Changing wallpaper with hotkey is not instant and causing elevated CPU usage

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Betrayed

33 discussion posts

Pretty much as subject describes it. Using "load random images" from local folder. What I mean by "not instant" is that it seems like its taking 5-10 seconds to register the command. (CTRL+Win+R) Tried to look for any setting for delay, but didn't find one. Its not the "windows7wallpaper changing effect" in fault either, happens with/without it. DisplayFusionHelperWin8.exe is the process taking more than it seems sensible. 100% usage for 1 core for around 10-20 seconds after wallpaper change key combo has been pressed.

Windows 8.1 x64 Pro RTM

Not a major thing in any way.

Keep up the good work!

• Attachment [protected]: DF.txt [54,828 bytes]

Sep 19, 2013 • #1

Could you try setting the "Wallpaper > Generate Smaller Files (lower quality)" option in the DisplayFusion Advanced Settings, then restart DisplayFusion and let me know if that makes a difference at all?

Thanks!

Sep 20, 2013 • #2

Betrayed

33 discussion posts

Tried that, no difference. Seems that all PNG files are converted to JPG (because of compatibility with login screen?), is there something that DF does to JPG's? Some PNG's are around 3.5 MB, conversion time+moving them to correct folder might explain some of this. Windows is installed on SSD, wallpapers are loaded from 2nd HDD.

Sep 20, 2013 • #3

Jonathan Holvey

18 discussion posts

I also have this problem, on two different computers. I always assumed the delay was a limitation of DisplayFusion. Is this the case?

Sep 22, 2013 • #4

DisplayFusion does need to take the images, and create one large generated image in a specific format for Windows to set it as the wallpaper, so that does take a bit of time. Also, if you have a folder with a huge number of images in it, there may be a small delay while DisplayFusion picks a new one.

If you guys could do the following, I can try to determine which part of the wallpaper changing is taking the most time.

Enable debug logging on the Troubleshooting tab (set it to Logging: Important Only) and click Apply
Restart DisplayFusion
Change the wallpaper (please note the time so I'll know where to look in the log file)
Attach the %appdata%\DisplayFusion\DisplayFusion.log file to this topic (can be found by clicking the 'Open Log' button on the Troubleshooting tab)
Disable debug logging after sending me the log

Thanks!

Sep 23, 2013 • #5

Betrayed

33 discussion posts

I don't suppose ~750 1080p and ~60 1440p wallpapers is considered huge amount? Glad I'm not alone though, not going completely mental.

Did several manual changes between:
2013/09/24 00:26:19.948
2013/09/24 00:27:05.427

• Attachment [protected]: DisplayFusion.log [368,558 bytes]

Sep 23, 2013 (modified Sep 23, 2013) • #6

Thanks! According to the log, it was only 3 seconds from the time you pressed the hotkey, to the time that DisplayFusion set the wallpaper, so it sounds like maybe Windows is just being slow to refresh the new wallpaper.

Out of curiosity, could you try the previous stable version of DisplayFusion from the link below to see if it has the same behaviour? We did change some wallpaper code between 5.0.1 and 5.1, so I just want to make sure that the new code didn't cause this issue

http://www.binaryfortress.com/Files/DisplayFusion/DisplayFusionSetup-5.0.1.exe

Thanks!

Sep 24, 2013 • #7

Betrayed

33 discussion posts

Same kind of behavior with 5.0.1 too. Might've been lucky getting those 3 sec ones that time. I could swear that I've indeed seen 5-10 sec changes.

Sep 24, 2013 • #8

Ok, we're investigating this further, and we'll hopefully be able to make some changes to lower the CPU usage. We'll keep you posted as soon as we have a new build to test out.

Thanks!

Sep 26, 2013 • #9

We've just released a new DisplayFusion beta version (http://www.displayfusion.com/Download/Beta/) and the wallpaper CPU usage should be much better. There's also a new Advanced Setting called "Wallpaper: Use Internal Wallpaper Processing" that should help with the CPU usage a bit as well.

Thanks!

Oct 10, 2013 • #10

Betrayed

33 discussion posts

Wow, didn't expect things to happen this quickly.

I'll definitely give the beta a try right away.

Cheers

Oct 11, 2013 • #11