How to double buffer .NET controls on a form?

Question

How can I set the protected DoubleBuffered property of the controls on a form that are suffering from flicker?

Answer 1

Check this thread

Repeating the core of that answer, you can turn on the WS_EX_COMPOSITED style flag on the window to get both the form and all of its controls double-buffered. The style flag is available since XP. It doesn't make painting faster but the entire window is drawn in an off-screen buffer and blitted to the screen in one whack. Making it look instant to the user's eyes without visible painting artifacts. It is not entirely trouble-free, some visual styles renderers can glitch on it, particularly TabControl when its has too many tabs. YMMV.

Paste this code into your form class:

protected override CreateParams CreateParams {
    get {
        var cp = base.CreateParams;
        cp.ExStyle |= 0x02000000;    // Turn on WS_EX_COMPOSITED
        return cp;
    } 
}

The big difference between this technique and Winform's double-buffering support is that Winform's version only works on one control at at time. You will still see each individual control paint itself. Which can look like a flicker effect as well, particularly if the unpainted control rectangle contrasts badly with the window's background.