Hi James,
As mentioned in the docs of StaticBitmap,
wx.StaticBitmap — wxPython Phoenix 4.2.2 documentation
Native implementations on some platforms are only meant for the display of the small icons in the dialog boxes.
If you have rapidly changing big images, it is better to write your own control with double-buffered DC.
A year ago I posted a benchmark of drawing speed for some packages including wxStaticBitmap.
(Actually, there was no difference in speed between wxStaticBitmap, DC, and double-buffered DC, but only flickering or not):
Comparison of rendering speeds of several toolkits and wx - #3 by komoto48g.
Hope it helps you.