Surface Pro 7 pen pressure issues with palm rejection

Anonymous
2019-11-01T19:50:11+00:00

Pen works fine when only the pen is making contact with the screen. However, when my palm is resting on the screen, the pressure detection of the pen becomes extremely inaccurate. As soon as skin (palm, fingers, etc) makes contact with the screen, the pressure curve of the pen becomes a staircase, as if the pen could only detect 5-20 levels of pressure, instead of 4096 like it's supposed to. Here's a screenshot from the Surface app:![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/cdc3b0c5-bfcc-4409-b0a1-318885287f48?platform=QnAAnd here is how it looks like when drawing:

Is this normal? How can I fix it?

Device: Surface Pro 7 Model 1866 i5 (8GB RAM, 128GB SSD)

OS: Windows 10 Home Version 1903 build 18362.449 (edit: I've since updated to 1909 build 18363.628, issue persists)

Pen: Microsoft Surface Pen Model 1776 (Burgundy) 

I have:

  • paired my pen
  • unpaired and repaired the pen via Bluetooth options
  • rebooted the Surface Pro
  • soft reset the Surface Pro (volume+ and power buttons down for 15 seconds)
  • removed and reinserted the battery into the pen (only way I could think of turning it off and on again)
  • checked Windows Updates
  • checked for app updates via Windows Store
  • run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit, no problems detected
  • tried with and without Settings → Devices → Pen & Windows Ink → Ignore touch input when I'm using my pen
  • set the correct hand I'm using from pen settings
  • tried in multiple different apps, including Surface app, Adobe Photoshop, Krita, Sketchable, Autodesk SketchBook and others — same problem everywhere
  • tried calibrating the pen (search "calibrate" from start menu and choose pen calibration), a dialog opens after choosing "Calibrate..." → "Pen input", asks for permission, and just makes a sound and closes after I grant permission, so I'm not sure if it's not working correctly, but nothing changed either way — tried to do this multiple times, rebooting in between, but doesn't seem to do anything
Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-02-07T22:28:56+00:00

    Hi all! I also had the misfortune to buy this device. The line of my pen also performs dances and nothing helps me...

    It is unfortunate that I was so deceived. I am also an artist.

    I buy Surface pro 7...

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-02-10T20:12:42+00:00

    Hi

    I have the same problem on my SP7 (i5, 16GB, 256)

    I had such high hopes for this device but now I'm really disappointed.

    For years I had a laptop and a tablet and finally wanted to combine the two but now ... :(

    I've found out that the jitter is considerably worse when there is power connected to the surface. Anything electrical (e.g. even a projector) will make the jitters unbearable!!

    Also I live in Iran and aside from the astronomical price of the device here, there is no Microsoft support! So basically if this thing is not fixable via a software update, I'm screwed!

    Has any body found a fix for this yet?

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-02-10T20:23:09+00:00

    Hi, in my experience jitter is not an issue with the surface pro 7. Compared to surface book 2 (which is basically unusable), accuracy and jitter is greatly improved. Which surface pen are you using?

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-02-10T20:24:36+00:00

    Hi, it appears you may have a faulty device. Outside the pressure issue, jitter should not be a problem on the surface pro 7. Can you show me what surface pen you are using?

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-02-10T21:06:43+00:00

    Hi, it appears you may have a faulty device. Outside the pressure issue, jitter should not be a problem on the surface pro 7. Can you show me what surface pen you are using? 

    No, it happened to me with two different Surface Pro 7 together with two different Pens (one bought with a SP 5 and the new one bought together with my SP7).

    In my case support is currently looking into the issue, I also told them about this thread. However, I still haven't heard anything from them.

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