Peano wrote:
As near as I can tell, this began happening after I ran an update on my ATI graphics card. I'll be working on an image in PS, make some routine adjustment, and the image breaks up into what look like huge pixels.

The image isn't harmed by this. I can save the PSD file, close PS, reopen it, and the image displays correctly again. I've tried downloading and reinstalling the latest drivers for my card, but it still happens -- and I still suspect it's a problem with the video card driver.

Any other suggestions for what might be causing this?

Can you revert back the update to old drivers until they fix it? ...unless the newest drivers have some other benefit you can't do without.

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:
Can you revert back the update to old drivers until they fix it? ...unless the newest drivers have some other benefit you can't do without.

No special benefits from the new drivers that I'm aware of. I updated only because AMD notified me of the update.

The "revert to previous driver" option in the Device Manager was grayed out, so possibly I already tried that. I clicked the "Update driver" button just for fun, and after searching on the Internet it did run an update. So I'll see how that goes.

Thanks for the suggestion.

EDIT: Well, that didn't take long. It just did it again. I would download the previous driver and install it, but I don't even know what version it was. I'll do some searching online.

vtrantien wrote:
You let us know few information, so I have some suggestions below:

1) If you use a PC, then a) open the case, remove the ATI card and then try to clean the "golden legs" of it, also do the same thing on the ATI card slot on the mainboard. (I ofter use a blank A4 paper to do it, both for the card and the slot). b) check to see if the CPU is over heated; in this case you need to remove the CPU and use some glue to cool it (be careful!). c) check to see if the power supply capacity is not enough, if possible change it with the higher capacity one for some test. d) change the RAM to higher capacity.

Thank you. I'll try all that as soon as I complete my Boeing 747 certification.

Peano wrote:
Thank you. I'll try all that as soon as I complete my Boeing 747 certification.

Don't be nervous! What I told you is nothing special, you can do it if you really want. Why don't you try? If you haven't heard anything like this before just because you haven't heard. I don't want to make a mess. I really think the problem you mentioned is about the hardware.

Illuminate wrote:
Which ATI card and what operating system?

Sounds like a driver conflict or overclock speed issue

ATI Radeon 5450 and Win 7-64.

EDIT: They have a slew of drivers, so I just arbitrarily went back to November 2011 and installed that driver. I'll see if the problem recurs. Hard to predict when it'll pop up. I'll just have to wait and see.

Peano wrote:

ATI Radeon 5450 and Win 7-64.

EDIT: They have a slew of drivers, so I just arbitrarily went back to November 2011 and installed that driver. I'll see if the problem recurs. Hard to predict when it'll pop up. I'll just have to wait and see.

Is the OpenGL features turned on in PS?

Illuminate wrote:
Is the OpenGL features turned on in PS?

Yes.

Peano wrote:

Yes.

My brother in law (AMD software engineer) says turn those features off..restart PS and work on a file as normal to see if the problem happens again. Also give the "Beta" catalyst software a try.

Illuminate wrote:
My brother in law (AMD software engineer) says turn those features off..restart PS and work on a file as normal to see if the problem happens again. Also give the "Beta" catalyst software a try.

I installed the beta catalyst drivers. The problem continued. Now that I've rolled the driver back to Nov. 2011, I'll wait and see if the problem comes back. Test one variable at a time.

If it does return, then I'll turn off OpenGL. That never caused any problems before, but it's always worth a try.

Pictus wrote:
After installing a new video driver or a plug-in it is good to reset Photoshop.
I saw MANY anomalies fixed by this approach...

UPDATE:
IF the reset does not fix, try to clean the ATI driver residue before installing the new version.

Thanks, I'll try both steps if the problem recurs.

Instinct Images wrote:
You might try going to your manufacturer's website and download the driver from there instead of the ATI website unless you bought and installed the ATI card yourself

It's a Dell, so I'll download the driver from them. Thanks.