Matlab remote desktop rendering
Matlab’s rendering engine can break under some remote desktop use cases, including X11 forwarding. There can also be issues when using Matlab plots locally if a problem arises with a GPU graphics driver.
Diagnose
Matlab rendererinfo() provides extensive details about the rendering backend. It can be invoked from the Matlab GUI
rendererinfo(gca)
or from the system Terminal
matlab -batch "rendererinfo(gca)"
Workaround
Although slow, software-based and feature-limited, the painters
algorithm can be reliable if something outside Matlab is hindering graphics (local or remote).
figure
set(gcf,'renderermode','manual','renderer','painters')
confirm the Painters renderer is being used by:
rendererinfo(gca)
which should result in
GraphicsRenderer: ‘MathWorks Painters’
The Mathworks has detailed rendering troubleshooting.