Surface Pro 4, Screen Flickering, Shaking

Anonymous
2017-01-19T07:47:47+00:00

Hi All,

Update: Flickergate is now having a forum to bring all affected users at a single platform to plan for resolvement of issue. Please join at

 https://forum.flickergate.com

UPDATE: Check FlickerGate.com for videos of the problem and to submit your own. 

I purchased SP4 device a few months ago and it was working fine for a month. Then I noticed that when the CPU is at its max, the screen flickers a bit. Investigating further revealed that it flickers even if it is setting idle. It does not flicker if at least one of the following thing is done:

  1. A video being played in browser 
  2. If I keep the touch screen busy by either taping it or keeping a finger on it
  3. If I use the touchpad
  4. If keyboard is used for typing

This resulted in making the device completely unusable while reading articles or ebooks. I am a developer, most of the time I have to read the code and to do that, I have to constantly keep a finger on the touch pad or the screen. I contacted surface support in October and November and was told that the developers are working on the patch. Looking at the updates the developers are pushing since then, I don't think anyone is even aware of the problem there. 

My previous support ticket numbers are:

 ***deleted personally identifiable information***

***deleted personally identifiable information***

Just wondering if anyone else had the same problem (and the fix) and if not, what's the procedure for the refund? I will rather go for a mac then sacrificing $2000+ for a dancing screen.  

Kind Regards,

Abbas

***Personal information deleted by the moderator. Please see the Microsoft Community Frequently Asked Questions for more information on how you can protect your privacy.***

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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Anonymous
2018-05-11T17:59:00+00:00

Hey Everyone,

Creating the best products and experiences for our customers is our top priority.

We have heard your feedback and after careful examination, have determined that a small percentage of Surface Pro 4 devices are exhibiting a screen flicker that cannot be addressed with a firmware or driver update.

To support customers affected by this issue, we will replace eligible Surface Pro 4 devices for up to three years from the date of purchase, free of charge. If you believe your device is experiencing this issue, please visit our Surface Pro 4 screen flicker article for more details.

Bryan [MSFT]

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-08-12T12:33:40+00:00

    I agree. Another indication that the issue is indeed hardware/firmware-related and not software, is that it also happen on the UEFI/BIOS screen, where no Windows drivers or applications are running.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-08-12T12:17:31+00:00

    I also thought in the beginning that it might be software related since it only happened when the screen is idle. But you are experiencing pretty much the same as everyone else here. Keeping the screen active only helps in the beginning.

    Note that if you want the solution with the task manager to work you need to have it in the foreground and the displayed information needs to change every second. It's actually easier if you just enable the seconds display in the taskbar.

    That said, it will get worse and screen activity won't help anymore. It's most certainly heat and hardware related.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-11T21:01:26+00:00

    Having the exact same problem myself and I have tried a few of the easy workarounds without any help. I saw an interresting mention on the reddit forum where a user fixed it when installing the native intel drivers and disabling some powersaving mode in the intel videocard. I tried to install the intel drivers but windows will not let me.

    I have now asked for a replacement unit. 

    reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/41ue6x/surface\_pro\_4\_screen\_flicker/

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-11T19:41:45+00:00

    I haven't uninstalled office yet but I did confirm a few things:

    1. My CPU is not overheating.  Using a "fan" or sitting in a cool room does not affect the issue.
    2. Changing the screen brightness does not affect anything, neither does changing power settings
    3. Leaving the task manager open doesn't impact anything
    4. Changing the clock to display seconds DOES mask the issue as others have confirmed.  
    5. The issue only occurs if the screen is idle.  

    I have also tried disabling MOST process including auto-updaters, logitech mouse software, extraneous microsoft and windows processes, none of these affected the issue.  I also have only windows defender starting up with windows, and my logitech driver.  I have seen the screen "shake" vertically when windows is starting.  I noticed the taskbar moving up and down quickly.  

    Moving the mouse reliably stops the shaking.  

    This leads me to believe this is NOT a hardware issue.  Now, those reporting "Flickering", if your flickering is not fixed by the mouse moving, or if it's an actual flicker and not the screen shaking, that may be an entirely different issue than what was first reported.

    I'm trying a few more things, including uninstalling office, and while I doubt I'll have any luck (since there's over 50 posts in here and this issue seems to have existed for some for many months), I will update regardless.

    ----Update----

    Uninstalling office did nothing

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