Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Talk about overclocking displays at a higher refresh rate. This includes homebrew, 165Hz, QNIX, Catleap, Overlord Tempest, SEIKI displays, certain HDTVs, and other overclockable displays.
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Crazyness
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Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by Crazyness » 18 Jun 2022, 05:19

is there anything that can be implemented on AOC brand?

Having 23,8" 1440p TN with 123PPI..

144hz max..

different model same pannel 165hz 1440p..

makes me sad that i didnt make it work past 145..no matter what i did..

and having these characteristics in a pannel,
makes me firm believer,
that will go beyond 240hz on 1080p..

is there any solution?


EDIT:

i can try softmccs,but honestly i dont know the procedure..

DCI is ON in monitors OSD,and then what?
how can I activate soft when i am on NVCP and i am trying 2 overclock,
and screen goes black?

there is no stupid questions..only stupid answers

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 18 Jun 2022, 20:46

Study the BenQ Universal overclocking thread for all the necessary tips on trial-and-errors attempted, the progression from an external assist (S-Switch) followed by the discovery that softmccs could do something similar (sending a DDC command that causes an overclock to succeed).

The LG overclock thread is based on the old BenQ tricks, so you should go back to the granddaddy thread and learn from it, when attempting to attempt to overclock a new panel via "Out-of-Range" defeat hacks.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5544
This is the most famous "Out of Range" defeat hack.

The TL;DR of what you need to do is essentially:
(A) Make sure it's as unlocked as possible (e.g. generic panels are more likely to work)
(B) Temporarily disable any features that might prevent overclocking (e.g. disable blur reduction, disable VRR, disable fancy color processing, disable HDR, enable instant mode).
(C) While using a 2nd monitor (to allow manipulating softmccs), use a custom resolution utility to force-overclock your monitor. Try something slightly out-of-spec, such as 150Hz for a 144Hz monitor. Keep going up until the monitor displays an "OUT OF RANGE" message. Sometimes the graphics will keep displaying even with OUT OF RANGE message.
(D) Then iterate your way to finding the appropriate hack to defeat any out-of-range guards in the monitor's firmware (e.g. manipulating the output of DDC commands in softmccs).

Randomly changing values in softmccs (while using a 2nd monitor) until a blanked-out monitor unblanks itself, is one technique but that's not something that can easily be done if you only have 1 monitor. Slightly overclock a monitor till it displays an "OUT OF RANGE" message (not a blank screen), then use softmccs.exe to attempt and try to dismiss the OUT OF RANGE message. That's how it was done on the BenQ and LG. Study carefully how to reset a monitor back to factory defaults, because screwing around softmccs.exe is like adjusting settings at random in the monitor menus (plus more), corrupting your picture settings. So this is not a risk-free endeavour. So learn to factory-reset your monitor if you endeavour on overclocking "hacking" attempts.

*IMPORTANT: We disclaim all responsibility for damage to your monitor (e.g. bricking your monitor's firmware by accident). This is unlikely via monitor menus or DDC commands, but need to cover bases here...

For improved overclocking likelihoods on some models, you should study the signal structure -- get very familiar with the signal geometry, as a serialized delivery of 2D imagery over a 1D cable:

Image

Understanding these (via other threads) will help you understand how to overclock better, including the art of
- Increasing blanking sizes when necessary (more time for processing)
- Decreasing blanking sizes when necessary (transfer blanking headroom to refresh rate headroom).

Some panels/scalers just cannot be overclocked, while for others it's easier.

This is a very rough Cole Notes post, so the detailed information is found in other threads.

Overclocking a panel that has not yet been successfully overclocked yet, is almost tantamount to becoming a DIY hacker to try and discover weaknesses in a monitor firmware that prevents it from being overclocking, and then unlocking the overclock via one of many means (such as an "Out of Range" dismiss hack).

Many manufacturers make it hard for you to overclock a panel -- sometimes intentionally (e.g. firmware safeguards) or unintentionally (e.g. scaler/tcon has a limitation that defines a hard limit on "official" overclocking).

If the overclock safeties are either missing in the first place (e.g. laptop LCD) or completely removed via a tweak or hack (e.g. Out-Of-Range dismiss trick), large overclock margins of between ~50% to 200%+ can theoretically become unofficially available (e.g. 60Hz laptop LCD overclocked to 180Hz), albiet usually with large image quality degradation such as massive loss of contrast ratio and very bright blacks.

For many panels this is impossible due to unremovable limitations but for other panels (especially horizontal scanrate multisync panels where they sync to cable scanrate), large overclocks margins such as 144Hz panels overclockable to 200-250Hz is not too difficult -- witnessing BenQ 1080p 144Hz panels showing fairly good overclockability.
Head of Blur Busters - BlurBusters.com | TestUFO.com | Follow @BlurBusters on Twitter

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Crazyness
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Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by Crazyness » 19 Jun 2022, 11:52

Tnx chief 4 making my msg into separate thread.


as you can c..
i can not use soft..
btw i already tried messing around with it in the past,
completely forgot about it..

untill i relaunched it and realizing that everything is almost locked..

language is open= letters are more black and display is closed as you can notice by different color it appears more white.

so can not use soft,i need 2 try something different..

also i dont have any pop up out of lock msg ever..
literally never ever pops up..

its either resolution is accepted or black screen.


EDIT:
i completely forgot that i enabled in service menu ForceLogoOFF=ON
and that was the cause of not having pop up msg.

after reverting back that feature into original state =OFF
pop up appears and CAN be disabled via clicking on language in Soft..
(maybe this can be some sort of shortcut on other brands)

( example:
on those LGs that can be overclocked,
maybe if you have this option in service menu,
you can bypass using Soft entirely. )

black screen still remains bcs display option in Soft is closed.

so we menaged some progress,50% is working ..
now we need 2 find replacement for display option being closed in Soft.

EDIT2:
i somehow menaged to lock unnsupported resolution into hdmi port..
when exiting Soft i confirmed changes...
folowing Soft tutorial...even thou i already confirmed its not working bcs second step Display is locked.
i just did it without paying atention..
DisplayPort working and booting up..hdmi locked..

He who doesnt have it in his brain,certainly have it in his legs..
so we gonna walk a little bit further,but certainly we will get there.

solution=DDU= it will erase custom resolution..and voila we are good 2 go.
Attachments
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Crazyness
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Location: Serbia,Belgrade

Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by Crazyness » 06 Sep 2022, 16:13

Also Chief when you c this..

i have a friend who is lets say in lack of better term..phone-monitor-tv hacker..

so i would go 2 his place in a week or 2 and we will start 2 alter the edid and hole electronics behind the pannel..

so do you have any advice..timings..

this is the pannel https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/205a614

what should we alter what should we try etc..

i am pretty certain he will know a lot of things..i just want 2 be sure,that we dont miss some crucial thingys..tnx in advance

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Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 08 Sep 2022, 01:23

Before I give advice....
One important clue to find out is if your panel is a fixed-horizontal-scanrate panel or a variable-horizontal-scanrate panel.

(scanrate = number of pixel rows refreshed per second, ala high speed videos at www.blurbusters.com/scanout -- not all pixels refresh at the same time, and one pixel row refreshes at the scanrate specified in the timings which is listed as Horizontal Scan Rate or Horizontal Refresh Rate in kilohertz in a custom resolution utility)

If you don't have a high speed camera for www.blurbusters.com/scanout there's a way to visually check.
You can usually find out by using www.testufo.com/scanskew (make sure you're familiar with how a plain 60Hz panel works with it -- e.g. DELL, HP, etc) - the vertical line tilts noticeably dramatically on a 60Hz-only LCD.

A variable horizontal scanrate panel is essentially a multisync LCD that synchronizes panel's scanrate to the signal's scanrate. A fixed horizontal scanrate panel typically buffers a low-Hz signal (slow scanrate) before outputting at panel's high fixed scanrate. This is slightly more laggy but provides more scaler/TCON behavior over the panel behavior.

So to do a "by human eye" visual check:

1. Disable VRR
2. Test 60Hz with www.testufo.com/scanskew and observe the tilting of vertical line
3. Test max-Hz with www.testufo.com/scanskew and observe the tilting of vertical line

No tilting difference between #2 and #3 = fixed horizontal scanrate scaler in panel
Tilting difference between #2 and #3 = variable horizontal scanrate scaler in panel

A variable-scanrate panel will always have the vertical line tilt more at lower Hz, creating noticeable difference between #2 and #3.

A fixed-scanrate panel will always scanout at max-Hz speed. A 165 Hz fixed-horizontal-scanrate panel will refresh top-to-bottom in 1/165sec regardless of what Hz is configured. In this situation, there will be no line-tilting difference between #2 and #3 -- the line tilt is identical.

If you are a fixed-scanrate panel, it's harder to hack and you need to target hacking to modify its hardcoded fixed scanrate (possible hexediting of firmware after finding out what register it corresponds to, if modifiable)

If you are a variable-scanrate panel, it's easier to hack, you simply need to find out how to defeat the refresh rate cop and disable any high-workload processing that throttles the refresh cycles (e.g. disable certain adjustments). Initially, temporarily disable as much picture processing as possible, disable HDR, disable VRR, disable strobing, disable overdrive, disable all stretch modes, try native color temperature (user R/G/B gain set to 100% each), stick to 1:1 pixel mapping etc. You can re-enable later after you overclock to see if the processing keeps up, but initially disable as much processing as possible. If there are profiles (e.g. Movie Mode), try multiple, but usually use the profile that has the least processing (e.g. game/esports profile or User profile or Native profile).

Make sure to understand a Custom Resolution Utility and how its numbers map to the layout of a signals. And when pushing limits:
- sometimes it's easier to overclock a panel by using:
- smaller horiz/vert totals by using smaller blanking intervals (if the panel is bandwidth-limited / pixel-clock limited, or you're hitting a cable-bandwidth limit)
- bigger horiz/vert totals by using bigger blanking intervals (if the panel is processing-time-limited between scanlines or between refresh cycles).

Panels often have unique behaviors when pushed to their extreme overclocking limits, since a higher pixel clock at unmodified totals, means less processing time between pixel rows (HBI numbers) or between refresh cycles (VBI numbers).

144Hz 1080p BenQ panels are universally variable-horizontal-scanrate, so it was a matter of discovering a hack for the OUT-OF-RANGE watchdog while configuring to slightly less processing (set Instant Mode). Then the panel could be overclocked to extremely high refresh rates.
Head of Blur Busters - BlurBusters.com | TestUFO.com | Follow @BlurBusters on Twitter

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  2. Please report rule violations If you see a post that violates forum rules, then report the post.
  3. ALWAYS respect indie testers here. See how indies are bootstrapping Blur Busters research!

death5888
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Joined: 14 Oct 2022, 03:51

Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by death5888 » 14 Oct 2022, 03:57

Hi,

No matter where I look, all the SoftMCCS links take me to an error 404 page.
Has SoftMCCS been delete?
Can I get it some other way?

fr0m1s
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Joined: 21 Feb 2023, 19:27

Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by fr0m1s » 21 Feb 2023, 19:36

im having the same problem with aoc 24v2q (1080p 75hz)
when i try to overclock at least to 76hz it displays message "input not support", changing lang in softmccs just dismisses the message but now its just black screen
display application is locked, so how can i bypass this popup
if u r idk - ping me when u find our

fr0m1s
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Joined: 21 Feb 2023, 19:27

Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by fr0m1s » 21 Feb 2023, 19:39

death5888 wrote:
14 Oct 2022, 03:57
Hi,

No matter where I look, all the SoftMCCS links take me to an error 404 page.
Has SoftMCCS been delete?
Can I get it some other way?
found it here
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10791

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Crazyness
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Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by Crazyness » 21 Feb 2023, 23:49

I completely forgot about this topic..

unluckers,my friend is unavailable curently bcs some thingys..

So i am not able 2 hack into AOC atleast for a year or so..
So when i eventualy do something with this AOC thingy..
I am gonna write in details how2 ..

doublevoid
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Joined: 03 Nov 2023, 16:00

Re: Is there an AOC overclock hack?

Post by doublevoid » 03 Nov 2023, 16:07

I'm an owner of an AOC 24g2/bk, 144hz monitor, sadly I also haven't been able to bypass the "Input not support" blackscreen, even when overclocking to 145hz the lock is there, this display seems to be fully locked down.
SoftMCCS settings didn't seem to do much for me as well, I did find a Manufecture specific setting at 0xFF and one at 0xED, the 0xFF one can go from 0 to 65535, and the 0xED one is either 0 or 1.
Perhaps eventually we will find out a way to bypass the lock...

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