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P: Cursor stuttering & screen flickering in Photoshop on high refresh rate G-sync monitors

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
October 24, 2019
51 replies
65724 views

If you're a nvidia gsync user and experiencing mouse stuttering in Ps (and all Adobe apps), try turning off gsync to see if that resolves the issue.
Basically what happens is that any activity in an Adobe app will result in 2-3 seconds of micro-cursor stuttering (looks like frame rate dropping) and the occasional 3-4 seconds of cursor freeze. Disabling gsync fixes the issue. This behavior appears only in Adobe apps and none other.

{Thread title edited by moderator}

Windows

Wurstkrapfen

Inspiring

Similar issue for me, not with the cursor but with flickering, Photoshop turns on Adaptive Sync for the screens refresh rate, as soon as I open an image. Every change of the refresh rate (triggered by moving my cursor) causes a brief dim of the screen.

Even though Adaptive Sync it's turned of in the main Windows 11 settings. When I disable G-Sync globally it does not happen anymore.

What's going on, what is the optimal workaround in 2025?

C

carlom22578264

Participant

The most reliable solution for me is just turning off G-sync straight up, but I do play games on the same computer I use Photoshop on, so always going to the control panel every time I play and use Photoshop to switch G-sync gets annoying.

Fortunately, someone made a program to switch G-sync on and off more convenient: GsyncSwitch by kwizatz88 on GitHub. The program allows you to switch G-sync, as well as other monitor tech, directly from the System Tray.

M

Mohamed28663683dmnn

Participant

I was experiencing the same issue while using Photoshop 2024, at first i tried unchecking "use Graphics processor" from the performance tab, and it was fixed however I know that this can affect my overall experience with PS, then i came across this fix in Technology Previews tab I checked "Older GPU mode (pre 2016)" since I am using Geforce GTX 1060 6GB GPU card which was released in 2016. and the issue was resolved without having to disable my graphics card use in PS.

hope this helps.

DeDaDo

Inspiring

Hi Sameer,

I am afraid the stutter problem came back 😞

"deactivate native canvas" did the trick.

But now, after a few updates "deactivate native canvas" just vanished from the Edit/Preferences/Technology Preview menu and the stuttering came back to life.

Can Adobe please put that option back into that menu? Thanks!

EDIT:

Enabling the last option "Älterer GPU-Modus (vor 2016)" ("Older GPU mode (before 2016)" in german, I guess) in that said menu and a restart - works!

DeDaDo

Inspiring

Hi folks!

Unfortunately I have to amend my claim, where "deactivate native canvas" did the trick.

Now, after a few updates "deactivate native canvas" just vanished from the Edit/Preferences/Technology Preview menu and the stuttering came back to life.

WTH, Adobe?!

Taking away useful solutions is definitely NOT the way of making software better...

Can Adobe please put that option back into that menu? Thanks!

EDIT:

Enabling the last option "Älterer GPU-Modus (vor 2016)" (in german) in that said menu and a restart - works!

DeDaDo

Inspiring

@PECourtejoie Merci beaucoup!

Checking "Deactivate Native Canvas" did the trick for me! If I check that option and restart PS, the stutter is gone!! ❤️ Thank you! Now I can keep G-Sync and GPU support in PS enabled! 😄

DeDaDo

Inspiring

Aloha zusammen!

Ich weiß nicht, ob es zum Unterhaltungstyp "Fehler" passt, aber...

Wenn ich den Mauszeiger von der Fläche mit dem zu bearbeitenden Bild zu den Fenstern (Farbfelder, Eigenschaften, Ebenen, etc..) wechsle, genauer gesagt, ich überquere die Scrollleiste nach rechts in die Fenster, dann ruckelt die ganze App inkl. des Mauszeigers für ein paar Sekunden. Dann ist wieder alles in Ordnung und ich kann in den Fenstern weiterarbeiten.

Auf dem Weg zurück ruckelt es nicht.

Das Gleiche habe ich beim "Betreten" der Menü-/Symbolleiste oben.

Das Spiel wiederholt sich jedes Mal, wenn ich den oben beschriebenen Weg gehe.

Ich konnte das Problem lösen, indem ich unter (Bearbeiten >) Voreinstellungen > Leistung > den Haken "Grafikprozessor verwenden" wegmache.

Schade eigentlich. Ich hätte gern meine RTX 4090 im Hintergrund gehabt, die mich unterstützt.

Ich benutze PS 25.5.0.

Die nVidia-Grafiktreiber ist erst kürzilch aktualisiert worden.

Weiß jemand, wie ich den Grafikprozessor verwende UND keine Ruckler auftreten?

Lieben Dank für einen Gedankenanstoß! 😆

Sameer K

Community Manager

Hey, @DeDaDo. I'll need more info to help you figure this out. Please share the system info from Photoshop Help > System info > Copy & paste into a text document > upload & attach here.

Does this happen after a specific series of steps? If disabling GPU helps, you can follow the variety of suggestions: https://adobe.ly/3TtsbcG

There are a few things you can check at the OS level.
1 - Try disabling G-Sync from the Nvidia Control panel.

2 - Try changing the Screen Refresh rate in Windows Settings & check the same in the Nvidia Control panel for Photoshop specifically.

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
Sameer K

DeDaDo

Inspiring

Hi Sameer,

thanks for reaching out! 🙂

As I have a RTX 4090 I think that this graphics card is quite compatible 😄

I even did a screen capture video of my pointer while "crossing the border" to the property windows on the right.

I am seeing a stuttering pointer but in the video there's nothing stuttering.

Disabling G-Sync works. No stuttering in Photoshop anymore.

But I don't think this can be the answer as I am gaming more often on this machine than using PS.

The screen refresh rate of my desktop is 144 Hz - just like my monitor. Via the nVidia Control Panel I had set the refresh rate for PS to 144 Hz a while ago, as well as VSync to "on".

Undoing those two settings unfortunately remained without success.

Only disabling G-Sync seems to help. But sorry, that is no option for me, because the older PS versions worked fine even WITH G-Sync enabled! 😞

System info is attached.

Can I do something else to solve this problem? 😞

Thank you very much!

DeDaDo.txt