Mike,
What you want to do is change the 16 bit mapping to a fixed shift to get to 8 bits. Just right click on the indicator on the front panel, select 16 bit display mapping, then select downshift as the method. You will have to specify how many shifts to perform. For 10 bit images, shift 2. For 12, shift 4. This will shift the highest bits into the proper location.
This display method will not flicker or vary. However, it may be a bit dark so you can't see anything you want. I recommend switching the Palette to Gradient. This uses false coloring to highlight details, and you can see what you need.
Bruce
Bruce Ammons
Ammons Engineering