Surface Laptop 3 display turns off when the brightness is at lowest setting

Anonymous

The laptop works fine when the brightness is at any level except the lowest setting. When it's set to low, it'll work for a minute or two, and then the screen turns black. It doesn't go to sleep because I can still hear videos playing in the background and I can pause/resume them using the spacebar, but the screen is completely black. To bring it back, I have to hit the power key to put it to sleep, and then again to wake it back up.

This is especially annoying because I mainly use the laptop when in bed at night, so I always have it on the lowest brightness.

All software is up to date. Any recommendations?

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Anonymous

Appreciate the confirmation and thank you for reporting this issue.

Update 9/24:

We published new improvements and fixes for Surface Laptop 3 that fix this issue. You can get updates now by checking Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. We recommend that you install these updates to keep your Surface performing its best.

For more information, please view the Surface Laptop 3 update history page.

Thanks,

Greg

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50 additional answers

Anonymous

2020-02-03T01:28:48+00:00

Hi Rage RAZR,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community. We're sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Can you tell us the current OS version of your Surface device? You mentioned that it is up to date and I assumed it has Windows 10 1909 version with the latest Build. Well, I actually checked theSurface Laptop 3's update history and figured out that for both Intel and AMD Processors, it's system light sensor has a new driver version and this should improve light balance and contrast. In your case, this is kinda odd if the screen turns really black when you are in a dark environment. This should just dim the brightness of your Surface.

To check the current driver version :

Open Device Manager

Expand Sensors

Right-click on the light sensor available, select Properties and choose Driver. if it's the most up to date then this should show that it's driver version is 1.35.139.0.

If it's up to date, then I'd like you to click, "Uninstall Device" . After uninstalling, restart the Surface to reinstall it back.

If no changes after uninstalling/reinstalling the driver, I'd like you to go back to Driver Properties under Sensors and click, " Rollback Driver" and see if this works okay with the old driver.

If your Surface device doesn't have the latest driver version for system light sensor, then I highly recommend to check for updates in your device Settings.

If this answers your question, please let our Community know by marking this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread for further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z
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Anonymous

2020-02-03T01:42:12+00:00

Hi Crest, thanks for the reply.

My HID Ambient Light Sensor driver versions is showing 10.0.18362.1, driver date is 21/04/2009.

Uninstalling the device and restarting the laptop would get the exact same driver installed. Nothing I can update from neither Windows update or from "Search online for driver" option in Device Manager when I click the update driver button.
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Anonymous

2020-02-03T21:53:12+00:00
Hi Rage RAZR,

Thank you for your response.

Since you already installed the latest updates, what I'd like you to do is to run sfc scanning. This will detect and repair any relevant drivers that is somehow corrupted. To run:
- Type CMD on the search box next to the Windows icon and run it as administrator.
- Once open, type "sfc /scannow" and hit enter. Once done, this will tell you whether there are corrupted drivers or whatnot.
If issue still persists, then I'd like to download this in-place upgrade to get everything repaired. Just click "Download tool now from the links provided, run and install and hit Next once you see "Upgrade This PC".

if this helps, please let our Community know by marking this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread for further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z
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Anonymous

2020-02-05T00:48:27+00:00
Hi Crest,

Thank you for your reply. Neither running "sft /scannow" nor doing the in-place upgrade helped with this problem.

However, I have found the cause of it being the display power saving setting which adjusts the display contrast based on the content displayed on the screen.

There is another Microsoft Community question that addresses this same issue: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/surface-laptop-3-display-turns-off-when-the/8fe57c8e-8d8d-484a-bf24-0e367e442d54.

You can only find this setting in the Intel® Graphics Command Center, a Microsoft Store app that is NOT pre-installed in Surface Laptop 3.

The work around of this problem is:
1. Install and open Intel® Graphics Command Center
2. Go to "System" on left hand side
3. Go to "Power" on top
4. Turn off "Display Power Saving"
Another work around should you not want to turn this option off, is to close and open the lid.

I call this a work around because it is not ideal to fix a problem by sacrificing battery life. I hope either Microsoft or Intel can release updates in the future to address this issue.

Regards,

Leon
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