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
    2017-08-14T16:51:44+00:00

    Sorry I'm not aware of the difference between flickering and screen jumping. I thought we all had the same problem here :D In my case it looks just like this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rP4-agbghg

    I don't have to turn the clock seconds off to induce the flickering. It now flickers even with it enabled :(

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-08-14T17:08:34+00:00

    Sorry I'm not aware of the difference between flickering and screen jumping. I thought we all had the same problem here :D In my case it looks just like this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rP4-agbghg

    I don't have to turn the clock seconds off to induce the flickering. It now flickers even with it enabled :(

    That's the screen jumping.  If it happens fast enough it may look like flickering, but usually when I see flickering on a monitor (actual flashing of the image on and off) it's an issue with the GPU or the monitor itself.  I've seen screen jumping before on other PC's but it's usually due to a bad mouse driver or a bad cable.  I've never personally seen an internal display adapter go bad and cause screen jumping but that's anecdotal.

    So after I read your post I decided to look up other random devices that have screen jumping reported and I did find a few people with laptops or phones determine the display adapter went bad.  So it definitely could be a hardware issue with the display adapter itself.  It's still strange that so many are having the issue at this time, maybe bad firmware led to overheating, or it's just that the SP4 is reaching it's 2 year lifecycle and that's when the parts are likely to fail?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-14T17:23:31+00:00

    Ok, I just ran Prime95 for 10 minutes (averaging about 60c once the cpu fans kicked into high gear) and the temps aren't going over 75c even at 100% load for the entire 10 minutes.  The screen jumping did not occur once during the test, but it DID occur when the computer was booting up, at which point it was considerably cooler.

    I think it is safe to rule out heat....

    Also just FYI, I saw some posts saying "it's hardware because a factory reset didn't fix it"...I just want to point out that factory resetting the surface does NOT roll back the firmware.  A bad firmware update will only be fixed by a new firmware update.  MS does not appear let you roll back firmware on the SP4 under any circumstances.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-14T17:35:48+00:00

    Thanks for the explanation. I guess if it is firmware that was inappropriate for the hardware or vice versa results in the same. If they label it as a firmware problem they still can comfort us by saying that an update might fix it. Unless the firmware led to irreversible damage.

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