Lightroom secondary display window constantly flickering

[mijbil250456]

I'm having real problems using the secondary display in Lightroom since updating to a new M3 Macbook Pro, with dual Apple studio displays. Running LR 13.2, which was fine on my old imac.

I normally use one display for the Lightroom main screen and develop module, and the second display with the Lightroom secondary display in Loupe view. This has always worked really well till now, however all if does now is constantly flicker, especially when moving between images. The main trigger seems to be changing the rating of an image, and then the dsecondary display disappears momentarily.

Sometimes it just disappears,  and I need to click on the main window for it to reappear.

It is not my montor connection, as only the LR window flickers, not anything else on the display. 

I've tried running the main window and secondary display window on the same screen, but it still disappears in the same way, but then bounces back up in the middle of my second display, not where I positioned it. It's all very frustrating!

Does anyone know how to fix this? 

[JohanElzenga]

This is a known problem, reported several times. Adobe has not yet confirmed it as a bug, however. No fix is known.

[mijbil250456]

Thank you - at least it isn't just me then. 

[mijbil250456]

How do we get it escalated to a bug, as it clearly is? It's incredibly frustrating to work with. First the issue with not being able to move form one image to the next in the last version, and now this in the latests version. Editing is a real pain. I'm having to reposititon the secondary display window after moving from one image to the next every time as it keeps bouncing and then depositing itself over the main window. 

[JohanElzenga]

There is nothing to escalate. Adobe monitors these forums so they are aware of this issue. The problem is often that what you and I see constantly, may not happen for other users, even if they appear to use the same hardware and software. If Adobe can't reproduce it, then they can't fix it. Frustrating, but there is little we can do about that (except try to pinpoint what exactly causes this).

[Thadde]

I report the same issue as well. McBook M1 Max, 64GB ram, second monitor connected via HDMI.

Yes, this is to be escalated.
If multiple users are reporting this behaviour Adobe should contact those users.

Johan you are from Adobe? If no, how do you know they way they work?
if yes, start resolving this issue: it is a total show stopper, as this affects my work flow.

[JohanElzenga]

I am not working for Adobe, but I do have some insights that I cannot disclose. Adobe is aware of this, but the problem is that they can't reproduce it. That does not surprise me, because my wife has an (almost) idential computer and she does not see it either, so this must be something that is very specific and that makes it so difficult to track (and so to fix). Sorry, I wish I could tell you something more positive.

[Conrad_C]

Which means, if anyone in the thread can isolate a consistent way to make the problem both happen and not happen at will, then pass that along because that is what Adobe needs to know. It has to be a specific thing that can definitely make the problem happen on a system where it doesn’t already happen, or a specific thing that can definitely make the problem not happen on a system where it is happening.

(I use Secondary Display almost all the time on my second display and it never flickers, but I am using an M1 Pro MacBook Pro so it is not exactly the same hardware. Maybe it only affects some configurations.)

[Phillip38251924wwlt]

I am experiencing on Macbook Pro M2 using Lightroom and secondary display (HPz24n). The issue appears on both HDMI and Displayport. The monitor itself is not flickering - and when the flickering occurs, even the icon for the second display in the main lightroom window on my desktop (the main laptop screen) flickers. The issue is most apparent in "loupe" view.

[Thadde]

Also, secondary display does not go in to full screen mode.
The OSX top bar stays in view in secondory full screen.

[JohanElzenga]

Also, secondary display does not go in to full screen mode.
The OSX top bar stays in view in secondory full screen.

By @Thadde

That depends on your MacOS system settings. If you have enabled the option that displays are different 'spaces', then that is indeed what will happen. If you disable that option, then you will only have a menu bar on the main screen, not on the secondary screen.

[Thadde]

This is a correct answer.
thank you for that!

I wonder why i did not know this.

[Thadde]

for your information: I have not enabled this option in any way.

[JohanElzenga]

If you see a menu bar on each screen, then you have enabled this option. Maybe you did not do this purposely, it could be a default setting, but the option is enabled.

[Lumigraphics]

I am not seeing this on an M1 mini with two displays. My secondary display is always in grid view, I use my 4k LG display for Loupe view.

[noram47758603]

Just in case this helps someone else searching for an answer for this - I found suggested in another similar thread that turning off GPU Acceleration stops the flickering from happening.  Tested just now and it seems to be accurate.  OBV what this does to your performance will depend on your computer's build etc., but if secondary display is essential you may find the trade-off to be worth it.  

[JohanElzenga]

Lots of things in Lightroom Classic are GPU accelerated. You do not want to turn this off..

[mijbil250456]

Thank you- turning off GPU acceleration has helped, and I haven’t seen a massive drop in performance, only preview generation speed, which I can live with as opposed to the secondary display disappearing constantly.

Reading the details GPU acceleration only works on the main display, so it would make sense that the two displays are getting different levels of acceleration. However it is still certainly a bug which I wish Adobe would resolve, as it never happened before v13.

[Ian Lyons]

@mijbil250456 

Preview generation does not currently use GPU acceleration. Therefore, not sure why turning GPU off adversely impacted on preview generation.

[mijbil250456]

Because I have another issue where despite previews being generated, the develop pane shows no image, and then they take 10-20 seconds to load each image. Sometimes they don’t load at all, and you have to go back one and forwards again to force Lightroom to show the image. This is on a brand new 2024 M3 max MacBook Pro, so it’s not the computer.

[mk29376512]

Can confirm I have the same issue, M1 Macbook Air, everything latest update. Did not notice this until I recently upgraded to Sonoma, found teh tread looking for a fix.