Flicker is one of those things that's easy to ignore for about five seconds, and then it drives you crazy. The picture pulses, lines shimmer, and you can't concentrate. On a portable display like the Catsights, flickering almost always traces back to one of a few simple causes, and most of them you can fix yourself in a couple of minutes. Let's run through them.
The usual suspects:
- A loose or low-quality USB-C cable
- A refresh rate setting that doesn't match the panel
- Not enough power coming from the laptop
- A display driver issue
Fix 1: Replace the cable
This is the most common culprit, so it's first. The Catsights runs at 2560 × 1600 at 60Hz, and that takes a cable with real bandwidth. Plenty of third-party USB-C cables don't have it — they'll show a picture, but once the data rate climbs, the signal starts to flicker or drop out entirely. So step one: swap back to the USB-C cable that came in the box. It's verified to handle the full resolution and refresh rate. If the flicker disappears, that was it. (If you want a spare cable for your desk, look for one rated for DisplayPort Alt Mode — plain charging cables won't cut it.)
Fix 2: Check the refresh rate
Your system might be driving the display at a rate the panel isn't happy with. Open your display settings and set the Catsights to 60Hz — that's the panel's native refresh rate. And if your system offers variable refresh rate modes (like adaptive sync), steer clear; on a panel like this they can be a flicker factory. Keep it on a steady 60Hz and see if that settles things.
- macOS — System Settings → Displays, select the Catsights display, and set the refresh rate to 60Hz.
- Windows — Settings → System → Display, then Advanced display settings.
Fix 3: Connect to external power
Here's a sneaky one. The USB-C port on your laptop powers the display, but if your battery is running low, that port may not be able to deliver enough power. Underpowered, the panel flickers. The fix is easy: plug your laptop into its charger, or connect a USB-C adapter to the hub's power-input port (the one on the right) and let it power the display directly. If the flicker goes away once power is steady, you've found the cause.
Fix 4: Restart and update the driver
If it's still flickering, restart your computer to clear any stuck driver state. On a Mac, also check that the Catsights app is up to date — a recent version tends to have the smoothest handling of the panel. A clean driver state is rarely the whole story, but it's a cheap thing to rule out.
If you've gone through all four and the screen is still strobing, that's a good time to reach out to support — have your laptop model and OS version handy, and tell them which cable you're using.