Surface Pro brightness bug

Anonymous

The surface pro randomly brightens and dims even when auto brightness and dimming is completely shut off. I contactedMicrosoft chat support and they said they are aware of the issue but its taking longer than expected. I just wanted to post here to create more visibility and awareness of this annoying bug. I hope it gets fixed soon. Its most noticeable when an app launches or while beginning to watch a video. From what I've heard it happens with RT too.

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Anonymous

Great news folks! I was able to fix this issue!!!!! :-D

So the issue appears to be the Intel HD 4000 implementing 2 forms of battery saving contrast adapting. But we have no ability to change these settings by default.

So first of all make sure your dynamic brightness is turned off in your PC Settings and/or battery plan. Then...

Go Intel's site and download and then install the latest driver for the Intel HD Graphics 4000.

I believe this is the correct link -

EDIT: Oops my link was for the 32 bit driver. This is the one you need -

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail\_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=22375&lang=eng&wapkw=intel%C2%AE+hd+graphics+driver+for+windows+7\*+and+windows+8\*+%28exe%29

This should give you access to the Intel Graphics and Media Control panel when you right click and select Graphics Properties from the desktop.

Select ADVANCED MODE

GOTO > MEDIA > IMAGE ENHANCEMENT and disable "Adaptive Contrast Enhancement"

Then GOTO > POWER > Change POWER SOURCE to "On Battery" and make sure "Display Power Saving Technology" is disabled (that is unchecked).

Click APPLY and viola no more dynamic contrast annoyances!

YAY!

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Anonymous

Greetings Gary,

Thank you for letting us know. Can you by chance get a video of it happening as this is something we are looking into.

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119 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-02-11T21:23:42+00:00

Did you follow the steps above? You need to uninstall the Intel driver and turn off auto updates first. Have done this myself on 2 Surface Pro's with 8.1. It works I promise.
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Anonymous

2014-02-11T21:19:15+00:00

not works with win8.1. can't install intel drivers!
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Anonymous

2014-01-20T16:19:33+00:00
Damn auto updates are over writing the Intel driver with Microsoft's version without the control panel. It's a real pain.

What I have had to do was -
1. Turn auto updates off. (I set them to check for them but only install with my approval).
2. Goto Intel's drivers page and grab the latest HD 4000 driver for Windows 8 - 64bit -
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Graphics&ProductLine=Laptop+graphics+drivers&ProductProduct=3rd+Generation+Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2+Processors+with+Intel%C2%AE+HD+Graphics+4000 3. Goto Device Manager and uninstall the display driver for the HD 4000. 4. Install the driver you previously downloaded and reboot. 5. You should have a new icon on the desktop for the control panel. Open it 6. Select ADVANCED MODE 7. GOTO > MEDIA > IMAGE ENHANCEMENT and disable "Adaptive Contrast Enhancement" 8. Then GOTO > POWER > Change POWER SOURCE to "On Battery" and make sure "Display Power Saving Technology" is disabled (that is unchecked). 9. Click APPLY

Done! Phew!

Really do not understand how MS and Intel have not fixed this yet! This awful setting really hinders the quality of the device. It should be disabled all together or at the very least Surface owners should have access to the Intel control panel by default so they can turn this setting off!

How this is getting past QC is beyond me!
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