A fix for flickering and mashed letters that works

[blackstone777]

I have read all of the posts on flicker and text looking smashed/squashed down.

 

Too many suggestions and none of them worked for me, so I came up with a solution of my own and it works.

 

I had the idea that the real problem was the H.Frequency and the V.Frequency of my monitor.

 

Given a simple mathematical equasion I have eliminated flicker and smashed/squashed text...

 

First, look at your monitor's built-in settings to see the current H.Frequency and the V.Frequency or find software that can show the frequencies.

 

I have tested the following settings on my display:

 

1920x1080 @ 144KHz - The H.Frequency and the V.Frequency of my monitor is 157KHz (H) and 143KHZ (V).

 

1920x1080 @ 120KHz - The H.Frequency and the V.Frequency of my monitor is 138KHz (H) and 120KHz (V).

 

1920x1080 @ 100KHz - The H.Frequency and the V.Frequency of my monitor is 113KHZ (H) and 100KHz (V).

 

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Bear in mind that the in-game "Font Scale" slider in PoE is a factor also - it equals 1 and/or 100% (1=100% and 100%=1)

 

Now, by dividing the V.Frequency by the H.Frequency you get the following answers:

 

143/157= 0.910828025477707

 

120/138= 0.8695652173913043

 

100/113= 0.8849557522123894

 

 

Technically, the problem is caused by the code that takes UI element position, relayouts it every frame and then rounds floating-point positions to integers. In most cases this is fine - the result of the relayout operation is identical to original positions - but sometimes with unlucky inputs the operation will transform y to y-1 on first frame, then y-1 back to y on second frame and so on. The fix simply disables rounding - I didn't see it causing any new artifacts so far.

 

I had found this and decided to enter it into my equasion to further mitigate any display issues.

 

So here is the simple calculation:

 

43/157= 0.910828025477707 x 10 - 1 = 8.10828025477707

 

120/138= 0.8695652173913043 x 10 - 1 = 7.695652173913043

 

100/113= 0.8849557522123894 x 10 - 1 = 7.849557522123894

 

Remember that the in-game "Font Scale" slider in PoE is a factor of 100. So 100%=1 and/or 1=100%.

 

Now, understanding that 100% of anything measured can be considered 1, multiply the above by 1 and add 100 to get the answers which are:

 

108.10828025477707

 

107.695652173913043

 

107.849557522123894

 

I use 1920x1080 @ 144KHz (108.10828025477707) when playing PoE so I set the "Font Scale" option under the "Graphics" menu to 108%

 

Works 99.9% - Try it out you'll see! No need to hack/mod anything at all.

 

Given the nature of the bug, a flawless fix - meaning 100% perfect is not possible.

 

Check your monitors H.Frequency and the V.Frequency settings to choose the right % for your display and use the formula.

 

Use your monitors native resolution.

 

 

 

 

[blackstone777]

Another simpler choice is this mod at Nexus Mods:

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/187

 

Regardless, you will never get a 100% fix from what I have tested. Maybe rooling back to an earlier install version would help? Anyone test that?

Edited November 5, 2018 by blackstone777