Mini pc with AMD 680M graphics has shadowy fonts

[suplero]

New install on minisforum um773 with AMD 680M graphics.

Using 2 4k monitors, and the color scheme is shadowy and washed out on one of them, but not as bad as the other. Different monitors but could have different hardware settings, etc.

However, the same monitor when running 22.04 with a different computer with intel uhd730 graphics looks much nicer.

Is there a setting for amd graphics? A check of proprietary drivers shows no proprietary drivers in use.

Here are camera pictures of the screens, I figured screenshots wouldn't really show the distortion or comparison

first pic: 22.04 display- nice rich colors

second pic, 24.04 - washed out and skinny fonts.


restricted extras is installed, I think the font choice is the same.

It's like the monitor doesn't know how to display the fonts.

This is with night color on (3600k) and with night color off, the brightness goes up, and some of the shadows go away, but the skinny font is still there.

Maybe there is some mismatched settings between the monitor and colors and fonts that doesn't happen with intel graphics?

I've seen some of this before a long time ago when the refresh rate or sync is off, and I don't remember how that was resolved.

I do like the deeper colors and bigger fonts better.

Side note: changing the scaling does not change the system setting window at all. It seems stuck at 100% size. All other windows behave normally.

Thanks.

[claydoh]

Can you set it to more than 30 hz refresh rate? That would drive me batty.

If your monitors have different refresh rates, but it won't let you change it to the higher one, I would suggest trying Wayland sessions - it supports this situation very well, and AMD graphics work well for this also.
Do consider different HDMI cables if you have other sets, just to eliminate a simple and easily fixable problem.
The graphics won't use any proprietary drivers - the free, open drivers (amdgpu and Mesa) are the best, and preferred/supported by AMD, except for professional workstation stuff.

[suplero]

Thanks for the reply. I did change the cables around and the situation did not change, but the cables might have been of the same quailty

The options for refresh rate are 24, 25 and 30 - and no matter which one is selected, the fonts look the same. I would like 60hz, but I have never been able to get 60hz. I don't have any programs that need to be that speedy and it doesn't seem too bad. Maybe once I see 60hz in action 30hz will look worse lol.

I am not familiar with wayland graphics. I just did a standard install, and didn't see any options for selecting the graphics type. I will look it up and test it. Also might put on kde neon to do a test too.

thanks

[claydoh]

I am going to guess that one TV only can do 30hz, or doesn't report its capabilities correctly, like a monitor does. I have seen that happen before, though usually on older ones.
Xorg usually will use the lowest refresh rate of the two devices.

But I forget that if the HDMI cables are only the 1.4 version, you will only get 30hz anyway.
A better refresh will make both a lot crisper/sharper. Some of the differences may be from differing theme/color settings as well, which may be contributing to this as well.
(they both look bad to me, but my eyes are not the best judge here)

[Schwarzer Kater]

Additionally to the things claydoh already wrote:

Of course two TVs (or monitors) from different vendors will produce a different picture: they very probably use different panels and possibly use different panel technologies (e.g. TN, IPS, VA, OLED…). Even two identically constructed models of a good computer monitor from the same vendor - but from two different years of production - produce a more or less different picture (but not as much as from two different vendors, of course).
Different graphics cards can produce a different picture, too.
These are examples of what professional colour management is for (e.g. in prepress).

And 30 Hz will look additionally bad…

Perhaps consider using proper computer monitors instead of TVs?
IMHO a good computer monitor is at least as important as the computer itself: you look at it all the time and a good one will outlast several computer generations…

[suplero]

Thanks for the reply.

The problem isn't that the tvs are bad compared to monitors, the obvious quality difference is reflected in the pricing, capabiliites, etc. The tvs even need to be properly set to make the pictures look comparably bright, etc, but that is relatively easy to handle.

The problem is that one graphics chipset with 22.04 and a different graphics chipset with 24.04 on the same monitor with the same configuration, and cable, is displaying different behavior.

The 22.04 output (top picture) is definitely usable and actually pleasing to the eyes, while the 24.04 is considerably worse, and causes eye strain after only a few hours due to the font sizing, colors, and shadowing.
That is what I am trying to understand and fix.

[suplero]

Tried the wayland option in 24.04 - nothing really changed

Then tried several other live distros - neon, ubuntu 22.04, kubuntu 23.10 and kubuntu 22.04 - all seem to have the artifacting, which leads me to think that the amd 680M graphics chipset is kinda weird with linux and this particular lg tv?

None of the live distros were installed, just tested and configured from the "try" option, which might not be the perfect test, but it was enough for me to notice a similarity between all of the graphics renderings.

Next step is to try 24.04 with the intel chipset on the same monitor configuraiton and see how that works

thanks

[Snowhog]

Well, I would start with the simple things; change Themes and see if there is any difference in overall image quality.

[suplero]

Thanks for the reply.

Swapping the graphics from AMD 680M to Intel UHD730 made the difference.

Seems like the linux amd graphics and the lg tv don't get along. I had this problem to start with initially in windows too, but a complete wipe and install and then getting drivers from source helped that problem.

Moving from the minisforum pc to the old acer pc makes the fonts much nicer to work with and is very close to the 22.04 output.

Now to try to fix the firefox bug of not obeying window behavior rules.