Bug 243063 - Windows are washed out when using Present Windows
Summary: Windows are washed out when using Present Windows
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 243181
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: compositing (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Ubuntu Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
: 243126 243170 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2010-06-28 19:31 UTC by Brian Beck
Modified: 2010-08-17 00:55 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Present Windows (474.78 KB, image/png)
2010-06-28 19:31 UTC, Brian Beck
Details
Present Windows within Desktop Grid (526.23 KB, image/png)
2010-06-28 19:32 UTC, Brian Beck
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Brian Beck 2010-06-28 19:31:16 UTC
Created attachment 48429 [details]
Present Windows

Version:           unspecified (using Devel) 
OS:                Linux

I installed the KDE 4.5 RC 1 packages from kubuntu replacing the KDE 4.5 Beta 2 packages.  Now when I "Present Windows", both for a particular desktop, and for all desktops the windows are washed out.  (As if the brightness had been turned all the way up.)  Also the effect is very slow.  However, when using "Sesktop Grid", which I gather uses "Present Windows" the effect looks fine.

I have attached screenshots of both "Present Windows" and "Desktop Grid" to make it more clear.

Packages:
KWin: 4.4.90 (KDE 4.4.90 (KDE 4.5 RC1))

Relevant output of lspci:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
Press Ctrl+F10 (all desktops)
Press Ctrl+F9 (current desktop)

Actual Results:  
Presented windows were unreadable.  Windows with a white background were nearly completely white.  And everything seemed very slow in Present Windows environment.  (Mouse very jerky.)

Expected Results:  
I expect windows to look very similar to their full size counterparts, just smaller.
Comment 1 Brian Beck 2010-06-28 19:32:16 UTC
Created attachment 48430 [details]
Present Windows within Desktop Grid

Notice here that the windows are not washed out.
Comment 2 Thomas Lübking 2010-06-28 19:41:24 UTC
stupid idea: could we just "abuse" the "smooth scaling" setting (from XRender) to control the lanczos invocation?

the string is there, the setting as well - it just needs to be removed from that groupbox?!
Comment 3 Martin Flöser 2010-06-28 19:54:27 UTC
That's not stupid, that is genius :-D Yes, I think that would work. Although I 
would prefer to have a solution like blacklisting all the driver versions 
which cause problems. But that's probably too late for 4.5
Comment 4 Brian Beck 2010-06-28 20:50:07 UTC
I'm probably not grasping the comments, so if I'm completely off base let me know.

From the first comment (#2) it sounds like the problem my originate with smooth scaling. I've unchecked smooth scaling in the advanced tab of the Desktop Effects, but have seen no change.

For the second comment (#3), this effect was working in Beta2 it stopped once I upgraded to RC1.  So I imagine there's a very real possibility it's a packaging issue.

If I've completely misunderstood, just ignore this comment.
Comment 5 Thomas Lübking 2010-06-28 21:01:31 UTC
yes, sorry. it's pretty mean to just discuss around the OP :-)

the bug most likely derives from the introduction of a shader based lanczos scaling that was recently introduced.
apparently your GPU/driver is buggy on this.

unfortunately atm.* the activation (if you've shader support) is controlled by the global eye-candy setting which is as well obscure as not too fine grained (you'd probably loose various animations and quality settings that work ok on your system)

the smooth scaling setting as it is, only controls a quality parameter when using the xrender backend, thus my suggestion in #2 was to release it from the backend and bind it to the lanczos filter on the opengl backend

*was too late in the release cycle
Comment 6 Thomas Lübking 2010-06-29 14:11:00 UTC
*** Bug 243126 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 7 Stefano 2010-06-29 15:19:29 UTC
I hit this problem both on my laptop (intel GM965) and desktop (intel G45). I understand it is a problem of the intel driver (the present effect is fine on a desktop with an ATI card). Has anyone opened a bug on freedesktop.org so that intel developers can take care of this? If not, I am willing to do that and test possible patches from their side. Thanks
Comment 8 Thomas Lübking 2010-06-29 16:40:50 UTC
*** Bug 243170 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 9 Elias Probst 2010-06-29 17:47:30 UTC
I have the same issues (see bug#243170) using:

Gentoo
Kernel 2.6.34-gentoo (KMS enabled)
KDE 4.5.0 RC1 (previously 4.4.4 where it worked just fine and smooth)
Intel GM45
x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel-2.11.0
x11-base/xorg-server-1.7.6
Comment 10 Martin Flöser 2010-06-29 17:51:04 UTC

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 243181 ***
Comment 11 Mat Lechner 2010-07-12 09:50:35 UTC
Bug still persists in RC2 (KDE 4.4.92). It seems that this is a problem of the Intel drivers; does anyone know if someone (at Intel, etc.) is working on that issue and/or the current status?
Comment 12 Thomas Lübking 2010-08-17 00:55:58 UTC
see the duplicate, blacklisting broken drivers atm. figure (see comments 29/30), add and post your driver string (might have happened for 4.5 anyway)