Does anyone experience flicker in IE on Vaio Z after Screen flickers after maybe 6-7 hours of use?

I dont understand why the screen flickers in IE after maybe like 6-7 hours of use on the Z. A reboot would solve the issue but is there a reason behind this?

 

I don't think it's related to usage time. I'll get screen flickers in IE sometimes after closing a GPU-demanding application. When I open up IE and scroll, I get the flickers. I've tried switching between Speed and Stamina, but that doesn't seem to have an effect. I too have found that a reboot makes everything kosher. It hasn't bothered me too much, but it'd be nice to figure out what is causing it. My hunch has been that it's some kind of display driver issue.

 

VGN-Z or VPC-Z?
Using nVidia card or Intel card?
32-bit or 64-bit OS?
IE 7 or 8?

 

^I don't know about the OP, but for me...

VPC-Z
Both
64 Bit W7 Pro
IE8

 

Maybe it's just your head spinning from 7 straight hours of facebook?

Who uses IE anymore anyways???

 

Me...and I hate facebook.

 

The issue is related to the graphics switch. Switching the graphics mode (say from SPEED to STAMINA, or vice versa) while IE is open does cause flickering. Not always, but sometimes. Usually terminating and reopening IE fixes the issue.

I've mentioned this a few months back but I'll mention it again (the quote is now deep within Nautis's graphics thread). An app usually starts up with a list of hardware that is running. As a result changing the hardware WHILE the app is running (say, the graphics on the Z, considering it is switchable) does cause some unexpected results; the app is expecting a certain hardware for display purposes but it is suddenly something rather different.
That explains why the problem is fixed when you terminate and restart the app; the app has a new list with the new GPU running. Again, change the GPU again you will get flickering until you restart the app.

 

its the VPC Z. Windows 7 factory default. and yes, it flickers when i scroll in IE.

thanks for the explanation sushi. i guess its better to close all apps before switching the graphics card.

 

Well, that is my personal explanation.

Though I'm interested in knowing how the new Optimus is able to 'seamlessly' switch between GPUs considering it senses open apps and switches accordingly. That includes the VPC-Z's AUTO mode. I know I may be contradicting myself here since I mentioned the 'hardware' list an app initialises when starting up (which is true), but I stand by my theory; the flickering issue in IE can't be replicated unless one switches the GPU with it open. And it is simply fixed by restarting IE. So considering that... How does Optimus manage to stay trouble-free..?

I own a VGN-Z. The issue happened almost everyime I switched the GPU with IE open, while I was using the factory Vista Business OS x86. It now happens SOMETIMES (maybe 4 out of 10 times) with Windows 7 Pro x64, clean-installed.

 

While I'm not disagreeing that it may be GPU switch related, in my experience, a simple close and reopen of IE does not fix the problem. Neither does switching between GPUs. So far, I have only found a reboot successful.

 

People still use IE???
Use Chrome!

 

Chrome and Firefox cause problems with some of my company's online reporting tools.

 

Or is it your company's online reporting tools that cause problems with standards-compliant software?

 

@JP
If it happens again, try opening Task Manager (showing ALL PROCESSES FROM ALL USERS) and termintate all iexplorer.exe processes. My experience tells me when it starts flickering, the CPU is being hogged and IE doesn't usually close down in the background. Once that is done, try opening IE again; that SHOULD solve the problem without the need of a reboot...

And @arth.
Unfortunately, most internet sites today are still made and tested with IE. In actual fact, this is still done mostly with IE6.
The most browsers like Chrome and Opera can do is to display pages to the extent that IE can. You sometimes, and I'm sure you heard of such incidents, see webpages being muddled up in browesers that are not IE. And IE7 and up all employ monthly updates from Microsoft which we know as 'Compability-view updates', all to get the new IE displaying sites as best as IE6 can.

Companies who require custom-built software don't usually want to spare time making it fool-proof with ALL browsers. Time is money (...duh...), and naturally, getting that piece of software working with the most common browser (IE) is the safest, and the cheapest way to go. IE7 and IE8 are the safest bet if you want IE6-like reliability (though security is another matter).
Don't get me wrong, I ain't bashing Opera or Google. They are nice browsers, but I think they are more suited for personal, non-business use, at least, for now...

Myself, I use IE8 cause it supports biometrics with the UPEK software. I unfortunately don't see performance benefits with Opera (consumes a huge 200MB RAM when running), and although I like Chrome for being light and being customizable, I've had issues where it muddled up sites that I had to visit for work (SVN repo, wiki-editting tools etc etc)

 

Either way, the tools don't work properly, so I use IE8.

@5ushiMonster:

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it at try next time I experience this.