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
    2017-08-12T12:17:31+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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  2. 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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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-12T12:38:43+00:00

    I agree, it's definitely a hardware problem that's heat related.

    I had the same flickering problem as everyone else here in this forum, and I cloned my HDD from my faulty SP4 onto a brand new SP4 and haven't had a problem since. 

    So if it was a software / firmware problem the flicking would have continued on the new device, which it hasn't.

    All these little workarounds only suppress the problem for a short period of time, eventually the flickering will continue.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-12T12:40:24+00:00

    Trust me, it's a hardware problem...

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