Anyone get the new chrome update forced on them yet? Round icons, new fonts? How do we feel about this? I'm not sure one way or the other... Everything seems REALLY crisp, and yet I'm not sure how comfortable it is. I'll wait for others to render their verdict...

Using current Android Chrome 69.0.3497.91, still seems good. I don't like the "round" stlye though. Had trouble with Windows Chrome for some years now. Linux version (Chromium) much better. Didn't try the new versions yet.

Gurm You not the only person I know who is concerned with the new Chrome update.

I am not sure what version I was running previously. I installed 68.0.3440.75 "offline version", which doesn't include Google Update. It still seems icky, but that could just be my imagination - or my eyes could be tired. I'll give it a couple days. More to the point, whatever rendering bullshit the new Chrome did... crashed my laptop. First bluescreen I've seen in years, so they're clearly doing some kind of bullshit hardware rendering or SOMETHING in addition to the new fonts and round whatnots.

Note Bene: I can always drop back further via offline installers. But I checked, and my other computers are running 68.0.3440.106, so I may switch to that one... still unsure of what version was running here before. Seems like maybe it kept the fonts even when I uninstalled, no idea what bullshit might have been carried over. So I'm probably going to wipe the hard disk and reinstall. This makes me REALLY angry. This machine is my stable, always-ok-on-my-eyes machine. I'm NOT ok with people FUCKING WITH IT. Sorry for the language, but I'm really REALLY upset.

Chrome 69 was making me feel "off" - as only perhaps Firefox (newer versions following a quick test given I rarely use Firefox) and Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D Version 4 have, as stand alone applications. All my other problems are with screens and graphics cards not apps. I've just reinstalled Chrome 68 and I'm already feeling better...

Gurm If you feel up to it, on your older version you can make note of chrome://gpu and chrome://flags and then if you update to the newer version, compare the two again to see what is different. If it's a switch, then it should theoretically go back. That said, why is Chrome popular? I find on a PC that Firefox is just fine (I am actually on Waterfox 56.0.1 and quite happy with it). It smooth scrolls better than Chrome, and generally all-around feels more comfortable to use. On an Android device, yeah I agree, Chrome is what you need to use for smooth scrolling.. got the ghastly 69 interface, all blindingly white and junk. Rolled it back to 68.

Sunspark Firefox is also problematic on PC, at least in newer versions. Well, not sure about latest but for a while it was very bad.

AgentX20 It took me a couple days to feel better - this chrome change had coincided with some other circumstances that had caused me some extra strain - but I'm doing better as well.

I am, currently testing with different graphics cards, OSs and browsers. Do you guys still have issues with Chrome? On my NVidia NVS 295 Chrome 74 is very usable! However Slack (being an Electron app) still is not. Maybe the Chrome devs changed something for the better?

I've not dared budge from Chrome 68.0.3440.84. I've never had any problems with Slack on my home PC (I use a Mac for work) - but then I only use if fleetingly and occasionally on my home PC so cannot say if I have any real issues. I might have to try out a recent Chrome...

New Chrome?

deepflame

AgentX20 ok, great. Might give this a try. I definitely need a laptop. Thanks for sharing!

Question besides: Does it work for you with the integrated Intel chip or only with the NVidia GPU?

AgentX20

deepflame Question besides: Does it work for you with the integrated Intel chip or only with the NVidia GPU?

Obviously it defaults to the Intel chip and there are no problems there. On the occasion I've run a game that uses the 650 I've not experienced any problems either.

deepflame

Posted this before to AgentX20 , but thought it might be worth asking others as well to test these two Chromium builds here:

There is nothing to install. Just extract the zip file and run 'chromium'.

Build 638880
https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/chromium-browser-snapshots/o/Win_x64%2F638880%2Fchrome-win.zip?generation=1552012029392190&alt=media

Build 638884
https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/chromium-browser-snapshots/o/Win_x64%2F638884%2Fchrome-win.zip?generation=1552013207916107&alt=media

If these links for whatever reason do not work anymore you could also download them here:
http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/chromium-browser-snapshots/index.html?prefix=Win_x64/
In the filter on the top just put "63888". The two versions that appear would be the ones in question.

deepflame

Ok, I was asking about the Chromium builds because build 638880 is not working for me (it does change the video mode to dither), whereas build 638884 does work. So if people who also have issue with running Chrome it would be great to have this confirmed.

Here are the changes that went into the newer build and made it "ok" again:
https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+log/d4a8972e30b604f090aeda5dfff68386ae656267..a6f99ad95e4a52be40f9bd9abd7cd0ae4e98ecf8?pretty=full

As you can see there is one change that has something to do with the GPU ( gpu: Using new API to get RGB emulation texture id directly. ):
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/1487182/5/third_party/blink/renderer/platform/graphics/gpu/drawing_buffer.cc

I have built Chrome locally on my machine and can confirm that this fixes the Chrome issue for me. However I could not figure out yet what caused the video mode change. It is certainly not the OpenGL flags in line 1595 to 1598.

If someone is knowledgeable in programming and wants to join me on a hunt to what causes the issue you are more than welcome! 🙂

diop

AgentX20 I will consider hunting out this model to test.

I wonder if there is a terminal command that will tell you if dithering is enabled/disabled?

Gurm

AgentX20 so jealous, I have been trying to scrounge up an early 2013 MBP for a long time. They're so perfect.

AgentX20

Gurm so jealous, I have been trying to scrounge up an early 2013 MBP for a long time.

Yeah. To be honest I really do feel that somehow I lucked into this model working oh so well for me. Occasionally I've used other laptops and the eye strain can be dreadful. The same thing applies to my GTX970 video card at home. Every single newer card I've tried (980, 980Ti, 1070, 1080, Vega 64) is no good for me. Hell, even the "same" GTX970 card but one hardware revision newer, or with a different brand of RAM, is no good. I could also argue the same with my Dell 2407 monitors. Most other monitors I've tried have been no good. Still - endless trying out of new stuff and losing money on every deal is very tiresome and immensely frustrating.

I so so want a faster video card and a bigger screen...! Argh! (I have a hankering to 'try' an Nvidia 2xxx card but I know I'll likely just lose even more money).

Sunspark

In a future version of Chrome, Google plans to remove an api that allows for ad-blocking extensions. I imagine a lot of people will be switching away from Chrome to Firefox. I'm still on build 56.0.1 of Waterfox which is very comfortable for me. I suppose I should check a newer build due to security patches and stuff, but at the same time I don't really care either.

AGI

Unburying an old thread…

I am having awful symptoms after Windows security updates were forced though by the IT admin. I am not sure how that happened, because I thought I was in control of the browsers, but in the process Chrome was updated to the latest version 98.0.4758.102 (Official Build) (64-bit). I would like to check if it is the new Chrome that is causing the massive eye strain. I read that some time ago Google introduced the option of rolling back to any of the 3 latest major releases.

Based on a couple of links (Manage Chrome updates (Windows) and Downgrade your Chrome version (Windows)), I understand that I first have to turn on Chrome sync to not lose user data such as bookmarks and autofill data. That is easy. How do I carry out the following steps? Where do I access these options?

Go to GoogleGoogle UpdateApplicationsGoogle Chrome.
Enable Rollback to Target version.

Also, I (stupidly) did not take note of the version I was using without problems. It may not be the second-last version. Any chance to extract the information and restore what was working, rather than rolling back hoping that one of the three lastest versions suits me?

Another question. The security updates were installed last Saturday. When I restarted my laptop yesterday, the BIOS was updated. I am frankly ignorant. Is the BIOS update related to the security patches or is it something else? Does a BIOS update affect graphics? I wonder if I am blaming Chrome and instead the problem is more general. As many of you well know, cnce symptoms have been triggered, they last long so it is difficult to assign the cause.

Thanks for any input.

JTL

AGI I am frankly ignorant. Is the BIOS update related to the security patches or is it something else?

A BIOS update very well could have certain security issues corrected

AGI Does a BIOS update affect graphics? I

Quite possibly depending on the GPU being used, it can.

AGI

I decided to talk to our IT Admin. He was surprised to hear that the BIOS updated. The security patch simply consisted in installing a Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. Talking with him, I may have figured out what happened. I remember being often reminded by a HP proprietary software that I was due to reboot my laptop for some updates to take place. I kept postponing. When I rebooted last week, those HP updates have likely taken place. The security patches and the Google Chrome update are therefore not to blame. Still, I have not solved the problem. I hope to get an answer and help from HP soon. Hopefully it is possible to revert the updates and to pinpoint what may have caused the display to become so harsh on every application.

Sunspark

Check to see if you need to add a colour profile for the laptop. It's possible one of the updates removed one and you need to add it back in esp if it says "Generic".

AGI

Sunspark Thanks. I had not seen your reply. Are you referring to the "Color filters"? I had tested a few a year ago but I am quite sure I was not using any prior to the "accident". Also, I do not see any missing, for what I remember.

Under "Color settings" I cannot see anything either. There is no "generic" profile, but maybe I am looking at the wrong place?

Quick update on what the manufacturer and my IT admin asked me to try. Figured out that the Chrome update was a red herring, I attempted to revert the BIOS update by restoring the BIOS to factory defaults. That did not work. The manufacturer confirmed that in some devices the BIOS factory default cannot be restored. Unfortunately, by doing that, I lost the only "good" Windows Restore Point prior to the "accident". It vanished from the Restore Point list, although a new restore point was not generated in the process. Next, I upgraded Windows 10 from Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.1256) to Version 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1288). No improvement. The Windows Restore Point list got reduced to a single point corresponding to before the OS upgrade. Now HP customer care suggests to update all possible drivers. I ran a HP proprietary software that detects what is not up to date. I am particularly worried by the updates belonging to the "Display adapters" class (NVIDIA Quadro P520 and Intel UHD Graphics).

Questions.

Any comment on the BIOS not resetting to factory default? Is there a way around it?
What is the likelihood that updating a driver will fix the problem? My laptop display was decent until a month ago and I never updated/upgraded anything since I got the device 15 months ago. Have you guys ever experienced a reduction of your eyestrain after updating the graphics card driver?
Is the state of a graphics card driver, old or up to date, critical when one switches to a new OS version / build?
Should the situation get worse, would I be able to restore the old drivers? HP Image Assistant does not seem to offer the option. At this stage, I do not trust that Windows will generate a Restore Point and in any case I am not sure which kind of changes are covered by Windows Restore (maybe driver updates are not included?).

Also, should the drivers' upgrade thing lead nowhere, the customer care guarantees that the display issue would be fixed by reinstalling Windows from scratch!?! Do you agree with this optimistic view?

Thanks for any tip!

AGI

AGI Any comment on the BIOS not resetting to factory default? Is there a way around it?

Just in case it is of interest to anyone, after a month I found out by talking to a different HP customer care person that IT IS POSSIBLE to downgrade the BIOS. This is different to resetting to factory defaults in the BIOS screen at rebooting. One just needs to run an executable file specific to the desired BIOS version, and the BIOS is downgraded to that version.

Sunspark

I am referring to the colour management control panel.

Run: colorcpl

The only settings you need to touch are the following:

For your listed monitor there should be a colour profile listed.. if it just says Generic or something, you need to add it. Even if there is something listed, you need to still do the below 2 steps.
"Use my settings for this device needs to be checked"
On the advanced tab at the top of the Window "Devices, All Profiles, Advanced", click on the button "Change system defaults", click the Advanced tab again on the window that pops up and check the checkbox that says "Use Windows display calibration". Click on close twice. Reboot your computer.

AGI

Sunspark Thanks.

It looks like there is no profile associated with the display.

If I tick "Use my settings for this device", the "Add" button becomes active and if I click on it, I see the following.

What am I supposed to select here? I have no idea.

One unrelated question. If I update all the drivers as per manufacturer's recommendation and things get worse, will reinstalling Windows from scratch erase all the updates and restore a sort of pristine state?

Thanks.

Sunspark

You need to get a colour profile. One way to do it is open the device manager, go to the monitor, right click and select update driver. It might identify and populate a monitor "driver" for you. This isn't actually a driver, it's an INF file saying what resolutions you can use and usually it'll come with a colour profile. If it doesn't do anything, then you will need to go to the manufacturer's website to look for one. If the manufacturer doesn't have one for you, then you need to either use a colour calibrator and make your own, or look around on the internet for an icm/icc file someone shared for the same monitor. It won't be exact, but it'll be close enough.

At that time, you will be able to make the colour management changes I mentioned. The fact that it's generic monitor with no profile is part of why things look harsh.

AGI

Sunspark Interesting. I will have a look into that. Just had a colleague check on his laptop (I believe it is a Windows Surface) and there is no color profile in his case too. The guy does not have any of our visual issues, by the way.

AGI

Sunspark you're doing this wrong.

Thanks for letting me know. I will check again with HP Customer Care. The person I talked to told me to run the color calibration without adding any color profile!?!?

Sunspark What is your laptop model number?

HP ZBook Firefly 15 G7 Mobile Workstation. Product Number 1Y9M8PA#ABG

Sunspark One way to do it is open the device manager, go to the monitor, right click and select update driver.

I was looking again into what you suggested. I did run an update last week but the monitor properties still say that the driver is from 2006!?!

Located the file, I see that monitor.sys's date is Oct 2021, though. I am confused. Is this all when it comes to a driver, just a single *.sys file? Is it correct that I could make a copy, try to update the driver again, and if things get worse, restore the old *.sys file? Thanks.

EDIT: I just found out that I should be able to reverse the driver change using the "Roll Back Driver" tab. It is currently greyed out, therefore I probably did not update the driver although the update was given as successful.

Sunspark

You need a profile.

AGI

Sunspark Still working on this, thanks.

When I chose "Search automatically for drivers" in Device Manager / Update driver, I was told that the best drivers are already installed.

I then went for the other option "Browse my computers for drivers" / "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer" and something happened. The screen turned super-bright and blueish. There seems to have been an update.

However, if I run colorcpl, there is still no color profile.

"HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads" is not of help either.

I will keep searching for a driver. Thanks.

AGI

Sunspark Do you have a color profile associated with your laptop display as well? I am not using a monitor…

By the way, if I tick "Use my settings for this device", the "Add" button becomes available and there are options to pick from, but I have no clue what they are.

Looks like only "sRGB IEC61966-2.1" is a valid *.icm file. If I select the two below, I am given an error (Windows failed…The printer name is invalid.)

AGI

Sunspark Done.

I added sRGB IEC61966-2.1, which was the only option in the list and I read it is the International standard profile.

Then I set the display to native resolution (3840 x 2160) - I was using 1920 x 1080 - and ran a Windows Display Calibration, and a second color profile got generated.

I am now testing the setup, without reverting to 1920 x 1080 resolution. To my surprise, I am coping quite well. I feel dizzy after extensive use, but I seem to recover fairly quickly. I need more time to say a final word.

One last question. I skipped the brightness / contrast part of the calibration, as I could not find an easy way to control the contrast at laptop level. Any suggestion?

Thanks!

« Previous Page Next Page »