Display distortion when opening Designer or Photo

[Ferrangie]

Affinity Photo 1.6.1.93 Windows 10 v1709 build 16299.248 16GB RAM vram 8GB dedicated, 8 shared, nvidia 980M

File: on disk .jpg 1,635KB. In A. Photo: 4002x2711px 1085MP PHOTOSHOP: reports the filesize as 31.3MB in ram (I don't know if that is relevant.)

 

When opened in Affinity Photo, the viewport of the image appears corrupt and pixels change color as mouse is moved around the image. See attached picture. The second image is the original. This does not happen when the same file is opened in PhotoPlusX8 or in Photoshop 6.0 (yes, I am still using 6) or any other image viewing/editing program I've opened it with so far. So, I expect this is a bug in A. Photo. I'm sorry if this topic was previously discussed, but I was unable to locate it in a search of the forum.

 

If there's already a solution, I would appreciate knowing it.

 

[Chris_K]

Hi Ferrangie

 

Is it just this file that is doing tis for you? Are you able to provide the file for us to look into?

 

Thanks

[Ferrangie]

I've found the problem. Please read.

 

It's related to the nVidia driver option "Optimize for Compute Performance". I've tested with driver 390.66 and 390.77. When the option is "On", applied, and the computer has been shut down then booted (a restart is also sufficient), the problem occurred consistently for both Photo and Designer. When the option is "Off" and the computer has been shut down then booted, the problem fails to occur in either program. 

 

It is not a file size or image-data problem. It does not occur exclusively in the Affinity products as I was able to observe the viewport problem in Google Chrome (one time after opening Photo and Designer). Regarding the occurrence of the problem once the nVidia option is ON, opening either Photo or Designer and selecting a new document, opening a previously created document (in Designer), or opening any type of graphics file will show the problem. It does not seem to affect the tools or menus, just the graphics viewport. (Well, in the case of Chrome, it seem to affect its whole display). This problem never exhibited in any of my five other image editors, games, or tools, which I have used since I turned this nVidia option ON as of three days ago. Further, a reboot is required to effect the change in the nVidia driver, turning the problem either on or off. So, I didn't see the issue right away as I hadn't shut my machine off in several days.

 

There is a known condition as reported in the nVidia control panel with the "Optimize for Compute Performance" which likely points to the cause of display error in either Affinity product. It reads "Select Off when graphics features like Sparse Texture are used".

 

By way of recognition: I realize that this problem may entirely be related to configuration, function, or malfunction of my own computer. I do not have a similar rig upon which to test against. But I have been relatively thorough in the description to help you identify and or eliminate the cause of the problem. Or, it may end up on the "Issues Caused By Third Party Software" pinned topic.

 

I only wish I could change the "topic" so others might find it easier. (Hum... I think I was able to change it.)

 

NOTE: The default for the nVidia option is "Off", so it's unlikely many will experience this problem if the problem is indeed related to the video driver setting.

 

[Mark Ingram]

Great report, thanks @Ferrangie. We do use sparse textures, so the NVIDIA advice is correct in this instance. We will add it to the third party issues thread.

[zektor]

Many thanks @Ferrangie

I've sorted a similar problem with the renderer in Affinity Photo, but instead of changing the global settings; I've changed it only for the software in question.

After reboot it works fine.