simpleblue
July 31st, 2011, 05:08 PM
To some this may sound picky or non-existant but once you notice it you may change your mind...
What flickering am I talking about?
I'm talking about when you use the global menu system in Unity 11.04 and you switch from one tab to the next (say switching from 'file' to 'edit' or 'view') using the right or left arrow key or by dragging your mouse accross then tabs while holding the left mouse button.
The intial tab draw, when it first appears, is fine. It just 'pops' into place, as if out of nowhere, but as soon as you go to another tab or you let go of that tab then it flickers white, then disappears. That quick flashing of white is the flicker. Perhaps it wouldn't be so noticable if it flickered a dark charcoal grey as the default menu background is coloured, but it does not. It flickers an all out white, and even on my Asus i7 gaming laptop it's easily noticable, so I don't think it's a speed issue.
If you want to see what I mean and you don't have Unity then take a close look at this video between 5s - 20s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFvk1I-uUXw
I think that while some people might not notice this flickering it may still be registered in the mind as a feeling that something is just not right, or that the distro just doesn't feel 'polished' or stable enough.
For comparison, take a look at Gnome Shell. I've yet to see a noticable flicker in it. The menu at the top 'pops' on and off perfectly. It goes to add to the overall feeling of a solid, polished look. For this reason I would choose to show a newbie Gnome Shell instead. The same goes for playing Youtube videos. I remember they used to flicker when transitioning to fullscreen after the fullscreen button was pressed. Upon installing flashsquare there was absolutely not flicker. The thought that came to my mind was, "Damn, this is sooo smooth. This is starting to look very high quality."
Anyways, I have a feeling this is going to end up with more comments about me being unneccissarily picky, and perhaps in some ways I hope that's true, though I have a feeling that this flickering is unwelcome to many others. But please, do me a favour and look for yourself. Play around a little with different systems and really try to pay close attention to what's redrawing during switching menus... Then, if you don't agree, or you agree, comment. Don't just say, "Well, looks fine to me" or "I don't notice it", without even comparing or trying it out.
What flickering am I talking about?
I'm talking about when you use the global menu system in Unity 11.04 and you switch from one tab to the next (say switching from 'file' to 'edit' or 'view') using the right or left arrow key or by dragging your mouse accross then tabs while holding the left mouse button.
The intial tab draw, when it first appears, is fine. It just 'pops' into place, as if out of nowhere, but as soon as you go to another tab or you let go of that tab then it flickers white, then disappears. That quick flashing of white is the flicker. Perhaps it wouldn't be so noticable if it flickered a dark charcoal grey as the default menu background is coloured, but it does not. It flickers an all out white, and even on my Asus i7 gaming laptop it's easily noticable, so I don't think it's a speed issue.
If you want to see what I mean and you don't have Unity then take a close look at this video between 5s - 20s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFvk1I-uUXw
I think that while some people might not notice this flickering it may still be registered in the mind as a feeling that something is just not right, or that the distro just doesn't feel 'polished' or stable enough.
For comparison, take a look at Gnome Shell. I've yet to see a noticable flicker in it. The menu at the top 'pops' on and off perfectly. It goes to add to the overall feeling of a solid, polished look. For this reason I would choose to show a newbie Gnome Shell instead. The same goes for playing Youtube videos. I remember they used to flicker when transitioning to fullscreen after the fullscreen button was pressed. Upon installing flashsquare there was absolutely not flicker. The thought that came to my mind was, "Damn, this is sooo smooth. This is starting to look very high quality."
Anyways, I have a feeling this is going to end up with more comments about me being unneccissarily picky, and perhaps in some ways I hope that's true, though I have a feeling that this flickering is unwelcome to many others. But please, do me a favour and look for yourself. Play around a little with different systems and really try to pay close attention to what's redrawing during switching menus... Then, if you don't agree, or you agree, comment. Don't just say, "Well, looks fine to me" or "I don't notice it", without even comparing or trying it out.