop to 48Hz, which seems to generate a flickering effect, likely because the refresh rate drops low enough that one can actually pick it up.
I can fix this completely by going into the preferences and setting it to a fixed 144Hz, which eliminates the flickering entirely.
The only problem thus far is that in rare cases, macOS will -seemingly at random- decide to reset it back to enable variable refresh rate, which causes the flickering to occur again. Resetting it in the preferences resolves it once more, but is slightly annoying. Luckily it doesn't happen all that often (once a week or so).
Well, I am not quite the same sort of setup but I have a Mac Studio (base config with 2tb of storage) and a Studio Display. I get blinking quite often and screen saver/dark screen does not work right. Screen keeps coming back on for no reason that I can figure out. Weird stuff.
I switched to usb-c cable which worked fine. However, my cinema display with adapter was getting weird dimming issue. In the end after a month, I returned the Mac studio ultra and just kept my Mac Pro 5.1 which serves me well till the next modular machine comes along.
If it helps, I had flickering with some usb-c cables and screens, especially when charging is enabled.
This cable fixed it.
This cable fixed it.
Stouchi Thunderbolt 3 Kabel 1M USB-IF TB3 USB 4.0 Kabel Geflochtenes Kabel 100W/20V/5A,40Gbps 5K,Kompatibel für Mac Studio,Studio Display Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station/eGpu/Externe SSD,M1 Macbok Air
Stouchi Thunderbolt 3 Kabel 1M USB-IF TB3 USB 4.0 Kabel Geflochtenes Kabel 100W/20V/5A,40Gbps 5K,Kompatibel für Mac Studio,Studio Display Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station/eGpu/Externe SSD,M1 Macbok Air
www.amazon.de
If your display supports dynamic refresh rates and you have that enabled beware: many *MANY* Freesync displays have utter garbage quality at the edges of their frequency ranges and flickering is exactly the kind of effect you can expect. There's very little benefit to using VRR on a Mac. Almost nothing actually works with it. So just shut it off. It's only useful for games anyway. Are you gaming on your Mac? If so, and you are experience the problem I described, you need a better monitor. I suggest using a Freesync monitor that makes it onto the nVidia "Gsync Compatible" certified list, as they do individual testing to ensure all claimed capabilities are really working at which point gsync mode will just work with the freesync monitors. Basically doing the hard QA work for us.
If VRR isn't the issue, then it's likely your adapter. I have had many Thunderbolt display adapters over the years and most of them are trash. I have found one good DisplayPort 1.4 adapter and it's from a brand whose other adapters were also trash. You can't even go by brand, you have to go by individual product. I have had several Belkin adapters and they were the most annoying because they would work fine at first but start flaking out after a few weeks, perhaps from heat or something.
BTW, the great DP adapter I found is this https://www.newegg.com/startech-com-cdp2dp/p/N82E16812400893?Item=N82E16812400893&Tpk=12-400-893 and I know, it says 4k 60hz and it sounds unimpressive. Another problem with these products is they describe themselves in a way they think will sell but not necessarily what is accurate and that even includes claiming lower specs than are real. I am currently running a 4k 120hz display (Acer XV273K) with this adapter with zero issues, it fully supports VRR and (separately, limitation of freesync) HDR. No issues. It has been the most reliable displayport adapter I've had in years and it has been "in service" on my m1 machines for nearly a year now.
If VRR isn't the issue, then it's likely your adapter. I have had many Thunderbolt display adapters over the years and most of them are trash. I have found one good DisplayPort 1.4 adapter and it's from a brand whose other adapters were also trash. You can't even go by brand, you have to go by individual product. I have had several Belkin adapters and they were the most annoying because they would work fine at first but start flaking out after a few weeks, perhaps from heat or something.
BTW, the great DP adapter I found is this https://www.newegg.com/startech-com-cdp2dp/p/N82E16812400893?Item=N82E16812400893&Tpk=12-400-893 and I know, it says 4k 60hz and it sounds unimpressive. Another problem with these products is they describe themselves in a way they think will sell but not necessarily what is accurate and that even includes claiming lower specs than are real. I am currently running a 4k 120hz display (Acer XV273K) with this adapter with zero issues, it fully supports VRR and (separately, limitation of freesync) HDR. No issues. It has been the most reliable displayport adapter I've had in years and it has been "in service" on my m1 machines for nearly a year now.
Flickering happened on average once a day during 30 seconds on the new display, a Dell U3223QE connected with usb-c to my Mac Studio but not when I use this display with a Displayport cable connected to my good old Mac Pro 2009. Perhaps it's software related? It began after installing the Dell Display Manager on my Mac Studio. Yesterday I did a software update of DDM. So far so good. I will let you know if my problem is solved.
I have the Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra Chip and use it with an NEC MultiSync PA322UHD Monitor. I had a terrible flickering with the screen intermittently going full black and then back on in 1-2 seconds. This was very intermittent. I replaced the HDMI cable and it improved for a while and is now back full force.
I strongly urge everyone with this problem to flood Apple with problem reports. Otherwise there will be no fix.
Hey guys! I just found this option on my Benq PD2725U, "RGB Range" it was set to AUTO and when I change it to FULL all flickering just stops. I havent done my homework on this just yet but here is an article on the subject:
www.benq.com
Also I think the display colours is a tad more flat with this option on FULL, which makes sense, Im going to do a recalibration and see what happens.
UPDATE: Flickering is back. Crap.
Full RGB vs. Limited RGB: Is There a Difference?
For many PC monitor users who enjoy gaming and movie watching in addition to pure computing, full and limited RGB presents a major issue. There’s no magic fix, but knowing the basics will help a lot.
Also I think the display colours is a tad more flat with this option on FULL, which makes sense, Im going to do a recalibration and see what happens.
UPDATE: Flickering is back. Crap.
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How to Fix Mac M1/M2 External Monitor Flicker?
Mac M1 and M2 users sometimes encounter image flicker when connecting their Mac device to an external monitor. We offer a handy guide for resolving this issue with a few simple steps.
Better just to use my old Atari system.
How to Fix Mac M1/M2 External Monitor Flicker?
Mac M1 and M2 users sometimes encounter image flicker when connecting their Mac device to an external monitor. We offer a handy guide for resolving this issue with a few simple steps.www.benq.com
That should not necessary and is an Apple problem. Even a BenQ user should not have to jump through hoops to stop flicker.
I have an M1Ultra Mac Studio. Initially the screen flickering on and off drove me nuts. i purchased and installed HDMI cable clamps for both ends and the frequency of the flickering diminished greatly! It is not gone but I can live with a short monitor blackout on the average of 1 every hour or so.
It is my supposition that the HDMI connector on the Mac Studios is not deep enough and does not firmly grip the HDMI cable end. Note: I have tried this with 5 different HDMI cables each from a different manufacturer.
I had no screen flickering on my Mac Studio connected with a HdMI cable to a HP 27fw monitor, but I do have occasionally screen flickering with a USB-c cable connected to a Dell U3223qe. It seems to be software related, because when I close the browser windows the screen flickering stops.
I have the screen flicker issue when using Mac Studio (base version) and Samsung Monitor 32" UHD (60 Hz). From my observation, the problem occurs if there is a change from dark to light (and vice versa). For example: in action movies, bright changes a lot. Here are my records
1.
2.
I share this monitor with my Mac Pro (core i9), but it doesn't have any issues. Definitely, the problem is not due to my monitor or HDMI cable.
I figured out that in the Displays setting, if I turn the High Dynamic Range option on, the problem solves (Screenshot is below). Unfortunately, I got another issue, HDR option makes my monitor dark than usual
Seem the root cause is due to either MacOS or Apple Silicon chip, seem some monitor makers do aware this, for example BenQ https://www.benq.com/en-us/knowledg...o-fix-mac-m1-m2-external-monitor-flicker.html
Update:
- Change color profile can solve too
1.
I share this monitor with my Mac Pro (core i9), but it doesn't have any issues. Definitely, the problem is not due to my monitor or HDMI cable.
I figured out that in the Displays setting, if I turn the High Dynamic Range option on, the problem solves (Screenshot is below). Unfortunately, I got another issue, HDR option makes my monitor dark than usual
Seem the root cause is due to either MacOS or Apple Silicon chip, seem some monitor makers do aware this, for example BenQ https://www.benq.com/en-us/knowledg...o-fix-mac-m1-m2-external-monitor-flicker.html
Update:
- Change color profile can solve too
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I had this problem with a Mac Studio M12 Ultra. After trying 4 different new HDMI cables I decided the HDMI port on the back of the Mac Studio is too shallow and the cable was wiggling. After adding two HDMI cable attachments to stabilize the HDMI cable I now get a flicker on average of 1 or 2 times a day - the screen goes black for ~ 2-3 seconds and then pops right back. I do believe that this is a genuine problem that Apple should have worked out before releasing the Mac Studio.
I have a new mac studio m1 ultra. Getting screen flickering.. Seems to be getting worse now. At first was like once an hour, now I'm seeing it as often as 3 times a minute.
I have ruled out everything except the mac studio. Cables. Monitors. Monitor ports.
I have high-end Asus gaming monitor with display port and hdmi. Until I bought this studio I was using a imac pro in display port 1 and a high-end window gaming rig in display 2. NO PROBLEMS.
I have now tried my mac studio in both display ports using both know good cables. I've bought another high-end usb-c to displayport cable and tried it. I've tried usb-c to HDMI to both hdmi ports in my monitor, again using several known good cables.
Absolutely something up with mac studio. If I don't find a fix or an update doesn't make this going away I'm taking in to the apple store and if they can't fix it see about getting my money back.
3 times in a second while I'm wired into code is completely unacceptable.
I have ruled out everything except the mac studio. Cables. Monitors. Monitor ports.
I have high-end Asus gaming monitor with display port and hdmi. Until I bought this studio I was using a imac pro in display port 1 and a high-end window gaming rig in display 2. NO PROBLEMS.
I have now tried my mac studio in both display ports using both know good cables. I've bought another high-end usb-c to displayport cable and tried it. I've tried usb-c to HDMI to both hdmi ports in my monitor, again using several known good cables.
Absolutely something up with mac studio. If I don't find a fix or an update doesn't make this going away I'm taking in to the apple store and if they can't fix it see about getting my money back.
3 times in a second while I'm wired into code is completely unacceptable.
Hang on, so this flickering also happens with a Mac Studio connected to a Studio Display ???
Same problem and behavior with HDMI, I thought it was the connector. At least in my case, it turns out the Mac Studio is VERY sensitive to static electricity. Thinking the Mac Studio's HDMI signal strength could be too low, I tried two different HDMI signal booster but it was not compatible.