Surface Laptop 3 screen flickering issue - I had this with the Surface Pro 4 too

Anonymous
2020-04-11T01:56:49+00:00

Hello everyone,

I just noticed a problem with my two-month old Surface Laptop 3 (i7/16/256): there is screen flickering in the lower left corner of the screen. The flicker disappears when I move the mouse or play a video. I immediately panicked since I had a similar issue with my previous Surface Pro 4 and it turns out it was a hardware issue. The biggest issue is that on the Surface Pro 4 it has gotten worse over time.

Returning at this time is out of question for me, I need it for work.

Anyone else has this issue ? I'm not expecting an easy fix but who knows. 

PS: Below is a video with the issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE4oI9wfAk

Thanks !

Surface | Surface Laptop | Display and screen

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Anonymous
2020-06-15T22:17:27+00:00

Ok everyone, I have great news !  (edit: not so great)

I managed to fix the issue (edit: nope).

Just as I suspected, it is indeed a power management issue where the panel tries to optimize power consumption by utilizing a technology called "panel self-refresh" which basically allows the screen electronics to refresh its current image independent of the graphics card if nothing has changed on the screen. You must disable that.

Here are the steps:

  • Open Microsoft Store, then search for and install "Intel® Graphics Command Center".
  • Open the app, go the "System" vertical tab, then go the "Power" horizontal tab
  • Disable the "Panel Self-Refresh" option on both "On Battery" and "Plugged In" modes.

The problem should instantly disappear, even before you leave the app.

EDIT: Unfortunately, the problem will only lessen in frequency, but will not disappear completely. But I will leave this post here, maybe it helps in some cases.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-01-05T07:27:01+00:00

    Temporary solution that worked for me to reduce flickering down to very small number of times: Settings -> display -> change color mode from Enhanced to sRGB.

    I bought my Surface Laptop 3 on dec  30th 2020. It is i7 version. I installed all the updates from microsoft, intel, etc. and it made no difference. My flickering bug occurs especially when videos (teams, youtube, games) were on. 

    After 5 hours of trying to debug, the only thing that worked was turning off enhanced mode, which i cant tell the the use of. So now i can log into multiple accounts with no issues. 

    Microsoft Support is just really bad. First made me waste hours installing all updates. Then factory reset (so lost all my applications). and one helpful agent offered to send a replacement. I had to insist on a new machine given it is only 1 week old.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-12-21T19:18:08+00:00

    My Surface Pro 4 starts to show a flickering thin 1/8 th 1/4 inch stripe across the bottom that sometimes shows recognizable slices of the screen content. Extremely distracting. And only happens when it overheats: such as streaming 8 hours of Christmas music yesterday or during the summer, If I use it outside for just a few minutes. 

    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz   2.50 GHz

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-11-25T14:37:10+00:00

    The problem is with the Intel Driver, for sure.

    That said, the only thing I've done that works to solve for the flicker is to just *rollback the driver and leave it rolled back*, and forget reinstalling the Intel Driver until they fix it. The default driver is the basic one from Microsoft, which works just fine and your touchscreen capability is unaffected, so on.

    MAJOR CAVEAT: You lose the ability to control the display brightness for some reason. It forever stays at 50% brightness.

    GOOD THING: The battery still lasts for well over a workday with about 30% left if you have the device on Battery Saver, even with OneDrive updates still ongoing (I keep my device on Battery Saver, and then in OneDrive settings I disable the "Auto Pause Sync when Battery Saver is on" option).

    Not a solution, just a "jesus **** christ" option.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-11-05T14:49:03+00:00

    I have tried everything discussed over here but at the end I had to get it replaced.

    So if you have your  device under warranty, may be  it is better to stop waiting for Microsoft to bring out a solution and get the it replaced.

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