Brave browser window flickers with nVidia Fast vsync.

[MicahZoltu]

Description

The entire Brave window flickers when running with "Fast" Vertical Sync mode enabled in NVIDIA control panel.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Windows + NVIDIA Control Panel + NVIDIA Drivers.
2. In NVIDIA Control Panel set 3D Settings > Manage 3D Settings > Vertical Sync to "Fast" and click Apply.
3. Open brave and navigate around the web for a minute (happens in brave://settings even). Switching tabs seems to trigger it the most.

Actual result:

Screen flickers excessively.

Expected result:

Screen displays stably.

Reproduces how often:

Reproduces 100% of the time for me, though there may be some specifics related to my hardware that could make this difficult for others to reproduce.

Brave version (brave://version info)

v1.48.171
Windows 11
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000
NVIDIA driver version 31.0.15.1740

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? Yes.
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel? Unknown.
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel? Unknown.

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? No.
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards? No.
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? Unknown, I don't install spyware on my computers. Internet suggests that it doesn't though.

Miscellaneous Information:

Related to #3864 but that issue seems to be a combination of several problems.

Disabling Hardware Acceleration in Brave Settings works around the issue, but this isn't a viable long term solution.

Disabling vertical sync or setting it to "on" in NVIDIA control panel also works around the issue but isn't a viable long term solution.

I have a GSYNC enabled monitor with 120Hz refresh rate. I don't know if either of these factors matter.

Description of "Fast" Vertical Sync setting in NVIDIA Control Panel is:

GPU renders unconstrained similar to VSYNC OFF, but does not tear since frames in excess of the refresh rate of the monitor are dropped. Delivers latency that is very close to VSYNC off with no tearing.

[saukkko]

Miscellaneous Information:

Related to #3864 but that issue seems to be a combination of several problems.

Disabling Hardware Acceleration in Brave Settings works around the issue, but this isn't a viable long term solution.

Disabling vertical sync or setting it to "on" in NVIDIA control panel also works around the issue but isn't a viable long term solution.

I have a GSYNC enabled monitor with 120Hz refresh rate. I don't know if either of these factors matter.

Exact same thing happens with 165Hz monitor and NVIDIA RTX 3070 if Vertical Sync setting is set to "fast". Setting it to any other value per application fixes the problem.

I'm using the latest NVIDIA drivers (528.49) and Brave version v1.48.171 (Chromium 110.0.5481.177)

[Vrykodin]

Issues here include the flickering and some other issues I've noticed are random graphical blurring and the "Bookmark" flyout has a black outline.

RTX 2080 Super FE
GSYNC 120Hz Monitor set to 100Hz Adaptive-Sync On
Brave Version: 1.48.171
NVidia Driver Version: 528.49

Black outline:

I've tried turning Hardware Acceleration off and setting VSync to "On" which helps with the blurring, but still getting flickering

[ghost]

Even when NVIDIA's fast sync is enabled in a fresh installation of Brave with default settings, this issue still tends to occur.
So far, I have found two workarounds. The first one is to not let Brave use fast sync in the NVIDIA control panel, see images below. Second workaround is to disable hardware acceleration, although this may not be optimal since it can affect workload performance specifically made for GPUs.

Windows 11 build 22621.1635
Brave version 1.50.121, Chromium: 112.0.5615.138 (Official Build) (64-bit)
NVIDIA driver version 531.79

[MrCyberdude]

Thanks, this fixed it.
I was running a Dark theme, besides that I have a generic install.

[coalfield]

Still an issue... unfortunately its not a fix for anyone that ants to have Vsync on Fast :(

[mogzol]

Still an issue... unfortunately its not a fix for anyone that ants to have Vsync on Fast :(

You can still use "Fast" in the Global Settings tab, just set it specifically for brave.exe in the Program Settings to the "Use the 3D application setting" option. This will fix the flickering issue for Brave, but all other programs will still use fast vsync.

[KittensScythe]

Another workaround is going to brave://flags/ and searching ANGLE Graphics Backend and switching it to OpenGL, I'm shocked that this is STILL an issue, but it's either a chromium issue or windows related sadly :<

alternatively with G-Sync if you make sure it's set to "enable for full screen mode" it seems to help some people.
also not sure but I've heard it's more common in 3000 series cards? not able to test that sadly as I don't have my 1080ti anymore and am on a 3080.

hope this info helps a little though <3