Faint grid display with 3.0

[myshop1044]

I'm trying to help a new member with his machine. His grids display is very faint. He was at my home
and I showed him the working grids display, he stated his grids did not show up very well.
my question is, is there a monitor display requirement for 3.0 or any of the other versions?
My next test is to carry my monitor to his place and test it on his computer. He did up grade his computer
at while back to handle the new 3.0. I checked the 3.0 software requirements, but saw no monitor requirements.
any help would be great
Perry B

[Canemaker]

Sent you a pm.. JOhn

[Mike58]

I have this issue also. Computer in shop shows a nice grid, the one in the house you can barely see. Why please? and what to do about it?

[mtylerfl]

I have the same problem on my newest computer. the grid lines are sort of a faint gray color and are very difficult to see. However, all three of my other computers, the grid lines are white and easy to view.

I have no idea why the difference nor how to correct the issue. Perhaps CW Tech Support can help us with this.

Forgot to mention...it makes no difference which Designer version is running...Basic Designer 1.187 or Designer 3.x

[mtylerfl]

Sent you a pm.. JOhn

Hi John,

If you have a solution, kindly post it for all to see!

[mtylerfl]

Ahh...solution found...turn OFF Hardware Acceleration in your 3D Preferences Menu.

(Edit/Preferences/3D Graphics)

Funny, it is set on AUTO on my other 3 computers and the lines are nice and white. Only my newest computer required the acceleration to be turned OFF to get my white (easy to see) lines back! I do not know if overall performance will suffer with that turned off or not. Time will tell.

[Mike58]

didn't help on my house computer, still very faint gray lines. Shop computer shows nice white lines that are thicker and easily seem.

[mtylerfl]

didn't help on my house computer, still very faint gray lines. Shop computer shows nice white lines that are thicker and easily seem.

Hi Mike,

So sorry that didn't work for you. It worked fine here and I thought that would take care of it for everyone. Might be a good idea to call Tech Support to see what's up. The type of graphic card "shouldn't" make any difference, but, maybe it does.

[SteveNelson46]

Try adjusting the brightness and contrast using the controls on the monitor. On my monitor (52" Sharp LCD), if the contrast is set too low the grid lines will fade out to almost invisible.

[mtylerfl]

Well, I suppose that could help somewhat, but that's really not the issue. It's that the lines are clear and easy to see when they are white in color...not easy to see when they are that faded gray color.

After turning off the Hardware Acceleration on my new computer, the lines are nice and white, easy to see, just like my other three computers have always been. No adjustment of brightness/contrast was required for my monitor thank goodness, because the monitor is adjusted perfectly for all my other applications.

However, maybe it's worth a shot if the Hardware Acceleration turned off doesn't help others.

[lynnfrwd]

I tried several different display settings today. I could see lines with wood, but not without until I turned off hardware acceleration. Windows 7.

[Mike58]

My shop computer is windows 7 Pro - no problems. House computer is windows 8.1. I tried turning off the hardware acceleration as Michael said yesterday and it has not changed the grid display. I see another post about seeing the lines "with wood, but not without until I turned off hardware acceleration" so I go back and look at mine again just now.

My display has the wood texture on - faint gray grid lines. I went to select none on texture and noticed that the lithophane texture was not available with the hardware acceleration set to off. It doesn't show up at all. I changed the hardware acceleration back to auto, restarted designer and there is lithophane back again in textures.

So, it seems by turning the hardware acceleration off you also are giving up the lithophane texture view. I see no need to tinker with my contrast and color settings on this computer as it is very bright and already a fairly high contrast. I don't think we should have to change the monitor settings to accommodate a single program (if that would make a difference here at all). I have looked at screen resolution on this screen and reduced it to no avail.

[mtylerfl]

...I went to select none on texture and noticed that the lithophane texture was not available with the hardware acceleration set to off. It doesn't show up at all. I changed the hardware acceleration back to auto, restarted designer and there is lithophane back again in textures.

So, it seems by turning the hardware acceleration off you also are giving up the lithophane texture view...

Hi Mike,

Thank you for that additional info. You are right...if the Hardware Acceleration is turned off, then we lose the Lithophane View. I did NOT notice that until you mentioned it.

So, turning off the hardware acceleration seems to be a bad idea all around. (Beside that, it didn't help you with the lines showing up anyway, even though it works for me here.)

Hopefully, the programmers can give this some attention and see if the problem can be fixed.

[SteveNelson46]

I see no need to tinker with my contrast and color settings on this computer as it is very bright and already a fairly high contrast. I don't think we should have to change the monitor settings to accommodate a single program (if that would make a difference here at all). I have looked at screen resolution on this screen and reduced it to no avail.

I agree with you but, what have you got to loose. It's just buttons on the side of the monitor and, if you get confused, most have a "Reset to default" setting.

[Mike58]

nothing to lose - nothing gained
I tried adjusting contrast which was already set around 68 or so I think. White background on this screen is bright white - can't see color adjustment being a issue - white background is WHITE - a really white - white so if adjusting color did turn gray into white on designer - it will change white on everything else to something other than white. Everything else doesn't have a problem. What is suppose to be white is white.

[mtylerfl]

I agree with you but, what have you got to loose. It's just buttons on the side of the monitor and, if you get confused, most have a "Reset to default" setting.

Hi Steve,

We're a stubborn bunch, aren't we? :D

I work with many other graphics programs and have the color temperature/brightness/contrast adjusted "just so" to accommodate my liking, as well as the brightness/contrast levels for my office lighting. I am indeed very reluctant to change my (carefully done) monitor settings. At least Mike tried it - I didn't.

I do appreciate your suggestion, though!

[SteveNelson46]

Adjusting the contrast is balancing between foreground and background colors. Thinking more is better, most have a tendency to set the brightness and the contrast too high which not only can cause distortion and colors to blend but eye strain also. I'm not saying this is your problem, just a suggestion and trying to help.

[mtylerfl]

Thank you. You are super about offering helpful suggestions and tips for all of us...and, You are greatly appreciated.

[ekimnamyr]

I have had this issue since going to 3.0 Just lived with it at times played with lighting and turning board to be able to see, Almost went and got magnifying glass couple of times... Took M.T, suggestion and it worked,, Thanks M,T, And all on the forum for bring issue to light.:D

[ktjwilliams]

I have a faint grid with 2.XX now .. Hmmmmmm So where do I find this accelerator in windows 8

[SteveNelson46]

I have a faint grid with 2.XX now .. Hmmmmmm So where do I find this accelerator in windows 8

In the Designer, select the Edit menu, Preferences, 3D Graphics tab. Lower right side of the dialogue box. As mentioned before, turning off hardware acceleration can cause problems elsewhere.

You can also try downloading and installing the latest driver for your video card and using the software that comes with it to make adjustments.

[mtylerfl]

I have a faint grid with 2.XX now .. Hmmmmmm So where do I find this accelerator in windows 8

In Designer (any version), go to these menus: Edit/Preferences/3D Graphics, then turn off the Hardware Acceleration. Be aware, you will lose the litho view option by turning this off.

[myshop1044]

Hello every one since I was the first to start talking about the faint grid lines and boy it has been a great discussion,
I went over to my friend house and After turning off the Hardware Acceleration on his computer his grids showed up great, of course
he did get a newer monitor also and it did turn off litho display.
But that is ok , he is now at that level yet, he is a newbie.
Thanks again for the great discussion, we all learned something.