Flicker Problems

[Adam+]

Greetings to everyone!

I'm having this problem with my mac that is extremely frustrating.

We use my 17" MacBook Pro on Sundays for the worship services. It is also the computer I use for work - video editing, graphics stuff, etc.

About 2 months ago, we started having random "flickers" happen on the screen during videos, worship songs, message slides, etc. (We use Propresenter). We have spent the last month trying to troubleshoot and figure out what is causing the flicker.

- At first we thought it was the presentation software. But we ran Keynote, and the flicker still happened.

- We checked our cables, as well as the converter box we use to convert the computer signal to S-Video (I know, not the best video signal, but the one we have to work with).

- Ultimately we figured out it has something to do with my laptop. We ran the same presentation on another Macbook Pro and no flicker. We ran it on a brand new Mac Mini, and no flicker.

This laptop is only two years old, has 4 GB of memory (the Mac Mini has 2, so it's not a memory problem), a 320 GB hard drive that is not filled up all the way. We are now in the process of getting rid of anything on it and reloading it application by application to see if it's a software issue. If that doesn't work, then we have to assume it's a hardware issue, correct?

Has anyone else experienced this? Any other diagnostics/troubleshooting I should try?

[[Admin] osborn4]

I'm not a Mac guru, but in the PC world, I would consider upgrading my video drivers.

If it were only during videos (foreground or background), it could be a codec problem.

[berad]

You have to allow for the most likely possibility that the machine has a bad graphics card -- do you have an Apple Store nearby that could take a look at it?

[Stever]

Are you running the same resolutions on the mini? It may be set to high fro your display device. Make sure it matches the native resolution of the display

[Adam+]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

We finally figured out what it was - for some reason, somebody changed the setting on the Energy Saver preference from Better Battery Life to Higher Performance, and that was what was causing the flicker. Very weird, but I'm glad we figured it out! It was driving us crazy!

However, we have I think decided to switch to the mac mini anyways, because for some reason it seems to put out higher quality video/graphics. Probably a better card or something.

Again, thanks!

[prochlea]

Have you kept the machine current with updates? When I got my macbook pro, out of the box it had a flicker problem on the secondary display, but it was fixed with a software update.

[Adam+]

Yeah, I keep my laptop updated, and if I don't remember, our IT guy does.

The good thing about this is that we ended up buying a mac mini for Sunday morning, and I get to keep my macbook pro with me which opens up the possibility of loops and background tracks and such...

[EricE]

Originally Posted by Adam+

for some reason, somebody changed the setting on the Energy Saver preference from Better Battery Life to Higher Performance, and that was what was causing the flicker. Very weird, but I'm glad we figured it out! It was driving us crazy!

When not using it for presentations, you want to set that back to Higher Performance if your not on battery - because:

However, we have I think decided to switch to the mac mini anyways, because for some reason it seems to put out higher quality video/graphics. Probably a better card or something.

On "Better Battery Life" your using the Intel integrated graphics which are pretty horrific. "Higher Performance" switches to the discrete graphics - which is faster and doesn't use system RAM for video like the integrated graphics.

How old is your MacBook Pro? If it's a late 2008 it could very well be a hardware problem - nVidia had quality control problems with that generate of GPUs and even Apple got stuck with a ton of bad/flaky chips. Make an appointment at the Genius Bar and take it into the Apple store. Complain about the video flicker and have them run tests. It took two trips, but they finally swapped out my logic board and I haven't had any issues since. And it doesn't matter if it's under warranty, AppleCare or whatever - on certain issues like this, Apple more than often will fix/repair/replace - but they certainly won't if you never raise the issue!

Even if it's not a late 2008, I'd still take it in...