Big Picture Mode Flickering

[PhatCarrot]

Hi,

Ever since buying a new laptop and using Big Picture Mode, I get extreme amounts of flickering. It's getting to the point where it's barely usable because it's so constant and intense. I have a Dell XPS 15, and its resolution is 3200x1800, so that may be related. I have noticed that if I don't tick "Disable display scaling" in Steam's properties, Big Picture Mode looks extremely blurry and almost 'out of focus'. So I know it already has some problems with high DPI screens, but I'm wondering if anyone knows how to fix this annoying flickering.

Thanks!

EDIT: Here's the fix which I figured out and posted in the comments:
1. Right click on the desktop, "Nvidia Control Panel".
2. In the left panel, make sure "Manage 3D Settings" is selected.
3. Choose the "Program Settings" tab.
4. Select "Valve Steam (steam.exe) in the first drop down menu. (If it's not there, press the "Add" button then find "steam.exe".
5. Under "2. Select the preferred graphics processor", select "Integrated graphics".

I still have a lot of problems with steam games and the XPS 15, such as a lot of games in a big black border when played at a lower resolution. Any help would be appreciated.

[halfskye]

I'm experiencing the same issue with my Dell XPS 15 too, and my resolution is also set to 3200x1800. I'll try a couple different resolutions here to see if it rectifies the problem.

[physicraftls]

Same issue. Latest Dell XPS 15, 3200 x 1800.

[PhatCarrot]

Good news, I finally figured out the solution!

1. Right click on the desktop, "Nvidia Control Panel".
2. In the left panel, make sure "Manage 3D Settings" is selected.
3. Choose the "Program Settings" tab.
4. Select "Valve Steam (steam.exe) in the first drop down menu. (If it's not there, press the "Add" button then find "steam.exe".
5. Under "2. Select the preferred graphics processor", select "Integrated graphics".

Done! Hope this helps, been bothering me for nearly 6 months now. Valve support told me to reinstall everything, which only resulted in a loss of save files, wish they'd knew about this!

[PhatCarrot]

Oh also, no need tick "Disable display scaling", should be fine without it!

[PhatCarrot]

Originally posted by Camo halfskye:

I'm experiencing the same issue with my Dell XPS 15 too, and my resolution is also set to 3200x1800.

Originally posted by physicraftls:

Same issue.

Not sure if either of you saw my last post, realised I needed to reply.

[halfskye]

Hey PhatCarrot, thank you for the help! That fix ended up working out great for me as I'm no longer experiencing that flickering effect in Big Picture.

Note: I ended up having to restart my computer afterwards because the effect didn't work immediately. Though this might just have required restarting Steam as opposed to my whole system (just to get the renderer to restart).

Where do you set the "Disable display scaling" setting by the way?

Thanks again for the fix!

[pidge2k]

I work for NVIDIA software QA team. We are having a difficult time reproducing this issue. Are users experiencing this problem have display scaling enabled? If so what setting? Any other setting that might help us reproduce this issue?

[PhatCarrot]

Originally posted by Camo halfskye:

Where do you set the "Disable display scaling" setting by the way?

Sorry, forgot to reply! If you right click on 'steam.exe', then go to 'properties', then the 'compatibility' tab, the option is at the bottom.

Originally posted by Pidge:

I work for NVIDIA software QA team. We are having a difficult time reproducing this issue. Are users experiencing this problem have display scaling enabled? If so what setting? Any other setting that might help us reproduce this issue?

I don't have the 'Disable Display Scaling' option ticked and it's working, so I think there's issues with it ticked. From what I can tell though, it seems to be a Dell XPS 15 specific issue. I did a lot of research and found similar issues, but never my exact one because no one had this laptop and was trying Big Picture Mode. I don't know much about graphics cards though, so it could easily be something more to do with the particular configuration XPS 15's have.

[CyberDrac]

Thank you so much, this was driving me nuts. 880M in my machine (XMG not Dell) but unusable due to flickering until I applied the setting suggested here.

[PhatCarrot]

Originally posted by CyberDrac @ Home:

Thank you so much, this was driving me nuts. 880M in my machine (XMG not Dell) but unusable due to flickering until I applied the setting suggested here.

Glad I could help, it frustrated me for months, was so relieved I came across the solution!

[Moth]

Yusss

[CurtisEFlush]

Originally posted by Pidge:

I work for NVIDIA software QA team. We are having a difficult time reproducing this issue. Are users experiencing this problem have display scaling enabled? If so what setting? Any other setting that might help us reproduce this issue?

NVIDIA 870M in ASUS ROG G750 series laptop

Big Picture with default settings after installing Steam fresh; slight flickering on main menu pages, not much of an issue; click games; and BAM, flickering so bad I can't navigate to exit Big picture because I can't see anything long enough...


Changed settings as recommended by PhatCarrot above, and it totally solved the problem...

[Bad Karma 300]

Originally posted by Pidge:

I work for NVIDIA software QA team. We are having a difficult time reproducing this issue. Are users experiencing this problem have display scaling enabled? If so what setting? Any other setting that might help us reproduce this issue?

Brand new '14 Razer Blade Pro. Opened fresh in box today, fresh steam install, no settings changed, only thing I did was update all MS stuff, update NVIDIA, and haven't touched any settings related to GPU, everything is default.

The second I click big picture the splash screen is ok, but as soon as it goes to it's dashboard flicker city.

[Dawiiz]

Originally posted by Pidge:

I work for NVIDIA software QA team. We are having a difficult time reproducing this issue. Are users experiencing this problem have display scaling enabled? If so what setting? Any other setting that might help us reproduce this issue?

I hope this gets fixed as the work around runs steam on the integrated gfx card and thats not ideal. (I'm on a 880M)

[MrTallShaw]

Seems to be a Dell XPS 15 issue. I have one as well and am experiencing the same problem, as well as others online.