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

Anonymous

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 !

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Anonymous

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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45 additional answers

Anonymous

2021-03-23T15:47:44+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 !

Exact same issue on my Surface Laptop 3, in the exact same place; bottom left corner, over start button. Moving the mouse temporarily stops it.
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Anonymous

2021-03-23T20:20:56+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion.

The only problem I experienced with this is that I don't have the "panel self-refresh" option, and no one was able to resolve that part. But for those who do, that was a good solution.
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Anonymous

2021-04-27T18:47:36+00:00

I just started to see this happening to Laptop 3 as well. **** MICROSOFT? I am switching back to a Mac. There are just too many things that waste my time hassling with this.
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Anonymous

2021-06-06T20:03:25+00:00

Seriously what a disgrace. My exchanged unit does the same thing. Does not flicker when the mouse is moving. When I use the Microsoft Basic Graphics it stops but then I can't control the brightness. Shame on Microsoft for not fixing this.
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