Surface Pro 2017 Backlight Bleed

Anonymous
2017-07-08T04:33:15+00:00

Question: Why isn't Microsoft acknowledging the new Surface Pro 2017 display backlight bleed defect and ignoring its customers after the launch of the product? When will they solve the problem? Because all of the units have the defect and replacing it at the Microsoft store is not a viable solution at the moment.

My new Surface Pro 2017 core i7 8GB (lot 1722) has backlight bleed on the whole bottom edge and left side of the screen. You don't normally notice it in landscape mode because the black taskbar hides it, but if you read a white background fullscreen article in portrait mode it's pretty obvious with one side of the screen being brighter than the other side.This light bleed is most noticeable in the colours blue and white and harder to see in black colours (which are usually used in backlight bleed tests).

The quickest way to test and see if your screen has this problem is to press CTRL+ALT+DEL and bring up the blue screen. On the bottom of the blue screen you should see a bright blue/white bar compared to the rest of the screen which is the defective light bleed. All the showcase models in the Microsoft Store I looked at had this problem. I have yet to see a new Surface Pro without this defect. Can anyone post a picture of their CTRL+ALT+DEL screen without the light bleed?

I think people who claim not to have it aren't looking close enough to notice it. Is Microsoft going to acknowledge this display defect and are they working on fixing it in future batches?

Also, if I wait more than one month to exchange my Surface Pro would I get a refurbished model or a new one? If they are going to give me a refurbished model I might as well just return this defective device and get a full refund. When we pay premium prices we expect premium quality. This defect would have been acceptable on a cheap tablet, but not a Microsoft product. Please fix the issue as soon as possible!

Tip: If you want to test your screen on different colours go to http://www.deadpixelbuddy.com/ and choose a colour then switch to fullscreen (win key+shift+enter on Edge or F11 on Chrome) and view the fabulous results and take a picture and post it here so we can prove that it's a universal problem.

I AM NOT THE SOURCE OF THE PICTURES BELOW, THEY ARE FROM REPLIES TO THIS POST OR REDDIT LINKS GIVEN BELOW. THE FIRST PICTURE (WHICH HAS BEEN USED IN TECH NEWS WEBSITES) BELONGS TOWALMART MARKETING TEAMUSER ON REDDIT! I HAVE ONLY GATHERED THEM HERE.

Subreddits discussing this topic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/search?q=backlight+bleed&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=month

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6nyb28/light_bleed_dark_spots_and_other_display_issues/?utm_content=title&utm_medium=hot&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=Surface

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6iji8k/surface_pro_2017_backlight_bleeding_survey/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6k94qe/just_bought_my_new_surface_pro_2017_i_might_be/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6jggz5/is_this_light_bleed/?st=J4X9C9Y6&sh=319ae1cc

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6jigz0/whats_your_surface_pro_2017_lot_number_any_issues/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6kv9ky/light_bleed_on_surface_pro_2017/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6ia9ow/so_2017_model_has_worse_backlight_bleeding_issue/?st=J4X991Y6&sh=ce9fea3f

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6i8lcz/backlight_bleeding_surface_pro_2017_i5_8gb/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6k0bvh/dark_bar_on_new_surface_pro_backlight_bleed/?st=J4X99C5T&sh=3cf086b6

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6m4mbb/does_anyone_not_have_any_backlight_bleeding_on/?st=J4X9AR3G&sh=f74b2d3d

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6ite0s/new_surface_pro_light_bleed_not_solved/?st=J4X9B9PD&sh=c24b21d7

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6m2b55/report_surface_pro_2017_backlight_bleed_here/?st=J4X969LQ&sh=1df2eab6

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6j8hau/picked_up_brand_new_surface_pro_i7_512gb16g_ram/

As you can see there are A LOT so do not deny the defect and claim it's a minor issue in a few models. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY MICROSOFT!

Edit: I just realized I posted the original issue as a discussion post and therefore it didn't have the requirement for it to be responded like a question, so I'm editing it so people can also click the "Me Too" button until we get an official/semi-official response from a Microsoft representative. I've also added more subreddits and pictures.

UPDATE (17/07/2017 11:25 AM GMT): The broken image links have been fixed.

**ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:**A lot of tech websites have reported the issue and especially used the first image in this post and attributed it to me. I must note that none of these images are mine and they all come from the reddit posts I linked below them. The specific top image is from the user WalmartMarketingTeam

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6k94qe/just_bought_my_new_surface_pro_2017_i_might_be/djk79ga/

http://imgur.com/vbofsSa

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-07-22T04:39:26+00:00

    Surface Guy, compensation is not a hack, it's engineering. Every device and vehicle you have used has feedback loops in it to stabilize its various "defects."

    Microsoft is not going to recall every device for a little bit of light bleed, let's be realistic. For every one of us who notices this, there are 10 who do not. So even if they lose your business, it will hardly affect them. We can complain and make it be heard that there is a problem here. But if that's all we do, it's no better than whining. So instead, let's try to figure this out. Just like bug reports and logs feed in information to the developers to help eliminate them, we can point at exactly what is going on with the bleed, and hope there's a solution.

    Besides, did you try the compensation pattern? To make a stronger point, I have improved the pattern a bit, and I think I have figured out how to modify it for various levels of luminosity. You can download here a ZIP file with patterns for a range of gray levels. Please try them out and see if there's a significant improvement. You'll notice that black is missing. That's because the backlight will dim automatically and the gradient won't be noticeable. Also, the brightness setting doesn't seem to matter.

    Luckily the problem is that we have more light than we need, so compensation will not result in a loss. Had we had less light (dark spots along the edge), it would have been a bit more lossy. (I know Brain&Force believes the problem is "dark bands", but that's mostly an optical illusion combining the effect of excessive brightness on the edge, and the dimming due to viewing angles.)

    There are still many technical challenges to make this work, chief among them: Is the bleed pattern the same for everyone? (Or maybe it's the same within Lots? Or totally random? Etc. This is why we need more people testing, so please do!)

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-07-22T08:29:15+00:00

    That's the problem I have with the compensation pattern. It is assuming that the bleed is exactly the same for everyone, but if you take a look at the pictures of different people you can see that it is at varying degrees for different devices and this might not be the best final solution, considering the fact there is no way for the software to sense how much bleed there is internally.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-07-22T11:53:19+00:00

    A helpful perspective, and I like your optimism.  I was impressed by how quickly MS put out a fix for the random hibernation issue, compared to the previous Surface 4 timeframe.

    Sadly, I was not optimistic and returned my first SP2017 within the 30 days.  I ordered another and the bleed was far worse than the first one.  I now wish I'd kept the first one.....

    Having now sent my second SP2017 back because the patchy screen display (reading on kindle app was not a good experience with a bright band and dark patches) I am going to wait and see how MS responds.  They will retain my loyalty when and if they deal with this situation in a mature and proactive fashion.  Accepting and processing returns professionally is fine but not the solution many of us want.

    Fingers crossed.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-07-23T05:16:42+00:00

    Sadly, I was not optimistic and returned my first SP2017 within the 30 days.  I ordered another and the bleed was far worse than the first one.  I now wish I'd kept the first one.....

    THIS is what keeps me from returning mine for now. It's there, but not that dramatic and I want to see how things progress over the next two weeks before I pull the trigger for the first time.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-07-25T14:46:46+00:00

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