Shimmering text while scrolling: just me?

Bronze Contributor

Anyone ever see text shimmering / shaking on a web page while scrolling in Edge? It's very temperamental: once you scroll up and down, the shimmering stops. I thought it was my eyes, so I asked someone else and they saw it, too!

 

Very difficult bug to reproduce; I'll try to record a video next time (or a screen recording, perhaps). This issue does not happen in Firefox 66 or Chrome 76.

 

Using Edge Version 76.0.152.0 (Official build) dev (64-bit) on Windows 10 Pro x64 17134.765 (1803). Hardware: ASUS VG248QE 24" monitor + NVIDIA GT 710 (430.64 drivers) + DVI-D, at 1920x1080@120Hz Lightboost at 100% Windows scaling and 125% Edge Zoom. Cleartype is on.

10 Replies

@ikjadoon 

Is this issue still present in the latest version of Microsoft Edge Insider Build Dev Channel and the latest version of Windows?

 

Gabriel

@v-gapart Hello and thank you for following up.

 

 did see it once in the previous Dev build (based on Chromium 76) whose version number is eluding me, but since then, I've not seen it again.

 

However, it is quite rare (one website from perhaps thousands in a week; the last time was on Dell.com on a purchase configurator). 

 

I'll surely update the next time it appears, if ever. 

@v-gapart Speak of the devil, I just got the issue again. 

 

https://streamable.com/h86aw

 

1) Occurs on any website seemingly

2) Reproduced on two systems (one laptop, one desktop: both use the same Edge & Windows builds)

2) Scrolling that tab will stop the shimmering

3) Only some text is affected, perhaps only <p> paragraph? Images on the page do no shimmer nor do buttons or other text.

4) As long as the text is shimmering, Edge has high CPU & GPU usage (both pegged at 25% to 30%, even though it's just rendering two simple text-only tabs)

 

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro x64 1803 (Build 17134.885)

Microsoft Edge Version 77.0.223.0 (Official build) dev (64-bit)

 

This is the latest Windows for this branch, but not 1903 yet.

@ikjadoon 

 

Have you considered using the Microsoft Edge Insider Build Canary Channel to test it there as well?

Microsoft Edge Insider Channels - Download

 

Gabriel

@v-gapart 

I haven't yet, since I haven't found any reproduction steps, so it might take days/weeks to stumble on this bug, unfortunately. :(

 

Would running Canary offer more debugging, perhaps, that I could run in the moment? 

@v-gapart I can confirm the bug has reappeared on another dev build, at the same URL.

 

Windows 10 Pro x64 1803 (17134.885)

Microsoft Chromium Edge Version 77.0.230.2 (Official build) dev (64-bit)

 
It's still not Canary, but it's definitely a newer build. This is on a Dell Inspiron 13:
 
  • 13.3" 1080p @ 125% DPI (set in Windows)
  • Core i5-6200U (GPU driver 23.20.16.4973)
  • 8 GB RAM
  • Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB SSD

Have you tried turning off hardware acceleration? bad/outdated graphic card drivers or no graphic card drivers at all can cause that. also check edge://flags see if you accidentally enabled any flags related to the rendering.

I also suspect that 120Hrz refresh rate. can you check see if the same issue happens when you run at 60Hrz? maybe there is a conflict in V-sync and screen refresh rate. a video footage would really help.

 

@HotCakeX Thank you for the reply. Let's clear up a few things....

 

  • Graphic drivers are updated. I have this bug on two different systems with wildly different GPUs, with multiple graphic driver versions. To clarify, the 120 Hz system uses a NVIDIA GPU + Intel iGPU and the 60 Hz Dell system uses just the Intel iGPU. Both have been updated (the Dell has had the bug on both Dell's stock driver & Intel's more updated driver). 
  • This cannot be a 120 Hz issue, unfortunately: the Dell Inspiron 13 (a laptop) only has a 60 Hz screen.
  • No rendering flags touched on either machine. Both have tracking prevention on. However, the first occurrence was far before the tracking prevention ever shipped, even in edge://flags.
  • Actually, I did send video footage. ;) I completely agree: it's the only way to share this kind of bug. :( Please see here. Wait: are you saying you saw the video and you actually could not see the shimmering? A few of my colleagues, though with a few more gray hairs, couldn't see it. But, the video footage should make it super clear.

V-Sync is not being forced by me. If anything, Edge would control V-Sync, not the user. But...this bug doesn't seem to be a V-Sync / refresh rate bug because it only affects certain text on a website. V-sync / refresh rate...would affect the entire website.

 

Unless you have a different hypothesis?

 

Please do view the video footage above, @HotCakeX . I think you might be onto something, but hopefully I've cleared up any misconceptions.

 

I'll try turning off hardware acceleration!

 

Happy to help share more :)

 

Yes sorry I missed that link, but i see it now, yup it's pretty clear, the bouncing text, weird. the GPU usage was fairly high too in taskmgr.
could you test and see if you get the same text bouncing with hardware acceleration turned off in Edge browser?
hopefully if you sent the video link using smiley button to Edge support they will look into it.
also try to stay on Canary channel, it's as stable as Dev, if not more, and it receives patches and bug fixes very quickly. a lot of times it happened when someone posted a bug in the forum and in the same day Canary got a new update and that bug was gone. I see the video is from 2 weeks ago so there is a high chance it's got fixed by now.
I have Edge canary on a PC using Intel 7700K iGPU and on a laptop using an old Radeon card from 2009, both are fine so far, with hardware acceleration on.

@v-gapart Sorry to say, this bug has returned. This is now reproducible on three different systemsall on the same URL: you just scroll and within minutes, part of the page text will shimmer. Might I private message you the link, reproduction steps, and a screen recording? Already submitted to the smiley with a link to the screen recording.

 

Each time the simmering text returns, Edge's CPU usage for that tab spikes up to 50% to 70%. 

 

Add this now-third machine to the "not working" list:

 

  • HP Spectre x360 late 2019 (Intel i7-1065G7; F.10 BIOS)
  • 16 GB LPDDR4-3733
  • 512 GB Samsung PM981a
  • 1920 x 1080 resolution set at 125%
  • Intel iGPU driver 26.20.100.7463
  • Windows 10 Home x64 1903 (18362.535)
  • Edge Dev Version 80.0.361.9 (Official build) dev (64-bit)
 
I believe this Edge Dev version is much newer than where the Canary builds were at that time.