Fixing Chrome Graphics Issues Without Sacrificing Hardware Acceleration

Experiencing graphical glitches in Chrome can be frustrating. Many users with NVIDIA or AMD GPUs have reported issues like garbled content, white pages, and inconsistent redraws since macOS 10.11. While disabling hardware acceleration often resolves these problems, it comes at the cost of performance and access to WebGL and other advanced web technologies. This article provides a detailed guide to fixing Chrome graphics issues while keeping hardware acceleration enabled, allowing you to enjoy a smoother browsing experience and utilize the full potential of modern web applications.

Understanding the Problem

Chrome's reliance on hardware acceleration can sometimes lead to conflicts with specific GPU drivers or system configurations. These conflicts manifest as a range of visual anomalies, including:

• Garbled Content: Blocks of the page appear misplaced or out of order.
• Blank Pages: Entire pages display as white.
• Inconsistent Redraws: Only parts of the page update in response to scrolling or mouse interactions.
• Unresponsive Links: The page appears correctly rendered, but links and controls don't respond accurately to mouse clicks.
• Distorted Display: Pages appear stretched or squished.

The Drawback of Disabling Hardware Acceleration

While disabling hardware acceleration in Chrome settings often resolves these issues, it's not an ideal solution. It forces Chrome to rely on the CPU for rendering, leading to:

• Increased CPU usage, especially on dynamic or content-heavy pages.
• Loss of WebGL support, preventing the use of interactive 3D graphics in the browser.
• Inability to use certain web applications, such as Google Earth.

The Solution: Tweaking Chrome Flags

Fortunately, there's a workaround that allows you to address these graphics issues without completely disabling hardware acceleration. By tweaking specific Chrome flags, you can fine-tune how Chrome utilizes your GPU, resolving conflicts while retaining the benefits of hardware acceleration.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Enable Hardware Acceleration: Go to Chrome Settings -> Advanced -> System and ensure "Use hardware acceleration when available" is checked.
2. Disable Partial Swap:
   • Navigate to chrome://flags/#ui-disable-partial-swap in your Chrome address bar.
   • Click "Disable" to disable the "UI Disable Partial Swap" flag.
3. Disable Zero-Copy:
   • Go to chrome://flags/#enable-zero-copy in your Chrome address bar.
   • Change the "Zero-copy rasterizer" setting from "Default" to "Disabled".
4. Relaunch Chrome: Restart Chrome to apply the changes.

After relaunching Chrome, test if the graphics issues have been resolved. If not, proceed to the next step.

The "Nuclear Option": Disabling GPU Rasterization

If the previous steps don't fully resolve the issue, you can try disabling GPU rasterization. This option has a similar effect to disabling hardware acceleration but retains specific exceptions for HTML5 canvases, videos, games, and WebGL content.

• Navigate to chrome://flags/#enable-gpu-rasterization in your Chrome address bar.
• Disable the "GPU rasterization" flag.
• Relaunch Chrome.

This option forces most web pages to render in software while still allowing hardware acceleration for specific types of content.

Addressing Issues in Electron-Based Apps

The techniques described above can also be used to address similar graphics issues in Electron-based applications like Atom and Visual Studio Code. If you're experiencing graphical glitches in these apps, try the following:

• For Atom: Run Atom from the terminal using the command atom --disable-gpu &.
• For VS Code: Create a file named ‘code’ with the following content:

  #!/bin/sh
  nohup /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron --disable-gpu > /dev/null 2>&1 &
  

  Then, execute the following commands:

  sudo mv code /usr/bin/code
  sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/code
  

  Finally, start VS Code from the terminal using code.
• For Electron App Developers: Call app.disableHardwareAcceleration() in your main.js file.

Conclusion

By carefully adjusting Chrome flags and utilizing command-line arguments for Electron-based applications, you can effectively address graphics issues without completely sacrificing hardware acceleration. This approach allows you to enjoy a smoother, more responsive browsing experience while still taking advantage of the latest web technologies. Remember to test each step and choose the solution that works best for your specific system configuration.