Cannot force ACR 11.2 and above to use OpenGL on Windows 10

[AntonioKosir]

I stumbled upon a post, where someone said you can force Adobe Camera Raw to use either DirectX or OpenGL by editing the crs:gpu_preferred_system="" line in the following file: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\GPU\Camera Raw GPU Config.txt:

However, there's a problem with forcing ACR to use OpenGL on my laptop, if I use any version above ACR 11.1. I change the line to crs:gpu_preferred_system="OpenGL", but ACR ignores it and stays on DirectX anyway. I tried reinstalling PS and ACR, manually deleting the file, but it didn't help. I want to use the OpenGL, because it feels way smoother on my system.

But here's the catch - I don't have this problem on my desktop computer, only on laptop. Here are the specifications:

Desktop computer: AMD FX-4130, 8GB DDR3, Radeon HD 7750 1GB (DirectX 11), Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 64-bit.

Laptop: Intel i3-7010U, 8GB DDR4, hybrid Intel HD 620 + Radeon 520 2GB (DirectX 12), Windows 10 v1809 64-bit, Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 64-bit.

Is the possibility to force OpenGL or DirectX not available anymore? Does ACR 11.2 and above store the GPU settings somewhere else? The graphics card in my laptop can't be the case, since I can force ACR 11.1 and below to use OpenGL just fine. Therefore, the problem probably lies with ACR 11.2's Enhance Details feature, which requires both Windows 10 and DirectX 12, thus forcing ACR to use DirectX all the time.

[Chuck Uebele]

The new ACR requires DirectX 12. The older versions would fall back and use OpenGL, but that not the case anymore, so you can't force it to use one or the other. It has to be DirectX.

[AntonioKosir]

Well, that means either upgrading the graphics card, or sticking with ACR 11.1.

In fact, ACR on DirectX works fine in terms of functionality, but there's a perceptible lag when using the tools - the guiding lines lag behind the mouse cursor (when using Crop or Straighten tools, for example).

Thanks for the answer anyway.

[Chuck Uebele]

Yes, there is a lag, but my computer is getting old.

[AntonioKosir]

Eh, it's me again. I simply couldn't stop digging, and today I found this page:

https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/system-requirements/2019.html

where it clearly states that 11.3 and earlier versions require OpenGL 3.3 or later, but NOTHING about requiring DirectX.

I don't know why Adobe adheres to saying OpenGL can be forced up to 11.3 (via preferred_system line), when it's clearly not the case.

Adobe also states in their blog that OpenGL support was restored to ACR 11.4.1 - I tested it as well, but couldn't force it to OpenGL.

I have to restate that my Windows 10 laptop uses a hybrid, dynamic switchable graphics - integrated Intel GPU, and dedicated AMD GPU. In switchable graphics settings, photoshop.exe is set to use AMD GPU - setting it to Intel GPU makes no difference.

Perhaps ACR is confused by such configuration, since AMD GPU actually uses Intel GPU for final render-to-screen operations (that is, one can't function without the other)?

Also, I have noticed that the problem started with 11.2, which introduced a complete overhaul of ACR preferences window.

The question remains: Why ACR 11.3 can be forced to OpenGL on my Windows 7 computer and not on my Windows 10 laptop, when both Photoshop and ACR versions are exactly the same? Does Windows version play any role here, since Windows 7 doesn't have DirectX 12 so it has to use OpenGL?

Until I find the solution, I will use ACR 11.0 on my laptop. Forced to OpenGL, of course - DirectX is so slow, it's borderline useless for brush adjustments.