PowerBook G4 12" more graphics weirdness

aquaticaquatic
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Anyone noticed horizontal lines when playing movies or some games? It's hard to describe so I'll see if can get a picture up somewhere in a bit..Anyone have an iDisk public folder?



It looks like the top half of the screen is out of sync with the bottom half; the top half is aligned horizontally a little bit to the right (left?) of the bottom half. Sometimes there are several lines. Anyway I assume this is a fscking NVIDIA problem, since it never happened on my iBook with good old ATI. Am I crazy or does anyone else with a 12" know what I'm talking about?



This is a great laptop for games but these weird lines that crop up really are queer, they are crazy in Harry Potter! In Wipeout 2097 I don't see them... When I play movies I see them though. Again I believe it's only fullscreen (related to that bug where playing DVDs lags in full screen??? <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=002259)" target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=002259)</a>



edit: I searched Apple discussions and couldn't find this, I'll call Apple monday and see if they know about it. I bet a GeForce Go driver update is coming soon.. Maybe they'll tweak performance too.



[ 03-09-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 61
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Haven't seen that <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
  • Reply 2 of 61
    the pie manthe pie man Posts: 425member
    I haven't seen that either, but have only really played a couple games and 1 movie.



    The thing which pisses me off is if you are using the machine in closed lid mode, you get framerates like you are using dual displays. So you basically can't use an attached monitor to play games at all - QE doesn't even work on the attached monitor.



    Grrrrr.
  • Reply 3 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Look closely and you must see lines! It has to be full screen.



    Also, what do you mean it has no QE when the 'Book is closed? Doesn't it give all the VRAM (32) to the external display since the internal one is off? if not that sounds like another bug.



    edit: how would I post a screenshot from Max Payne or Harry Potter or a movie in QT Full Screen? You used to be able to hit command-shift-3 but what can I do in 10.2.4?



    [ 03-10-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 61
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    You can't make screenshots while DVD Player.app is running. You can however do it with SnapzPro or another app which name I forgot.



    It's fine with Games and other stuff.
  • Reply 5 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    OK I'll take a screenshot with SnapzPro in a bit. Anyone have a public folder on their iDisk?
  • Reply 6 of 61
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>OK I'll take a screenshot with SnapzPro in a bit. Anyone have a public folder on their iDisk?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    i do psantora is the name, and its open i have about 40 megs free



    go nuts (well not too nuts, i have some stuff i want to keep in there)
  • Reply 7 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    OK I will tomorrow if I can, thanks.



    NVIDIA SUCKS... The problem is deeper than I previously reported. Movies show these lines even in windowed mode, and even regular windows (iTunes or Finder windows for example) exhibit these lines when dragging. I'll definitely post screenshots. I started a thread at Apple called ""lines" on PowerBook G4 display"



    This applies to external displays as well. When I plugged my PB into the TV the lines showed up, in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, for example. Hurry up with those damn NVIDIA driver updates Apple..tsk tsk going with NVIDIA tsk tsk...I hope I can upgrade my vid card, I hear it's on a daughter card.



    [ 03-11-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 61
    the pie manthe pie man Posts: 425member
    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>Also, what do you mean it has no QE when the 'Book is closed? Doesn't it give all the VRAM (32) to the external display since the internal one is off? if not that sounds like another bug.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hmmm actually it looks like QE actually is working - I had thought it wasn't because there was no shadow on my cursor. That just looks like a bug.



    BUT, it looks like no, the external display doesn't get all the VRAM. I have noticed a huge performance drop when playing Baldur's Gate II - closed lid vs. normal. Are others seeing no drop off in frame rates for games? Maybe I have an issue with my footlong?
  • Reply 9 of 61
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Pie Man:

    <strong>The thing which pisses me off is if you are using the machine in closed lid mode...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    How do you get it to work in "closed lid mode" mine just goes to sleep!?
  • Reply 10 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Heehee Clive I like your location.



    I would think closed-lid operation is a no-no unless stated as ok since the PB produces a lot of heat. I don't know if that would harm the screen or block heat transfer.



    Anway isn't anyone else seeing these damn horizontal out-of-sync LINES on anything that moves sideways a lot on the screen!? They appear when you move sideways in a game (wolfenstein for example) when a movie moves a lot, like panning sideways, or when just rapidly moving a window.



    I'm surprised at the resounding silence on this issue.. no one's replied at Apple's forums, though the DVD lagging sure gets lots of responses! I bet if you look closely Clive and Pie Man you'll notice these lines..Once you do you'll be anal about it too I bet!
  • Reply 11 of 61
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    take a pic and put it on my iDisk
  • Reply 12 of 61
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>Heehee Clive I like your location. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yeah, I guess it's like "Old Europe, Old England".



    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>Anway isn't anyone else seeing these damn horizontal out-of-sync LINES on anything that moves sideways a lot on the screen!? They appear when you move sideways in a game (wolfenstein for example) when a movie moves a lot, like panning sideways, or when just rapidly moving a window.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I'm moving a window all over the place, no lines. I haven't noticed it on streaming or QuickTime stuff either.



    I reckon you have a bad card or book.
  • Reply 13 of 61
    os10geekos10geek Posts: 413member
    I bet that an Apple rep will know how to get it fixed. Of course, the problem won't be there when you try to show it to the dude, because that's the way that the world works.
  • Reply 14 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Hehe how true. How do you publicly access iDisks? <img src="embarrassed.gif" border="0">



    I took a screenshot of a vid in full screen and the results are...interesting. I used Command shift 3. I've never done that on another mac before so I'm not sure if the REALLY messed up screenshot is a result of the NIVIDIA bug or just trying to cap a QT vid. Anyway, I saw the lines, when holding the right arrow key and going through the videos, but everytime I'd try to stop at a line to see if I could take a pic of that frame it would disappear. The lines only appear when the video is playing. The line appears at the bottom and works its way up to the top, in games there are multiple lines. It would be weird if it was just my PB! Please Clive and Pie Man look very close when you play a full screen vid (high quality vid or else it's hard to notice) or if you're in Wolfenstein or Max Payne go up to a wall and look left/right fast. You must see lines!? Geez I hope Sonnet or someone comes out with a upgrade with the new cards either NVIDIA or ATI are coming out with.
  • Reply 15 of 61
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>Hehe how true. How do you publicly access iDisks? <img src="embarrassed.gif" border="0"> </strong><hr></blockquote>



    <a href="http://www.mac.com/1/idiskutility_download.html"; target="_blank">http://www.mac.com/1/idiskutility_download.html</a>;
  • Reply 16 of 61
    billybobskybillybobsky Posts: 1,914member
    is it like the lines you see when a computer monitor is being recorded at a different frame rate than the screen is flickering?



    i havent any real idea what would cause this except perhaps a mistiming between the cpu and the graphics card....
  • Reply 17 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    No. And I got a screenshot that shows what I'm talking about in Wolfenstein. For some reason the lines appear even worse in the shot, maybe it's something to do with the limitations of the human eye. I'll post the shot in a min after I kill some Nazis in Wolfenstein.
  • Reply 18 of 61
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    Sorry, I haven't got any games or video that goes full screen - I'll check though.



    You're never going to get a shot of these artifacts with a simple screen shot. You may get one with snapzpro, but I doubt it - you're only ever going to be able to see it, not record it.
  • Reply 19 of 61
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Oh I got some great screenshots that show how terrible this looks, in fact they look worse in a snapshot!! They're in Paul's iDisk. Thanks for the space bro. How do I link to them?
  • Reply 20 of 61
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    I got the exact same PowerBook as Aquatic yesterday, so I'd be interested to see how this turns out.



    How do you stop it from sleeping when the lid is closed? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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