Win8 Lenovo X1 Carbon with USB 3 Dock: Display Artifacts

[jaredmny]

Hello all. Just received a new Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch running Windows 8. The internal display works great standalone, however when I add their "USB 3 Dock" with external monitors, the monitors have an annoying artifact; It is most noticeable as a subtle flicker in any white portion of a window that seems to occur any time the window is updated or there is CPU activity. It seems to be worst when scrolling black text on a white background. Also very noticeable in any vertical lines in a window, as they will seem to "jump" back and forth horizontally as you scroll. The effect is very distracting. I've tried replacing the USB 3 Dock, but didn't make a difference. I've tried multiple resolutions with both dual and single monitors, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference, either. I've tried the latest drivers from both the Lenovo and the DisplayLink website, no change. I've tried forcing the USB 3 drivers to an Intel version instead of the Microsoft version as I had read that their might be a problem with the bandwidth available when using the stock version... No change.

I've also had times where a portion of the monitor will get blurry/pixelated for a second, then resolve. The cursor for my wireless mouse (receiver is connected via the dock's USB hub) will occasionally pause and not respond for a couple of seconds.

I've read a comment in another forum from someone experiencing similar symptoms, but the response they got from another use was that this is normal compression artifacts for DisplayLink adapters running over the bandwidth-constrained USB3 interface. However, I find this hard to believe as these artifacts are very visible and I can't imagine most users would find them acceptable.

Further, upon working through Lenovo technical support, they told me that they don't think that the graphics adapter in this laptop is going to be compatible with the USB 3 Dock. Now, this seems like a load of crap, but it was repeated by at least two different technicians. They have advised me to return the laptop and dock and purchase a different product.

I've read through the forum and it seems like other users are occasionally seeing similar behavior, though it is tricky to tell if the symptoms are an exact match.

Any thoughts on whether this is expected behavior or how to resolve?

Thanks!

[Wim]

We're working on a fix for the blurryness for the next release. We know why it happens.

Wim

[jaredmny]

Thanks for replying so quickly, Wim! Will this address the white/gray flickering and mouse pauses as well? Those are the big issues for me.

Do you have an estimate as to when the driver will be released or is there a beta program I can join? I'm facing a deadline to return the machine and dock, but I'd like to keep it if I can see a working fix...

Thanks!

-- Jared

[mskovrinskie]

The odd pixellation thing seems to work itself out but a fix would be nice. The mouse lag and pauses is another thing. Is this on the radar for a fix too?

[Wim]

I think the mouse pausing is for the same reason as the pixelation... we're working on changes to improve this.

Thanks

Wim

[mikeu41]

so happy to hear this is being worked on. i am experiencing the exact same issues with monitor resolution and the mouse pausing; i'm using the S230u (twist) with the Thinkpad 3.0 dock and win8 64 bit installed.

also have no issues when my monitors and mouse adapter are plugged directly into the laptop.

looking forward to an update as the mouse pausing is highly frustrating.

thanks.

[inagy]

I'm using a Samsung Series 9 and an i-Tec USB 3.0 Dock with Win8 x64 and i'm experiencing the same problems. Screen compression artifacts (blockiness, sudden color changes because of this, halting mouse) while moving the mouse or loading a webpage in a full screen Chrome. Please fix this, i don't like to downgrade to Windows 7 just because of this.

If there's any beta drivers available for testing please let us know. I would gladly try them and report for you.

[inagy]

As i experienced the Win8 DisplayLink driver currently sends the whole screen and not just the changes as a delta when a screen update occurs. This introduces the artifacts because the USB bus runs out of bandwidth. When this occurs it reduces the image quality to meet the restrictions but for me it seems that this is decided from frame to frame and this is what creates the flashing effect.

My question is: is it possible to override the default picture quality? Maybe a hidden registry key or something like that. I wouldn't mind some image artifacts if they stay constant. At least until the driver fix cames out.

[xijio]

I posted another thread on the same issue, I too am willing to help beta test drivers.

Here is the thread I posted w/ my attached diagnostic information:
http://www.displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?p=68747&posted=1#post68747

[jaredmny]

DisplayLink: Where did the three posts go that describe the registry keys that improve the display performance? They were the only thing that has been prescribed so far that improved the symptoms while we wait for a driver fix.

Were these posts deleted without notifying the authors? I know that I, for one, put in a fair amount of effort to try to determine a setting that would help other users. To see that effort wiped out is frustrating, to say the least!
:mad:

[Wim]

DisplayLink: Where did the three posts go that describe the registry keys that improve the display performance? They were the only thing that has been prescribed so far that improved the symptoms while we wait for a driver fix.

Were these posts deleted without notifying the authors? I know that I, for one, put in a fair amount of effort to try to determine a setting that would help other users. To see that effort wiped out is frustrating, to say the least!
:mad:

I've PMed you about this.

Wim

[jeffhoward001]

I'm not sure if that's even a word ("pixelation"), but that's the best way I can describe it. Whenever an animation takes place in Win8 on my X1 Carbon w/ the Lenovo USB 3.0 dock, strange pixelation occurs on the screen (anywhere on the screen, not just the animation).

It's most analogous to a REALLY low-res jpeg, and is most obviously with high-contrast colors. What's weird is that it doesn't happen all the time. If I had to guess, I'd say about 50% of the time? I can't figure out what fixes it either as power-down reboots or undocking/redocking doesn't always fix it.

I dock/undock a couple times a day, and it's a flip of the coin whether the issue will occur. The easiest way to reproduce it is to roll the mouse over the icons on the taskbar. As it highlights the icon under the mouse, the other icons look like low-res jpegs.

To be clear, if it's not happening, then everything's fine. I can watch 1080p video with crisp graphics. When it does occur though, everything runs like crap. Even 480p video or moving around an MS Word document will cause the pixelation and high CPU usage.

Just want to be sure this is the same issue others are mentioning, and add a little more detail to the symptoms.

Thanks,

- Jeff

[throndsen]

This also happens to me (Win7, X1 Carbon, HP Compaq LA2405wg display, DU9019D1 dock). I've always been happy with ThinkPads before, but this flicker issue (plus general sluggishness and unpredictability when docking) is pretty disappointing.

I hope this issue is solved in the next driver release.

[Wim]

Can you retry with v7.2?

Wim

[throndsen]

Hi Wim,

Just installed, thanks! So far it looks good. During install I got some error messages ("Displaylink Network Adapter NCM" seemed to fail to install) - but things seem to be working.

I'll update the thread if the artifacts reappear.

[throndsen]

Can you retry with v7.2?

Wim

Sorry, the problems may have diminished, but there are still some artifacts and some mouse pointer lag. Less bad than before, but still there.

[jaredmny]

I agree... Many problems are better. The flickering and image deterioration issues seem to have resolved and I'm getting better than three times higher network throughput without the connection mysteriously dying. However a host of other issues now seem to be occurring. I had several instances yesterday where when the system got busy, the display link connected screens just went black for two seconds, then came back. I've also seen a couple of BSOD with a DPC_WATCHDOG timeout.

Any thoughts on these new symptoms?

Thanks for working through them...

[throndsen]

Can you retry with v7.2?

Wim

Hi, is anything happening here? I have tried installing 7.2M1 but still experience regular and very noticeable artifacts as well as very bad mouse lag, particularly whenever I have a couple of Chrome tabs with flash ads in them. I have two 1920 x 1200 displays connected to the docking station, but that's hardly a very exotic setup now.

A solution would be extremely welcome. It is no fun to feel like I'm working on a terminal server over a laggy line to Ulan Bator when my company has purchased what is supposed to be state of the art hardware.