Electron 2.0.x : extreme blur around the entire application (Windows 10)

[MeikTranel]

Issue Type: Bug

All views and their text is super blurred to the point that it makes things mostly unusable.

VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.25.0-insider (583f1e4934c5fd3b62c2ca5bf177c728b31b9605, 2018-06-13T05:18:10.709Z) OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.17686

System Info

|Item|Value| |---|---| |CPUs|Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz (8 x 4008)| |GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled
checker_imaging: disabled_off
flash_3d: enabled
flash_stage3d: enabled
flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software
rasterization: enabled
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled| |Memory (System)|31.94GB (25.85GB free)| |Process Argv|C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\Code - Insiders.exe D:\Development\Schule\Testing| |Screen Reader|no| |VM|0%|

Extensions (27)

Extension|Author (truncated)|Version ---|---|--- yaml|ada|0.0.9 cake-vscode|cak|0.10.1 path-intellisense|chr|1.4.2 vscode-markdownlint|Dav|0.18.0 vscode-eslint|dba|1.4.12 docs-authoring-pack|doc|0.0.3 docs-markdown|doc|0.0.3 xml|Dot|2.3.0 gitlens|eam|8.3.5 tslint|eg2|1.0.30 beautify|Hoo|1.3.2 rest-client|hum|0.18.4 theme-monokai-pro-vscode|mon|1.1.8 DocFX|ms-|0.1.3 csharp|ms-|1.15.2 PowerShell|ms-|1.7.0 debugger-for-chrome|msj|4.6.0 gradle-language|nac|0.2.3 chef|Pen|0.7.0 vscode-docker|Pet|0.0.27 java|red|0.26.0 vscode-icons|rob|7.23.0 msbuild-project-tools|tin|0.2.38 vscode-java-debug|vsc|0.9.0 vscode-java-pack|vsc|0.3.0 vscode-java-test|vsc|0.6.1 vscode-maven|vsc|0.9.0

[vscodebot[bot]]

(Experimental duplicate detection) Thanks for submitting this issue. Please also check if it is already covered by an existing one, like:

• Text is blurring (#32071)

[MeikTranel]

Here are some examples:

I installed a regular code instance in parallel to show a comparison.

[MeikTranel]

The granular image is from the GIF converter. The blur itself is the real image i see in front of me.

[Tyriar]

@MeikTranel do you have window.zoomLevel in your settings.json?

[bpasero]

This seems to be like a nightly Windows 10 build if I am not mistaken (https://changewindows.org/build/17686/pc) so maybe this should also get reported to Windows team. Does it reproduce with Chrome too?

[MeikTranel]

No. Havent seen this within chrome, yet. What makes me think it's a vscode thing is that it's not happening at all in 0.24.0 (that's why i showed the non-insider version in the screencap too)

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel @Mehgugs can you try out a bare Electron application to see if you see the blurriness too. Just download and run: https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/download/v2.0.2/electron-v2.0.2-win32-x64.zip

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel @Mehgugs also if you are up for a little experiment:

• quit any running VSCode Insiders
• open C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\main.js
• find the place where it reads app.commandLine.appendSwitch("disable-mojo-local-storage"); right after paste this: app.commandLine.appendSwitch('force-color-profile', 'srgb');
• save (you will need to save as admin I guess)
• start VSCode Insiders again => does the issue still reproduce?

[MeikTranel]

@bpasero from what i'm seeing electron itself doesn't show any symptoms (the bare electron client really doesn't have that much to test with tho)

Checking out the other thing now.

BTW.: I updated to 17692 yesterday from 17686, so that i can play csgo again 😄 https://changewindows.org/build/redstone5/17692/pc Issue is persisting through

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel thanks. to test another application that is similar to VS Code and uses the same Electron version, can you try with Atom beta too: https://atom.io/beta

[MeikTranel]

I tested the electron srgb command line switch; Didn't help -___- At first i thought it did but when i moved the window around it started right back again :/

[MeikTranel]

Oh hell yeah, progress! Atom has the same issue @bpasero [Weird colors is the GifCam Compression, don't worry about those] Do both use Electron 2.0 ?

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel good to know 👍. does it reproduce if you run code-insiders --disable-gpu

Do both use Electron 2.0 ?

Yes

[MeikTranel]

--disable-gpu seems to mitigate it. i assume this disables hardware acceleration?

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel yes it does. What kind of GPU are you running with?

[Tyriar]

@MeikTranel yes. From your original report this is what GPU features were enabled:

2d_canvas: enabled
checker_imaging: disabled_off
flash_3d: enabled
flash_stage3d: enabled
flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software
rasterization: enabled
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled

So one of these must be to blame.

[MeikTranel]

@bpasero this machine runs a GTX1080 and a 6700k (which comes integrated with a Intel® HD Graphics 530)

[MeikTranel]

It's running on the GTX 1080 tho

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel does it reproduce when no editor is opened and maybe only the explorer?

Also, can you share your settings file with us?

[MeikTranel]

User Settings

```json { "workbench.iconTheme": "vscode-icons", "msbuildProjectTools": { "logging": { "level": "Information", "seq": {}, "file": "", "trace": false }, "language": { "disableFeature": {}, "useClassicProvider": false, "disable": { "hover": false } }, "nuget": { "newestVersionsFirst": true, "includePreRelease": true, "disablePrefetch": false }, "schemaVersion": 1 }, "java.errors.incompleteClasspath.severity": "ignore", "rest-client.enableTelemetry": false, "rest-client.followredirect": false, "rest-client.includeAdditionalInfoInResponse": true, "gitlens.keymap": "none", "gitlens.advanced.messages": { "suppressShowKeyBindingsNotice": true } } ```

Workspace Settings (although irrelevant considering this isn't a workspace specific issue)

```json { "files.exclude": { "**/.git": true, "**/.svn": true, "**/.hg": true, "**/CVS": true, "**/.DS_Store": true, "**/bin": true, "**/obj": true } } ```

[MeikTranel]

@bpasero by explorer you mean the vscode explorer? as in no code file open?

As for the other question: I tested and reproduced it specifically without chrome or other apps related also with only vscode running.

[Tyriar]

@MeikTranel are your Nvidia drivers up to date? If that doesn't change anything then I'm guessing this is an issue in the version of Chromium under the hood.

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel yeah I am trying to figure out which action in the UI triggers the blurriness. My understanding is that it only happens when you do something specific, like opening an editor?

[MeikTranel]

I'm updating drivers right. But i don't think thats gonna help. The current driver's from january.

[MeikTranel]

@bpasero so i updated my driver now (didnt help) and tested some of your scenarios:

• It seems to be related to code file tabs; If i start vscode without preloading the workspace and thus not opening one of my files, it seems to be cool.
• If i open code insiders with a file at launch its going nuts right at the start
• I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my DPI
• on being moved the issue gets worse

[xLobito]

I'm facing the same issue since a few days ago. I updated to latest nightly insiders build (back then) and the blurry display came out.

It's been persistent between two new nightly updates. I just checked some options and the result is quite the same, no differences at all. I updated my GTX 970 drivers and now I'm checking out if this solves the issue.

p.s: The blurry screen appeared in the GeforceExperience main screen application, which makes me think that my issue is most likely related to Windows rather than VSCode itself.

p.s2: The VSCode shows the terminal (Bash-like) pretty bad rendered, the whole background is black.

[bpasero]

@xLobito so you are saying that the (same) blurry screen shows up for you also in other applications?

[xLobito]

@bpasero

Only GeforceExperience (which I don't know if anyone has been getting the same blurry screen like myself) when I was downloading the driver for installation. Although I think it got fixed when I allowed to Windows avoid blurriness (I have two monitors with different resolutions, so it could be that).

On the other hand, the VSCode still presents the blurry screen, when I create a new file or use the bash-like terminal. So, updating to latest driver didn't fix the issue.

[Mehgugs]

I have had exactly the same issue, it occurs for me whenever I open a dialog except the top menus (File, Edit etc...) ShareX mp4 capture of it happening upon opening ctrl+f dialog: https://streamable.com/wze59

I also have a nvidia card (a gtx 960M) has the latest drivers. This doesn't happen for me in other applications. This happens for me using my integrated card as well as my nvidia one.

[bpasero]

@Mehgugs that video is interesting, I wonder if this could be related to having animations on the screen (the find widget box seems to animate in). Can you reproduce the blurriness when you work with VSCode but not use elements that cause animation (like the find box)?

[xLobito]

Randomly, the issue appears. Right now, I closed and opened it three times and the blurriness is intact.

The issue this time started right after I copied some text from the right side, and then pasting it in the left side. It was working fine before it, during some hours.

[bpasero]

@xLobito

I closed and opened it three times and the blurriness is intact.

What does "intact blurriness" mean? Is that good or bad?

Does it reproduce if you:

• close all editors
• open one editor
• open search viewlet
• start a long running search (or refresh git viewlet) so that the progress bar spins (animation)

?

[xLobito]

@bpasero. Apologies for not being too accurate with my description.

About the "intact blurriness" that I was talking about, refers the fact that it kept continued with the blurriness after even three attempts of opening the VSCode editor. And, about repro your suggestion. I can confirm it happens after re open the editor and inmediately look for anything (Just by opening the search viewlet).

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel @xLobito does it change anything if you change the "Let Windows try to fix apps so they are not blurry" from this Advanced Scaling page:

Was this setting on or off if changing it makes a change for you?

[MeikTranel]

I tested all the other combinations with those Settings On and Off. It doesn't seem to have any impact. Same with the application specific settings inside the compatibility settings when right-clicking the app shortcut itself.

[xLobito]

Tested the same as @MeikTranel, but it doesn't work.

[Mehgugs]

@bpasero I don't know how to describe the type of menus, but things like alert popups, command palette, theme picker. Any menu that is coloured using the editor's theme causes the issue for me (doesn't matter what theme it is either), so things like the right click context menu do not cause the bug.

[MeikTranel]

FYI: I've since upgraded to Windows RS6 Fast Ring Build 17704.1000 and the problem persists.

[MeikTranel]

I hadn't updated vscode itself for some days on that machine. I no longer can reproduce the issue.

@bpasero any changes? or did you guys unmigrate from electron 2.0 again?

VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.25.0-insider (6ca99aca80e80224f1c0bd4370c6ec4941c3bc54, 2018-06-29T09:03:04.490Z) OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.17704

System Info

|Item|Value| |---|---| |CPUs|Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz (8 x 4008)| |GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled
flash_3d: enabled
flash_stage3d: enabled
flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software
rasterization: disabled_software
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
vpx_decode: enabled
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled| |Memory (System)|31.94GB (23.26GB free)| |Process Argv|C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\Code - Insiders.exe| |Screen Reader|no| |VM|0%|

Extensions (32)

Extension|Author (truncated)|Version ---|---|--- yaml|ada|0.0.9 cake-vscode|cak|0.10.1 path-intellisense|chr|1.4.2 vscode-markdownlint|Dav|0.18.0 vscode-eslint|dba|1.4.12 docs-article-templates|doc|0.1.2 docs-authoring-pack|doc|0.1.1 docs-markdown|doc|0.1.1 docs-preview|doc|0.3.12 xml|Dot|2.3.1 gitlens|eam|8.4.1 tslint|eg2|1.0.33 dotnet-test-explorer|for|0.3.1 beautify|Hoo|1.3.2 rest-client|hum|0.19.0 theme-monokai-pro-vscode|mon|1.1.8 DocFX|ms-|0.1.3 csharp|ms-|1.15.2 PowerShell|ms-|1.7.0 debugger-for-chrome|msj|4.7.0 gradle-language|nac|0.2.3 chef|Pen|0.7.0 vscode-docker|Pet|0.0.27 java|red|0.27.0 vscode-icons|rob|7.24.0 vscode-coverage-gutters|rya|2.0.0 code-spell-checker|str|1.6.10 msbuild-project-tools|tin|0.2.39 vscode-java-debug|vsc|0.10.0 vscode-java-pack|vsc|0.3.0 vscode-java-test|vsc|0.7.0 vscode-maven|vsc|0.9.0

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel yes we did go back to Electron 1.7.x

[MeikTranel]

Well damn, i was kinda hyped this got resolved. We are only moving back to 1.7 for june end game right? When current insider is being released we're moving back to electron 2.0 right?

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel yes the idea is to ship with Electron 2.0 eventually. It is still unclear to me if this is a Windows 10 insiders issue or not. I plan to install Windows 10 insiders to find out more soon.

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel do you still see this? I now installed a Windows Insiders (Version 1803, OS Build 17711.1000) and I do not see this issue when I try with this build: https://az764295.vo.msecnd.net/exploration/163e64ca7bbd0a69c727cfd9f5610e7546207a71/VSCodeSetup-x64-1.24.0-exploration.exe

[MeikTranel]

Still have the issue. By now this is happening in more and more apps. The same effect happens to me in the regular Visual Studio Installer right now.

I fear it has something to do with my dpi/resolution setup. I use 2560x1440(125% scaling) and 1680x1050(100% scaling), if that helps.

[Tyriar]

@MeikTranel is this the regular installer? Are you still on Electron @? Can you check in the Help > About menu?

[MeikTranel]

In VSCode or in the VS2017 Installer?

[MeikTranel]

VS Code version: Code - Exploration 1.24.0-exploration (163e64ca7bbd0a69c727cfd9f5610e7546207a71, 2018-05-17T05:34:34.725Z) OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.17711

System Info

|Item|Value| |---|---| |CPUs|Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz (8 x 4008)| |GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled
checker_imaging: disabled_off
flash_3d: enabled
flash_stage3d: enabled
flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software
rasterization: enabled
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled| |Memory (System)|31.94GB (23.82GB free)| |Process Argv|C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code Exploration\Code - Exploration.exe| |Screen Reader|no| |VM|0%|

Extensions: none EDIT: Just noticed, there's no electron info in the auto system info print from vscode. Have a screenshot: 

[MeikTranel]

Same effect in terminus... Has this issue been raised in electron yet?

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel yeah let's try to file this to them, but for that we need a repro in a simpler app. Can you try to reproduce with their standard application: https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/download/v2.0.4/electron-v2.0.4-win32-x64.zip

If that does not reproduce, can you try to reproduce with Electron Fiddle (which is a bit more complex example):

• git clone https://github.com/electron/fiddle.git
• cd fiddle
• npm install
• npm start

[bpasero]

@MeikTranel any luck?