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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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]

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

2,779 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2017-05-26T01:54:44+00:00

    I just had the following updates installed:

    • Surface driver update for Surface UEFI
    • Surface driver update for Surface System Aggregator
    • Surface driver update for Surface Embedded Controller Firmware
    • Surface driver update for Surface Integration
    • Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) Precise Touch Device

    Was very hopeful when I saw these updates given the nature of the issue, but I can confirm that they have NOT fixed the flickering/ shaking display issue.

    My display was actually shaking vigorous as these updates were installing (on the black 'Surface" screen with the green/yellow/blue progress bar).

    Unless these updates were not intended to address the shaking in the first place, it just gives further confirmation that this may more likely be hardware related.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-05-26T02:48:43+00:00

    Thanks for the update, look like the update doesn't help :(

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-05-26T16:02:57+00:00

    Quite sad to hear that even the newly published updaets dont help to the issue.

    I am now even more convinced i did the right thing by having my device replaced. I hope the luck of the draw

    gives me a new device instead of a refurb, and one that works! 

    If you check this webpage https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-sg/support/install-update-activate/surface-pro-4-update-history it seems that the latest update was not launched to be the fix for the screen shaking issue. None of the updates is referred to fix the issue. "Improve stability" wouldn't be the term here. Nice to see they are fixing the sleep issues. If it was still indeed the fix, well.... it took less than a day to prove this isn't fixing it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-27T20:44:37+00:00

    So I had a surface pro 4 replaced with a refurbished one (I believe) but instead of a little "hot spot" problem I had on the screen, on my last device, I got this flickering issue. And this problem appeared 20 days after the warranty had ended, so the device replacement would not guarantee that you will not get that issue.

    It is sad to see that it takes microsoft this long to fix this issue.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments