Windows 11 is getting multiple monitor refresh rate improvements

notaseraf@unilem.org to Technology@lemmy.world – 131 points –
Windows 11 is getting multiple monitor refresh rate improvements
theverge.com

I hope this fixes my 7900xtx’s 100w idle power issue…

26

So they finally have caught up with Linux. Noice!

Have they? VRR support in Linux is still a total crapshoot in my experience. VRR doesn't work at all with multiple displays in X.

I switched to Wayland and everything has been working smoothly.

Which DE? I am using Plasma and notice some weird things like flickering screen when I am playing YouTube videos in Fullscreen with VRR.

I'm using Wayland KDE Plasma as well and have no issues (on an AMD GPU)

X is legacy software that just needs to die.

And don't even get me started on the window and compositing manager with the same name.

Is this a joke? X can’t do VRR at all and I have yet to find a Wayland DE that doesn’t require a separate server pinned to each monitor. And neither support HDR.

Xorg works fine with VRR on a single display although no one should use Xorg, it's legacy software and no longer in development.

Wayland VRR works out of the box with most popular DEs like KDE or Gnome.

HDR can be added to gamescope, but be aware it's still considered experimental.

AMD experience was nothing but flawless, only Nvidia was buggy due to their drivers, but they're preparing Wayland support soon.

Wayland VRR works out of the box with most popular DEs like KDE or Gnome

Neither KDE nor GNOME even detect either of my 144Hz panels as capable of it. Logs indicate that amdgpu failed to parse their EDIDs. Forcing the mode with a kernel command option causes link training to fail altogether. Meanwhile, the exact same system, panels, and cables running Windows works perfectly.

AMD experience was nothing but flawless

See above. I’ve also tried NVDIA and had the same experience - neither HDR high-refresh panel are usable in Linux, but both work on Windows.

Plus there’s the fact that about 50% of the time, when the panels power off from idle, they never come back on. This is apparently a known issue on AMD that’s been around for years but nobody seems to care to fix - everyone just says to disable screen blanking.

And don’t even get me started on heterogenous DPI.

11 more...

Can't wait for this to be rolled out with bugs and spending 30 minutes tracking down the reg code to disable it.

I wonder if this actually fixes the ancient dwm bug that causes simultaneous motion on multiple monitors with different refresh rates to make the whole window manager choppy. That bug has existed since at least Vista, and it sucks. Nothing like buying a 240Hz monitor and not being able to watch videos on my secondary one without bringing them both down to what looks like 60.

Didn't even know this was a thing, and since I live by multiple monitors, this makes me glad I've held off.

Improvements as in better than W10 too? Or just a resolution to issues with W11?

Yea the idle power draw is fine if I only attach one monitor. But I have 3…

Not much can be done about that. If you're not hitting a vertical blanking interval compatibility issue, you're likely hitting a bandwidth constraint requiring maximum mclk at idle to sustain those displays.

With that said, the idle power improvements have hit various display configurations, including many dual monitor setups.