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Chromebook screen flickers when watching videos in full screen [Fixed]

In this guide, we will show you two various methods to fix the Chromebook screen flickering issue when watching videos in full screen. In the past few years, laptops with the underlying ChromeOS have seen a tremendous rise. A full-fledged Google ecosystem with the ability to run Android and Linux apps, these Chromebooks were sold more than Mac in 2020, a fact that might have been unthinkable if talked about a few years back.

Chromebook screen flickers videos full screen

But in spite of all the goodies attached, it isn’t free from its fair share of issues either. Recently there were issues with Phone Hub and HP printers not working on these laptops. Likewise, users were also unable to stream videos via Amazon Prime. As of now, another similar issue has popped out this time around as well. Various users have voiced their concern that their Chromebook screen is flickering while watching videos in full screen.

Chromebook screen flickers videos full screen

In more technical terms, the issue is more prominent when the “border-radius” styling is enabled and the window is less than 600px wide. With that said, there do exist a couple of workarounds that has been known to resolve this screen stuttering issue. And in this guide, we will make you aware of those fixes. So without any further ado, let’s get started.

Fix Chromebook screen flickering issue when watching videos in full screen

Chromebook screen flickers videos full screen

There exists two different methods to resolve this issue and we have listed both of them below. Try them out and then see which one works out in your favor.

FIX 1: Disable Hardware Acceleration

Chrome’s Hardware Acceleration features shift a part of the browser’s workload and dependencies from the CPU over to the GPU. This will free up some CPU resources which in turn could be allocated across some other tasks. On paper, it should speed up your browser’s performance but in practical terms, its perks have always been a matter of debate. But what isn’t debatable is the fact that turning off this feature seems to have fixed the underlying screen flickering issue. So let’s put it to the test and check out the results.

  1. Launch Chrome on your Chromebook and head over to the below location:
    chrome://flags
  2. Then go to its search bar and type in the following flag name:
    Hardware-accelerated video decode
  3. Then change its State to Disabled from the drop-down menu.
    Chromebook screen flickers videos full screen
  4. Finally, click on the Relaunch button and wait for the browser to restart.
  5. Now check if it fixes the Chromebook screen flickering issue while watching videos in full screen.

FIX 2: Use OpenGL as ANGLE Graphics Backend

When dealing with resource-intensive tasks wherein the load on the CPU and GPU is considerably higher, you should use OpenGL as the ANGLE graphics backend driver. In the default state, that role is allocated to D3D11 and it might not be the best suited for the role of video playback functionality.

So let’s relieve it of its duty and hand over the task to OpenGL. do note that upon opting for OpenGL, there will be an improvement in the overall performance of your Chromebook, but it will also result in higher battery consumption. So if you are ready for this trade-off, then let’s get started with the steps.

  1. Launch Chrome on your Chromebook and head over to the below location:
    chrome://flags
  2. Then go to its search bar and type in the following flag name:
    Choose ANGLE graphics backend
  3. Click on the Default keyword and select OpenGL from the drop-down menu.
    Chromebook screen flickers videos full screen
  4. Finally, click on the Relaunch button and wait for the browser to restart. That’s it.
  5. Once the browser restarts, the underlying issue would have been resolved.

So with this, we round off the guide on how you could fix the Chromebook screen flickering issue while watching videos in full screen. As far as the official stance on this issue is concerned, Google is aware of it and they might roll out a fix alongside the March 2022 update [though it’s all speculation as of now]. Until that happens, the aforementioned workarounds are your best bet. Moroever, if you have any queries concerning this guide, then do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.


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  • Helpful

    Actually switching from OpenGL to D3D9 fixes the full screen stutter on videos for me. AMD GPU.

  • We have 2 of Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA as well. The video flickers – black screen comes on and off instantly. The video is watchable but it bothers us to see the black screen every few seconds.
    It happens on Netflix app/browser
    It happens on Disney app/browser
    It happens on videos playing during game ADs.

    Extremely annoying. I have searched and searched for solution for the past year. Basically chromebook isn’t for video watching.

  • Hi,
    I’m using a Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA-AI0303. My screen is still flickering with fullscreen video’s, but only the part of the screen where it’s the most bright (source of a bright object like a Lamp, or sun. And it’s flickering compared to a TL-Lamp at is end of it’s life span… When I touch a key and any overlay comes into the screen, like a volume bar e.g. the flickering stops for that moment.. but when it’s fades away it starts flickering again.
    I did turn hardware acceleration off but I can’t find a setting for using the OpenGL graphics backend… I hope google will fix this soon or if anyone knowes how to fix I’ll really like to hear.