Windows Terminal no longer uses Hardware Composed: Independent Flip on primary display after Windows 24H2 update

[mickey1700]

Windows Terminal version

1.22.11141.0

Windows build number

10.0.26100.0

Other Software

OS: Windows 11 Pro, Version 10.0.26100 (24H2)

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti(Both displays are connected to the GPU)

Driver: Game Ready Driver 576.52 (Released: May 19, 2025)

DirectX Runtime: DirectX 12

Steps to reproduce

I've been using Windows Terminal for a while, and it previously ran in Hardware Composed: Independent Flip mode when placed on my primary display (with MPO support detected). However, after updating to Windows 11 version 24H2, the terminal window consistently runs in Composed: Flip mode, regardless of which display it's on.

If I disconnect one of the monitors - i.e., use a single-monitor setup - Windows Terminal reverts to Hardware Composed: Independent Flip as expected.

I used PresentMon and dxdiag to confirm the presentation model mode and that MPO support is present.

Is anyone else experiencing this issue in a dual-monitor setup? Could this be a known issue with the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) in 24H2, or is it related to how the Windows Terminal window is created?

Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated.

Expected Behavior

No response

Actual Behavior

I'm happy to provide reproduction steps, a screen recording, or debug logs if needed.

[DHowett]

This is a very in-depth observation. Before we debug too far: is it causing you a specific issue?

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From a quick search, it appears as though nvidia's driver version 576 is trouble. Have you applied any workarounds because of that?

Alternative thoughts: DWM may have changed its framerate targets for using MPO. Maybe printing more text more often through Terminal will up its framerate and kick it up into another bucket where it gets assigned its own plane?

[lhecker]

I was testing this on the 560 driver series and while producing output at 240Hz and it still used a composed flip model. Maybe it's a DWM update after all?

[mickey1700]

I appreciate your attention to this issue.

This is a very in-depth observation. Before we debug too far: is it causing you a specific issue?

While there's no functional malfunction, I've observed increased input latency, particularly noticeable at 60 Hz refresh rates.

From a quick search, it appears as though nvidia's driver version 576 is trouble. Have you applied any workarounds because of that?

I attempted to roll back to GeForce Game Ready Driver 566.03, but the issue persists with that version as well.

Alternative thoughts: DWM may have changed its framerate targets for using MPO. Maybe printing more text more often through Terminal will up its framerate and kick it up into another bucket where it gets assigned its own plane?

I explored the OverlayMinFPS registry setting as documented here. In my case, it's set to 0. I tried deleting and modifying this setting, but it doesn't affect the issue on Windows 11 24H2. The Windows Terminal window consistently uses the Composed: Flip presentation model mode, regardless of these changes.

[mickey1700]

I was testing this on the 560 driver series and while producing output at 240Hz and it still used a composed flip model. Maybe it's a DWM update after all?

Thanks for taking the time to confirm this - I appreciate it. It does feel like a regression in the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) to me as well.

[mickey1700]

Do you have a way to reach the DWM team and ask them to investigate this regression? If that's not feasible, could you advise on the best way for me to report the issue to them?

I appreciate your help.

[lhecker]

FWIW I contacted them about this, and we couldn't reproduce the issue on the DWM maintainer's PC. I decided to not pursue it for a while longer just in case this is an Nvidia driver issue (there are a lot of them right now after all).

[mickey1700]

@lhecker Thanks for reaching out to the DWM team and trying to reproduce the issue. Do you happen to remember the PC specs off the top of your head?

I’ve closed the issue since it’s definitely not specific to WT. On my Windows 11 machine, any GPU-accelerated app in windowed mode is forced to use Composed: Flip. I tested WezTerm and Alacritty (with Prefer layered on DXGI Swapchain for OpenGL builds), as well as several Steam games - all of them run with Composed: Flip in windowed mode, seemingly after the Windows 24H2 update 🤷‍♂️.

[lhecker]

Do you happen to remember the PC specs off the top of your head?

No, it's been a while. IIRC it was a typical CPU=AMD & GPU=NVidia machine though. It's good to know that this also affects other apps. I'll poke them again sometime soon.