Lag and stuttering while scrolling PDFs on MacOS Zotero but not in Web Library

venpopov
When I am scrolling through a PDF opened in the MacOS Zotero application, I am getting frame drops, and stuttering. It's not drastic, but enough to notice that the scrolling is not smooth. In contrast, when I open the same PDF in the Zotero online library, the scrolling is smooth as butter. I am using the latest official versions of both Zotero and MacOS. I have tried disabling all plugins, but it makes no difference.


MacOS version: Tahoe 26.1
Zotero version: 7.0.29
  • venpopov
    edited 4 days ago
    PS: it is also the only PDF reader on my mac that is experiencing this. I opened the same pdfs with different readers, and it is only Desktop Zotero that is stuttering during scrolling.

    Recording: https://youtu.be/7LuwjVN048c
  • venpopov
    edited 4 days ago
    It seems to be related to this post: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/119199/zotero-7-experiences-lag-in-pdf-scrolling-compared-to-zotero-6-on-a-2018-mac-mini

    Indeed, the issue becomes much worse if my cursor moves while scrolling. If I don't move the cursor the issue is still there, but reduced.

    I also tested using the web library in Firefox and there is no stutter there. The problem is unique to zotero desktop

    I am using an M3 Max Macbook Pro, so this is not related to hardware capabilities
  • dstillman
    edited 4 days ago
    Does it happen with the Zotero 8 beta?
  • venpopov
    Yes, although it is reduced. There seems to be two components!
    (1) steady stutter when only scrolling
    (2) erratic stutter and lag when moving the cursor while scrolling

    (2) is much more severe and does not happen in the beta

    (1) however still happens. It seems to be particularly bad at page boundaries, although it happens continuously elsewhere too. It feels as if the refresh rate is much lower than the monitor’s. It doesn’t seem to depend on the monitor however - it happens both on the macbook display and when using an external 120hz monitor. Some time ago there was a similar problem on the ipad when scrolling with Apple pencil, but currently scrolling on the iPad is much smoother than the desktop
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