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foxj.1994
April 1st, 2016, 10:04 AM
So I'm running Kubuntu 15.10, and I'm having problems with screen tearing.

Currently I'm using Chrome as I want to be able to use Netflix, but the problem persists in other browsers too, I don't think it's a Chrome specific issue.
The graphics driver I'm using is the proprietary one (fglrx-updates) for an AMD HD7870. The driver seems fine, I noticed a great performance increase when I selected it with window effects etc. And it's running my screen at 144Hz completely fine.

Anyway, as the title suggests, I'm quite frequently getting laggy screen tearing in videos. Not only does this occur in videos, but sometimes even in pictures (until I refresh) and even when scrolling. It's usually diagonal tearing from bottom left to top right, but not always. Sometimes there's a lot of it.
It doesn't always happen, but does probably 60-70% of the time. It seems to get worse when I have multiple tabs open etc.

I was looking up online for solutions and many people said it could be the compositor, but I couldn't find any fixes that work with the current version of KDE/plasma. I added an exception for firefox and chrome to something for the compositor but I think that was only for fullscreen video, when the problem I'm getting is not only just fullscreen videos, but videos in general and even pictures and text when scrolling (and it didn't seem to work anyway).

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers :)

[edit]
OK so I just tried out Netflix, and I get screen tearing when it's not fullscreen but not any once it's been fullscreen for a couple of seconds. So I guess it must be the compositor? How can I exclude a whole browser from the compositor?

mörgæs
April 2nd, 2016, 09:10 AM
Have you tried a lighter desktop environment like LXDE / Lubuntu?

mc4man
April 3rd, 2016, 12:01 AM
If you have an nvidia gpu then maybe look into using triple buffering, done in xorg.conf

Option "TripleBuffer" "true"

foxj.1994
April 3rd, 2016, 10:25 PM
Have you tried a lighter desktop environment like LXDE / Lubuntu?
No I've not, I don't really want to, whole reason I chose KDE was because I enjoy its UI and configurability. I don't think it's an issue of my PC not being powerful enough for it; it's not been upgraded in a few years but it's still decent enough (Quad core 3.5GHz, 4GB RAM, 7870 -- can run triple A games from say 3-4 years ago on max settings easily).


If you have an nvidia gpu then maybe look into using triple buffering, done in xorg.conf

Option "TripleBuffer" "true"
I don't, I'm afraid :(
My card's an AMD (back when it was ATI) HD7870

mörgæs
April 4th, 2016, 04:27 AM
Testing other desktop environments is often a valuable step in troubleshooting, also if you decide to stay with KDE.

foxj.1994
April 5th, 2016, 12:37 AM
Testing other desktop environments is often a valuable step in troubleshooting, also if you decide to stay with KDE.

Alright I'll do that when I get the chance :) I'll edit this post with my results

him610
April 6th, 2016, 01:45 AM
Experienced a similar problem a couple of months ago. Resolved it by by reducing the display resolution. Have experienced no recurrence since.

QIII
April 6th, 2016, 01:49 AM
Reducing the resolution does not solve the problem. It replaces one undesirable condition with another.

light_yagami2
April 6th, 2016, 01:58 AM
Does it only happen in chrome?