The AMD Driver Thread

[shankly1985]

I won't be updating that's for sure not unless the update is simple to follow. Am happy with the performance of the display as a matter of a fact before I even knew what AMA did on my last BenQ I turned it off as I thought the image was worst with it on.

My csgo skill set not been effected by any so called higher response time.
Sure this is personal preference..

 

[mz/x]

I think he means that current owners will without a doubt have to send their benq monitors back for the firmware update, which is true as we can't update the monitor firmware ourselves.

Whilst I see your point mz/x, surely we could also say, why didn't the monitor manufacturers notice this issue before sending them out? It is something so basic that it should never have passed the testing phase but then again these days, pretty much every monitors manufacturers QC has gone down the drain, usually riddled with faults be it dead pixels, backlight bleed, not lasting more than a year... But yeah it is up to them just as much as it for AMD to check to make sure that freesync is working well. Also, AMD have fixed the issue on their end via the last driver update, it is up to the monitor manufacturer to fix the problem on their end now, not AMD.

Who knows you could very well be right but I don't see why it would take Samsung so long to fix the issue considering ASUS had it fixed before they even released their monitor, which has also been recalled due to frame skipping at 144HZ.... (not related to freesync)

First I have heard of that. Is that just for the monitor speakers though? If so, who cares, they always suck anyway

1) Yes. as you said it about the Benq. That is what I meant
2) I have no idea why the monitor manufacturers did not notice this. In case of the Samsung it is possible that because they are 4K and all others were lower res but higher freq. I do not know I am guessing
3) Monitor manufacturers are dumb. TVs can be easily updated while monitors that are more expensive than many of the crap TVs cannot by the user. I think this is a major design error and the net effect is that monitors actually have to be shipped back for updates. Costly, time consuming and bad enduser experience.
4) There is definitely something with the sound quality drop with Freesync. I am not making this up. This is what the user manual states:
"The sound quality of the monitor may decrease if FreeSync is enabled."

Look, I am not here to bash anyone but I tried to offer an explanation. In fact, if these are related in defence of AMD this Freesync mess would explain why the drivers are delayed.

 

[Ayahuasca]

You've put across some fair points mz/x, just ignore the ones who simply respond with "that's BS" instead of offering a valid counter argument like some have.

 

[mz/x]

Freesync doesn't impact any audio quality what so ever.. Mark my word, when I say this.. Audio is key to me and it's something I would notice.

Read the Samsung manual of these "unreleased" monitors. Here is a quote:
"The sound quality of the monitor may decrease if FreeSync is enabled."
I am not a tech experts but why would Samsung say this in the manual?

 

[Ayahuasca]

Doesn't that mean it affects the speakers on the monitor itself which most people don't use?

 

[shankly1985]

Read the Samsung manual of these "unreleased" monitors. Here is a quote:
"The sound quality of the monitor may decrease if FreeSync is enabled."
I am not a tech experts but why would Samsung say this in the manual?

Am not sure, BenQ isn't Samsung, so what issue the Samsung display might have doesn't mean all will..
I can assure you that I play a lot csgo and I would notice audio change is a split second.. I know that game so well..

 

[melmac]

OcUK and Samsung has no Cartel. That was my point but you cannot read anyway. If they would, then Gibbo and Co. would be investigated by the authorities. Gibbo painted a nice picture of the relationship they have with Samsung which I challenged. Samsung does not care about companies like OcUK otherwise we would have a decent answer from OcUK. Be a little bit more logical. Here however this makes no difference. I was speculating based on what I heard why the drivers are late. Please look for the post from Baddass who explained it clearly that all new Freesync monitors have the same issue and require fix from the manufacturers. Multiple manufacturers! This is a mess and I assume AMD had to put resources on this issue as now multiple brands with release schedules and fixes/updates are in the picture. This explains why their drivers are late.

And I think the first half of this post proves my point.

Logically speaking, AMD have updated their part with the release of the 15.4.1 drivers. This is going from a Badass post, BenQ are working on a firmware upgrade. Now please tell me, how much of AMD's resources will be used writing a firmware for a monitor manufacturer? Very few if any at all.

Also, Jim, the Asus rep stated that the Asus monitors will not have the same issue as they had already fixed it.

And you don't have a clue why the Samsung monitors are delayed.

 

[mz/x]

100% you say, show me the info from BenQ. It might be that the monitors have to be recalled, but nobody knows anything yet.

The Samsung thing is total rubbish and its from a guy with a proving track record of making stuff up, arriving at wrong conclusions then making sensational claims, like the Ocuk/samsung Cartel thread

So, I want him to post links/proof of what he says.

What do you want genius another Wikileak? Grow up. Do you think that Samsung will come out and tell the truth and admit that they were amateurs to check all the nuts and bolts? Have you ever seen a corporation especially from Asia being honest and telling the truth. You're really not the sharpest knife in the drawer because the proof you asked would require violating company confidentiality agreements etc. What else do you want? Another forum post from another country? Makes no difference as we may never learn the truth.

 

[mz/x]

And I think the first half of this post proves my point.

Logically speaking, AMD have updated their part with the release of the 15.4.1 drivers. This is going from a Badass post, BenQ are working on a firmware upgrade. Now please tell me, how much of AMD's resources will be used writing a firmware for a monitor manufacturer? Very few if any at all.

Also, Jim, the Asus rep stated that the Asus monitors will not have the same issue as they had already fixed it.

And you don't have a clue why the Samsung monitors are delayed.

Melmac, you're right and wrong. The first part I agree but still it requires the manufacturers to update firmware. (What a nightmare) No, AMD's resources are required to fix perhaps the crossfire properly so later the monitor manufacturers do not have to update AGAIN due to some issues that could have been avoided. My guess is that after the first fiasco the monitor manufacturers want assurances from AMD. To ensure no issues will happen again AMD has to get it right which requires resources.

 

[melmac]

People knowledgable in that sector like Badass have pretty much said unless you have the tools to do the firmware update yourself it will need to be returned to manufacturer.

Monitor manufacturers have released firmware updates before. Those others might be right and it might not be possible on these monitors, but nothing is definite just yet.

 

[mz/x]

Doesn't that mean it affects the speakers on the monitor itself which most people don't use?

Probably you're right but still it is an issue. What if it only has impact on the Samsung solution? We certainly do not know. I just shared what I heard from somebody and when I challenged the person I was pointed to read the manual by myself. If somebody can test this on a freesync setup that would be great.

 

[melmac]

What do you want genius another Wikileak? Grow up. Do you think that Samsung will come out and tell the truth and admit that they were amateurs to check all the nuts and bolts? Have you ever seen a corporation especially from Asia being honest and telling the truth. You're really not the sharpest knife in the drawer because the proof you asked would require violating company confidentiality agreements etc. What else do you want? Another forum post from another country? Makes no difference as we may never learn the truth.

Then, stop posting rubbish, because you don't know. And your "logical" conclusions are anything but.

I would take the word of Gibbo and co. over yours every time.

 

[mz/x]

Monitor manufacturers have released firmware updates before. Those others might be right and it might not be possible on these monitors, but nothing is definite just yet.

Agreed. However, 99% of the current monitors cannot be updated by end users the same way as many TVs. I think this is a major oversight from monitor manufacturers.

 

[mz/x]

Then, stop posting rubbish, because you don't know. And your "logical" conclusions are anything but.

I would take the word of Gibbo and co. over yours every time.

Gibbo and Co. are probably under non-disclosure ... I do not take the word of Gibbo ... he will tell you what you want to hear. They are in this to make money and they do not care for a sec about anything else. You just cannot see the logic but it is there.

Let's go back to the drivers now as the thread went off track a bit.

 

[mz/x]

You've put across some fair points mz/x, just ignore the ones who simply respond with "that's BS" instead of offering a valid counter argument like some have.

Thanks, I will.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Monitor manufacturers have released firmware updates before. Those others might be right and it might not be possible on these monitors, but nothing is definite just yet.

Of course but all of BenQ's previous firmware updates require you to have the hardware to do it and it's not easy either.

 

[TNA]

Gibbo and Co. are probably under non-disclosure ... I do not take the word of Gibbo ... he will tell you what you want to hear. They are in this to make money and they do not care for a sec about anything else. You just cannot see the logic but it is there.

Let's go back to the drivers now as the thread went off track a bit.

Agreed.

Yeah I think it is best we stick to drivers talk. Witcher 3 drivers out yet?

 

[mz/x]

Of course but all of BenQ's previous firmware updates require you to have the hardware to do it and it's not easy either.

I think the manufacturers can learn something from this ... first, make the monitors easily user upgradable.

User upgradability would also offer some great opportunities for tweaking if the manufacturers would enable that. Imagine that you could create a custom monitor profile beyond the driver to optimise it even to certain games and load it in the monitor. I think that monitor makers and AMD have not discovered what can be done if they would work closely together.

Ok, I stop "hijacking" the AMD driver thread.

 

[melmac]

Melmac, you're right and wrong. The first part I agree but still it requires the manufacturers to update firmware. (What a nightmare) No, AMD's resources are required to fix perhaps the crossfire properly so later the monitor manufacturers do not have to update AGAIN due to some issues that could have been avoided. My guess is that after the first fiasco the monitor manufacturers want assurances from AMD. To ensure no issues will happen again AMD has to get it right which requires resources.

Why would AMD have to give assurances? They are not responsible for Quality control in BenQ or Asus or anywhere else. It should be the opposite way around. BenQ should have tested their monitor and not released early before any drivers were even ready!!


And again, how would AMD resources be used writing a firmware upgrade for monitor? BenQ set the monitor up to turn off AMA when freesync is enabled. The firmware is turning AMA on when freesync is enabled. It's a monitor problem not a freesync problem.

The crossfire issue is entirely AMD side of things, it doesn't affect the monitor workings at all. And I would say that's a nightmare to fix as each card has it's own timing controller and framebuffer, somehow they have to sync the timing controller of each card before sending the info to the monitor. Whereas Gsync is easier in that regards, because the framebuffer and timing controller are on the monitor.

 

[mz/x]

Why would AMD have to give assurances? They are not responsible for Quality control in BenQ or Asus or anywhere else. It should be the opposite way around. BenQ should have tested their monitor and not released early before any drivers were even ready!!

The monitors were "certified" by AMD. We do not know the details but according to Baddass all monitors are affected not just Benq. What is the likelihood that 3-4 different manufacturers make the same error?

And again, how would AMD resources be used writing a firmware upgrade for monitor? BenQ set the monitor up to turn off AMA when freesync is enabled. The firmware is turning AMA on when freesync is enabled. It's a monitor problem not a freesync problem.

Perhaps now the manufacturers want to ensure everything is working as it supposed to be and the monitor firmware manufacturers may go back and forth on issues with AMD. Again, what if the monitor manufacturers ask a question that the AMD driver team need to test and perhaps even write something to test it? This can require resources from both end and in this case involving multiple manufacturers.

The crossfire issue is entirely AMD side of things, it doesn't affect the monitor workings at all. And I would say that's a nightmare to fix as each card has it's own timing controller and framebuffer, somehow they have to sync the timing controller of each card before sending the info to the monitor. Whereas Gsync is easier in that regards, because the framebuffer and timing controller are on the monitor.

Thanks for the good summary. This is a mess and again since we do not know all the details maybe solutions offered by AMD are tested by monitor manufacturers. Once you involve multiple teams in multiple companies timelines will definitely become longer. I guess we kind of see this with the slow down right?