P: Second Monitor initially not rendering image clearly.

Bought latest lightroom a few days ago and all the photos are slightly blurry. Its like Im working on a 100kb file not a large RAW file. Photos sharp on camera LCD and as a test I downloaded photos to my old PC and ran through Picasa and all 100% sharp! I need Lightroom for RAW photos and since Im new to Lightroom this is making it really difficult. Tried clarity slider like someone suggested but this just darkens the blur. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Bought Lightroom 5.3 a few days ago. Imported photos and even though pin sharp on camera LCD blurry in lightroom. Not knowing if camera or mac I loaded photos onto old PC through Picasa and everything sharp! Need lightroom for RAW shots but its as if Im working on a 100kb photo not huge RAW file. Still learning Lightroom and this is making it a nightmare!
Any help would be appreciated. (Tried clarity but that just darkened the blur).

Live mode in the 2nd display appears to use preview data from different files than the Library previews. What's peculiar is that if the Library previews need updating it slows down Live mode when browsing and the 'Loading' icon appears. If I click on the image to lock it in the film strip and then switch to the Library module the 'Loading' icon pops up again, which indicates the 'Live' view Develop preview is in a different cache.

This was confirmed when I noticed one of the images looked different (sky color less deep blue) in the Library module and it did not build a new preview. I had to manually select 'Discard 1:1 Previews' and then 'Build 1:1 Previews.' Then the Library preview matched the Develop preview image perfectly.



I am also on a Windows 7 64 bit system and LR5.3 behaves fairly well concerning this issue. When browsing at 1:1 Zoom view in the Develop module I see the softness issue about every 25 or more images and then it seems to stick for one or two more and go away. Since it "comes and goes" so quickly I really can't troubleshoot what's happening.

PS, thanks for the tip about the Live option. I never knew / noticed it and it's very useful!

I also tried the Live option, and it's interesting. Yes, when you mouse over a photo in the filmstrip it displays at full resolution on the second window, but select that photo, and it blurs and does not go back to full resolution.

The simplest way to force full resolution is to go to the Details tool. This on its on is sometimes enough, but otherwise, move the sharpening slider one notch and move it back and full resolution happens immediately. At least, that's how it is for me (Win 7).

Doesn't this indicate that the issue is actually quite a trivial one? Internally, some trigger is perhaps looping on a re-display.

When browsing images in the Develop module it may take over 5 seconds for the image to stabilize. on the secondary display.

What happens if you select 'Live' from the top toolbar in the secondary display. I just tried this and I can review the images at 1:1 real-time by running the cursor over the filmstrip at the bottom of LR. Looks like a pretty quick way to review 1:1 sharpness of multiple images. I'm not sure what the difference is if any - It looks the same as the Develop Loupe view to me!

Tried what you suggested Todd. After re-importing 10 raw images as new and having 1:1 previews built on import I am still seeing cases where the 2nd monitor in develop mode shows a blurry versus sharp image. By switching to library and back to develop, the 2nd monitor will show a sharp image. But then when browsing within develop mode, it reverts back to blurry at times. It's as if develop mode is pulling the wrong preview at times. You even see cases if you watch carefully where the 2nd monitor images IS initially sharp in develop and then pops back to the blurry image. This is very strange and frustrating. Now I can't trust what's shown on my 2nd monitor w/o double checking what is "real" versus this strange display anomaly. I started to delete a whole bunch of "soft" images using 2nd monitor and luckly found this issue first. I don't recall this with LR 5.2, although others have been reporting something similar way back to LR 4.x.

The issue was present on my single monitor Windows 7 64 bit system with LR5.2, but NOT with LR5.3. At 1:1 view in the Develop module the secondary display loupe image (set to ~1920x1080) takes 4 to 5 seconds to stabilize and it always looks as sharp as the Library module. Since I'm not using an actual dual-monitor system the problem may still exist, but clearly something has changed for the better with LR5.3 on my system.

Try this test. Copy and paste 5-10 raw images that exhibit the issue into a new folder using Windows Explorer. Import the new folder into LR and let it build the 1:1 Previews. Don't apply any other Develop settings to the images. Do you still see the secondary display softness with these images when browsing at 1:1 view in the Develop module?

Todd I rebuilt 1:1 previews for set of images and still had blurry views on 2nd monitor when in develop mode. Only by going back to library mode did the image on the 2nd monitor go sharp, and then stayed sharp for that one image. Library mode seeming to temporarily "reset" to the clear image. As soon as changing images in develop mode, the 2nd monitor went blurry again. I'm running LR 5.3 on Win7 64 bit. Can you confirm? Thanks.

Seems to be in develop mode only. If going back to library mode the image goes sharp and then stays sharp in develop for THAT image. However, when switching to another image in develop mode, that new image then goes blurry. This is with LR 5.3 on Win7 64-bit.