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fraternihil

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 15, 2016
33
11
I am using an external 1440p 144hz monitor connected via DP to my M1 Air. Each time I plug in the monitor or switch it on, I have to go to display settings and set the refresh rate to 144hz so that the screen does not flicker due to the variable refresh rate setting that seems to be the standard configuration. This is quite annoying, because I need to plug in or switch on/off the monitor several times during the day. Does anyone know

a) a way to permanently force a non-variable refresh rate (144 hz) and set it as standard (why can my Mac not remember my last settings?)
b) an alternative solution? I'm thinking of a nifty Alfred workflow/shortcut, or some other program such as Switchresx which does remember my default settings (144 hz) and overrides the system's standard?

Unfortunately, I cannot disable adaptive sync / freesync permanently in the monitor's OSD. I'm sure many of you have this problem. Thanks for your help!
 

suuperjan

macrumors newbie
Jan 4, 2022
1
0
Bump! Apple should fix the filcker issue, and not tell us to read the displays manufacturers documentation. But a shortcut/ automator action would help.
 

bogdanw

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2009
6,101
3,016
Works on Intel, not sure about M1.
cscreen https://www.pyehouse.com/cscreen/ (cscreenIntel.dmg)
Usage
cscreen -h
- help
cscreen -l
- lists the current displays and modes
cscreen -s 2 -x <width> -y <height> -r <refresh>
changes the resolution & refresh rate for screen 2, where
[-x <width>] : specifies the width in pixels
[-y <height>] : specifies the height in pixels
[-r <refresh>] : specifies the refresh rate in Hz
 
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aaronlee9303

macrumors newbie
Mar 1, 2022
2
7
I hope this is not too late.

Hey guys, I know this post is kinda old, but I wanted to share some information with you guys. I was suffering from the issue where the default refresh rate kept becoming variable, but finally I think I found the key by using EasyRes application on App Store, which is free. I don't know why, but ever since I set the resolution and the refresh rate by the app, it keeps recovering the refresh rate that I set before even if I terminate a game which changes the resolution. Try to use EasyRes guys.
 

MissMindeeMayhem

macrumors newbie
May 31, 2022
3
1
Lake Tahoe
I hope this is not too late.

Hey guys, I know this post is kinda old, but I wanted to share some information with you guys. I was suffering from the issue where the default refresh rate kept becoming variable, but finally I think I found the key by using EasyRes application on App Store, which is free. I don't know why, but ever since I set the resolution and the refresh rate by the app, it keeps recovering the refresh rate that I set before even if I terminate a game which changes the resolution. Try to use EasyRes guys.
Hey! Thanks for taking the time to reply to this thread - I can't tell you how much time I have spent looking into workarounds for this issue on my new M1 Max MBP.....it was so disappointing after 6mo+ of waiting for this machine to show up to only have it be such a hassle to work smoothly for something as glitchy as the monitor settings we are all struggling with. I just installed the App and did a couple test login/logout rounds and it appears it is a great bandaid for the time being. THANK YOU so much!
 
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kidr0bot

macrumors newbie
Aug 21, 2022
1
1
I hope this is not too late.

Hey guys, I know this post is kinda old, but I wanted to share some information with you guys. I was suffering from the issue where the default refresh rate kept becoming variable, but finally I think I found the key by using EasyRes application on App Store, which is free. I don't know why, but ever since I set the resolution and the refresh rate by the app, it keeps recovering the refresh rate that I set before even if I terminate a game which changes the resolution. Try to use EasyRes guys.
I signed up so I could reply just to say THANK YOU this solution worked for me as well 🙌
 
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MilesMurray

macrumors newbie
Jun 8, 2021
3
0
I hope this is not too late.

Hey guys, I know this post is kinda old, but I wanted to share some information with you guys. I was suffering from the issue where the default refresh rate kept becoming variable, but finally I think I found the key by using EasyRes application on App Store, which is free. I don't know why, but ever since I set the resolution and the refresh rate by the app, it keeps recovering the refresh rate that I set before even if I terminate a game which changes the resolution. Try to use EasyRes guys.
Awesome - seems to do the trick, thank you! Been frustrated with this for a while and this little app has saved the day - albeit a sticky plaster for a basic function Apple should have had sorted by now...
 

Piipperi

macrumors member
May 5, 2020
33
9
Computur
This is also an issue on x86 Macs, I've filed a feedback about it to Apple, hopefully it gets fixed soon. Very frustrating as it seems to default to VRR even if you just plug in another monitor.
 

Finerdly

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2015
5
0
Anyone else now experiencing the issue again despite using fixed refresh rate? I had no flickering for months by automatically enforcing a fixed refresh rate, but now I get the flickering even with fixed refresh rate..
 

Piipperi

macrumors member
May 5, 2020
33
9
Computur
Anyone else now experiencing the issue again despite using fixed refresh rate? I had no flickering for months by automatically enforcing a fixed refresh rate, but now I get the flickering even with fixed refresh rate..
How do you automatically enforce a fixed refresh rate? You should double check that you are not using VRR from Settings
 

Finerdly

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2015
5
0
How do you automatically enforce a fixed refresh rate? You should double check that you are not using VRR from Settings
It's the same if I play around with switching back and forth with VRR and Fixed Rate in System Preferences -> Display.

For the automatic solution I'm using a cronjob every minute with displayplacer from homebrew - works great, but as I said Fixed Rate is not fixing the flickering anymore, doesn't matter if switched by the cronjob or by me manually.

What I discovered is that turning HDR off in System Preferences -> Display seems to fix it (again). At least so far it seems that way. I don't like that solution but better than the crazy flickering.

My flicker journey so far:
  • 5 months ago or so: Bought new Dell S2722QC, experienced very bad flickering mostly every time I watched a YouTube Video, flickering persisted then even after closing the browser tab.
  • Found the "Fixed Rate Solution" which solved the issue completely and consistently.
  • Now 5 months later it re-appeared and I seem to be able to fix it by now turning off HDR in MacOS, which I had turned on all the time in the last few months where just Fixed Rate kept the flickering away.
Don't really understand how the Fixed Rate Solution stopped working.
 
Last edited:

johnnymcc

macrumors regular
Jul 30, 2019
131
36
Add me to this fun list. I have an Aorus 48" OLED that has a built-in KVM. My Mac Studio keeps going back to variable refresh rate after waking from sleep and causes a lot of flickering and frustration. Is EasyRes the solution for solving this? I hate to install an app like this when Apple should just fix it.
 
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