Affinity Photo, MacBook Pro 4K monitor blackout problem

[webloader]

Hi

I am trying to diagnose a really difficult compatibility issue whereby 4K external monitors temporarily (i.e. for 2-3 seconds) black out on when using certain features (clone brush tool is the easiest to make the problem occur)

 

First thing to mention - this is not an Affinity specific problem, I can reproduce the same issue in Lightroom and Photoshop, and it is not image file specific.  

 

My reason for posting here is to try and determine if the problem is unique to my setup

 

Steps tried so far

• 3 different 4K monitors (2 x Dell P2415Q, 1 x LG27UD68P) running at the default resolution (non scaled, HiDPI, 60 FPS)
• 3 different MacBook Pro 13 (all Early 2015 model with Intel Iris 6100 GPU). 3rd machine was a factory fresh unit, upgraded to latest version of the OS, installed Affinity and copied over a sample file - nothing else on the unit.
• 4 different Displayport cables (all different brands)

 

The issue is obvious when it occurs, and is relatively easy to reproduce. I have loaded up a 16M RAW file from my camera, I don't do anything in the develop module so it is all just defaults. I then zoom the image to around 300 percent and just hit the space bar to toggle the brush from the circle to the hand tool, and after a few goes at that the screen will blackout maybe 20% of the time.

 

I can only assume that when Affinity Photo does that toggle, there is something that is triggering a bug in the display driver that causes the monitor to lose sync.

 

Can anyone confirm that they are working successfully with no issues using the MBP13 with a 4K monitor?

 

huge thanks and appreciation 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Carpen]

Hi, 

 

Did you ever manage to resolve this?

I'm having the same problem using a Dell P2715Q - This is been happening for over 6 months to the point where I only use affinity if I really need to. 

OS version is 10.13.4 - but it has been happening through several versions now. 

 

It happens frequently, as soon as I reach for a tool, the screen blacks out for a few seconds and then returns. 

 

Any pointers would be fantatic!

 

Many thanks! 

[3djon]

I'm having the same issue on Windows 10 build 19042.804 - Nvidia driver 461.40. Affinity photo version 1.9.1.979 
This issue has been persistent for multiple versions of affinity photo as well.

I can replicate the screen black out simply by zooming in and out of a canvas. 

The issue only happens on my 3440x1440 monitor. (Asus ROG PG348Q) If I use affinity photo on my 4k monitor (Asus TUF VG289) the issue no longer presents itself.

Any help would be greatly apperciated.

[3djon]

UPDATE: Fixed my issue by setting monitor technology to GSYNC, GSYNC Compatible in nvidia control panel -- specifically for affinity photo.
It was originally set to highest refresh rate.

[v_kyr]

On 4/12/2018 at 3:54 PM, Carpen said:

Any pointers would be fantatic!

Related to such problems at least this here for the M1 based Mac Mini is often reported on the net:

Quote

Mac mini M1: Screen problem reports keep pinging

 

The Mac mini may no longer wake up connected displays, as users complain - some have been waiting months for a solution to the problem.

 

The screen operation on the Mac mini with Apple's M1 chip continues to cause problems: the Mac mini wakes up properly when it comes to sleep, but connected displays sometimes remain dark. Only unplugging and reconnecting the screen seems to temporarily help. In some cases, however, this has to be repeated several times until the monitor is controlled correctly again, as users report.

 

The display remains dark

 

The connection of the screen does not seem to make any difference, the error can occur via Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and HDMI, according to various forums, including Apple's support forum. According to their owners, the monitors do not show any abnormalities on other computers, and the replacement of the cable does not seem to bring any change.

 

The problem usually occurs when the Mac has been idle for an extended period of time, such as overnight. To remedy this, some users let the Mac mini continue to run and only the display goes to sleep, then there doesn't seem to be any problems when waking it up. According to individual reports, the dropouts could again be related to the multi-user mode of macOS: Those affected report that the monitors can be woken up normally if only a single user is logged on to the Mac - if several users are logged on, the error occurs again.

 

It remains unclear whether the screen used also plays a role. The screen problem only seems to affect some owners of the Mac mini with an M1 chip - the first reports have been there since the start of sales in November.

 

External monitor issues

 

The use of external screens seems to be one of the few major problem areas of ARM Macs, Apple has already improved several times with operating system updates - for example with regard to missing resolutions on ultrawide displays. Annoying pink squares still seem to be a problem on monitors that are attached to the Mac mini via HDMI. MacOS 11.3 may help, the update is currently still in beta and should be released to the general public in the next few weeks.