5 Replies Latest reply: Feb 25, 2011 11:17 AM by Noel Carboni RSS

    Changing Screen Modes Quirk

    Shan-Dysigns Community Member

      This issue comes up randomly and I can't really troubleshoot it enough to find a pattern.

       

      When I open a document and hit "f" to change screen modes, sometimes the nextscreen mode (not full screen - it's the one where your canvas extends to the full dimensions of the application window) doesn't dipsplay the menus at the top (nor any panels for that matter) here is a screen shot of the first screen mode (default)

      regular-mode.jpg

       

      then when I press "f" the first time, I sometimes get this

       

      2nd-screen-mode.jpg

       

      the next screen mode appears to be as it should, but I can't figure out whether this could be a graphics driver issue, a preferences issue (that needs to be reset), a problem internally (Photoshop versus RAM), etc. This seems to happen when I'm working on large file sizes (100MB+), but like I said - it's all a little random. In the past I've reset preferences, made sure my graphics drivers were updated - all that I know to try.

       

      What else could be the problem? Rebooting Photoshop fixes it 20% of the time (or less), sometimes I can "log off" and that fixes it, but mainly I have to reboot.

        • 1. Re: Changing Screen Modes Quirk
          Noel Carboni Community Member

          Do the menus et. al. appear if you hover your cursor over that area?

           

          I don't use the F full screen modes myself in normal practice, but I just tried it quite a few times with CS4 (which I also no longer use regularly), on both small and quite huge images, and I couldn't reproduce the problem.

           

          My gut instinct is to suspect that this a graphics driver issue.  What video card do you have?  Just curious.

           

          -Noel

          • 2. Re: Changing Screen Modes Quirk
            Shan-Dysigns Community Member
            Do the menus et. al. appear if you hover your cursor over that area?

            No, but I know what you are asking. If you hit the tab key, you can make the the panels, tool box, etc disappear and then temporarily reappear if you mouse over to the far right or left - but that's not what's happening here.

             

            I don't use the F full screen modes myself in normal practice,

            I can't imagine working on an image not being able to see outside its canvas area - that makes me feel claustrophobic.

             

            What video card do you have?

            nVidia 9500 GT - I'm dealing with the typical RAM issue under XP 32-bit - I am capable of 4GB RAM, but can only access 3GB± and even then, my computer only recongnized 2.25GB. I'm allowing Photoshop 70% Ram usage - my graphics card is capable of open GL, but with my whole system verging on being old, I don't usually have it turned on. I'm about to get a new monster of a computer, but in the meantime, I have projects to finish, and all these random issues are killing me. I'm sure when I get a better processor, more RAM, better graphics card, these issues will go away (maybe bring on a whole new set).

             

            I just thought my issue may be because of a simple matter of RAM, drivers, etc... Like I said, I have troubleshooted until I am out of bullets...

            • 3. Re: Changing Screen Modes Quirk
              Noel Carboni Community Member
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              Shan-Dysigns wrote:


              No, but I know what you are asking. If you hit the tab key...


              No, that's not quite what I meant.  I have a test system on which I sometimes see older versions of Photoshop (e.g., PS CS) to some up without filling in all the tools, and if I just move the mouse over them they appear.

               

              I've just run a beta test and by far the greatest number of problem reports having to do with screen update problems have come in from nVidia users, with Intel running in second place.

               

              -Noel

              • 4. Re: Changing Screen Modes Quirk
                Shan-Dysigns Community Member
                I've just run a beta test and by far the greatest number of problem reports having to do with screen update problems have come in from nVidia users, with Intel running in second place.

                So that brings on another question I was saving for much later... Like I said before, I'm about to make a major jump in upgrading my computer stuff. I know the major graphic card battles are usually between nVidia and ATI. I've read within the last year+, ATI has been on top. For when I upgrade my computer (64-bit windows 7, mega ram, ssd, etc - the works), will I have better luck with an ATI? I had always used ATI until 3 years ago when I had to replace a graphic card and thought I would try nVidia for once (I even think they were winning the war at that time). I have CS5 waiting for me (I don't dare install it on this older computer).

                 

                So, are there any current issues with ATI and CS5?

                • 5. Re: Changing Screen Modes Quirk
                  Noel Carboni Community Member

                  Bottom line is this:  It is WAY too complicated a problem to answer simply.  It's a lot like "Ford" vs. "Chevy".

                   

                  Generally speaking, I'm seeing fewer bad reports from ATI users, but that doesn't mean individual cards are all better.

                   

                  People on this forum report, for example, that they sometimes cannot get Photoshop's OpenGL to work with an ATI 5670, and that the expensive nVidia Quadro cards are causing more problems with Photoshop than the reasonably priced "gamer" models.

                   

                  Right now, today, considering the last year's worth of experience, it appears that ATI is releasing better drivers, particularly for several year old models, than nVidia is.  Will that keep up?  Who can say.

                   

                  Might be a good idea to pick a specific model you like then just ask whether folks are already using it with good results.

                   

                  FYI, in the grand scheme of things Photoshop doesn't demand all that much from the video card, so even inexpensive cards CAN work well with it.  Whether they actually DO on any given day with any given model, well, that's what's hard to nail down.

                   

                  -Noel