Surface Pro 2017 Backlight Bleed

I just received mine via the Surface Plus program and you guys are saying I can't get it returned due to the light bleed? )':

I got rid of my old device because I thought I was upgrading. I'm a digital artist and the light bleed is too much for me to comfortably ignore.

I think EMilissa's post clearly demonstrates the light bleed issue.  Also, I think many feel the same as she does, digital artists or not.

I am adding to her posting with my comments, which I hope are helpful to all, even those at Microsoft.

This light bleed issue has been ongoing for a while, and there seems to be no response from Microsoft (yet).  What does that mean?  And so, I am making this posting in the hopes this issue gets some attention from Microsoft.  Maybe even Panos Panay, Microsoft's head of hardware, will see this post. 

I while back I contacted a research scientist named Dr. Raymond M. Soneira regarding this light bleed issue and he unexpectedly responded to me via email with his opinion. 

Before I provide his response, posting his impressive credentials is, I think, helpful.  His background and credentials strengthens the credibility of this post.  For the record:

“*Dr. Soneira obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Princeton University, spent 5 years as a Long-Term Member of the world-famous Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, another 5 years as a Principal Investigator in the Computer Systems Research Laboratory at AT&T Bell Laboratories, and has designed, tested, and installed color television broadcast equipment for the CBS Television Network Engineering and Development Department.*He has authored over 35 research articles in scientific journals in physics and computer science, including Scientific American.”http://www.displaymate.com/about.html

And so as I was saying, Dr. Soneira kindly responded to my email request regarding this light bleed issue.  (Please note: I do not know Dr. Soneira and have never corresponded with him before.  Nor have I conferred with him afterward except to thank him for his response to me.)  Dr. Soneira has a company that does LCD testing, and in fact, he on a previous occasion performed an excellent Surface Pro 4 technical review, which seemed prompted by Microsoft; they provided him with a Surface Pro 4 (to test).  His company, DisplayMate Technologies, tested the Surface Pro 4 with “well-known objective and comprehensive display Lab tests, measurements, and analysis.” The purpose of those tests, the review said, “is to explain in-depth display performance results for consumers, reviewers, and journalists.” The link to that review is: 

• http://www.displaymate.com/Surface\_Pro4\_ShootOut\_1.htm

That article was not about the “New Surface Pro”.  And so I emailed the Dr. Soneira about the current “New Surface Pro” and its light bleed issue along with a link to this forum’s thread, and he kindly replied to me with the following comments.  He said:

Almost all edge lit LCDs show some degree of backlight edge leaks and hot spots (sometimes from individual LEDs in the backlight assembly). We check for leaks and hot spots using an all blackfull screen test pattern viewed in the dark, which is extra sensitive for this.”

Normally most leaks and hot spots are not visible when viewing normal content. When looking at screen content that has a white background, like in many text applications, the light bleed is unlikely to be noticeable. But for photo and video content, particularly for letterboxed widescreen movies that use black borders, the light bleedcan really standout and be rather objectionable.

The screen shots in the link you sent[in this forum’s thread] show rather considerable visible leakage on a blue background screen.This is either a design or manufacturing defect. Microsoft should replace such defective units.

Raymond Soneira

President of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation

http://www.displaymate.com

I appreciate these comments of Dr. Soneira's because he is an expert.  His credibility would be hard to question in the technical world, and I think his opinion will be useful to anyone attempting to assess this issue objectively. 

I, as a Microsoft customer, find this “New Surface Pro” light bleed issue to be a disappointment as I am sure it is to others, especially for those willing to pay extra for a premium product.  I have bought serveral Surfaces for my company, and I’ve noticed that my average user doesn’t always notice this light bleed problem and are they are willing to live with it; probably because it gets issued to them and the company is paying for the device, not them.  If they had to pay, I think they'd protest. 

Regardless of who is the end user -- employee or private party -- this light bleed issue should not be considered acceptable for a product claiming to be a premium product, which also has a premium price.

You can return it, but only within 30 days. The discussions above are about what happens AFTER your 30-day return period. After that time, you can only have a SP2017 replaced on the warranty—i.e., there needs to be a defect or some other defect a warranty covers. But Microsoft does not consider this a defect, so you will most likely not be able to have it replaced under a warranty after your 30-day return period expires.

I just received mine via the Surface Plus program and you guys are saying I can't get it returned due to the light bleed? )':

I got rid of my old device because I thought I was upgrading. I'm a digital artist and the light bleed is too much for me to comfortably ignore.

Sadly my Surface Book developed a keyboard battery fault after 11 months and refused to charge and start without the power connected, the screen was perfect.

Unrelated to the knowledge obtained from this thread I asked if i could keep the screen so I could use as a tablet - the fault was with the keyboard battery, nothing to do with the tablet. I was told it was policy to send the whole unit back! *sigh*

After sending the whole unit back under warranty I was sent a replacement, now with some light bleed. I notice the bleed on dark backgrounds around the top edges at 1/3 brightness which is frustrating for a £2k premium laptop.

I guess its time to return this one and gamble on the MS QA process.

(appreciate this is a MS pro thread)

So I still want Surface Pro and I went to the local tech shop to get one. All displayed models (from the cheapest to the most expensive) had the light bleed quite prominent. So anyways to try my luck I buy one (i7, 8GB, 256GB this time) and open it up right there and power it on. The light bleed was even worse than at displayed models. So I just walk up to returns and talk to people there. They said that Microsoft does not consider this faulty product so they could give me another one to try but after that I must accept it or return the product as it is not considered faulty. So I just return it as all the Surfaces I have ever seen had this issue. Also Surface Laptops. 

Thanks Microsoft!

This is exactly why folks who say "I have a terrible screen, but I'll let my 30-day return window expire and then claim a warranty later" are making a serious mistake. Their warranty claims will be rejected because "Microsoft does not consider this a faulty product."