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
    2017-05-28T19:07:14+00:00

    I believe the chief cause of this issue stems from the automatic light/brightness adjustment setting.  If you turn off the automatic brightness adjustment, it should  resolve the issue.  Perhaps it will eventually be resolved with a patch but as of 5/28/2017 this issue persists.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-05-28T19:24:06+00:00

    *** THIS IS A HARDWARE PROBLEM! NO SOFTWARE UPDATES, BRIGHTNESS SETTINGS, FAN SETTINGS,ADDING SECONDS TO THE CLOCK, CPU THROTTLING, NOTHING WILL FIX THE PROBLEM!

    THE ONLY WAY TO SOLVE THE ISSUE IS TO HAVE IT REPLACED WITH A BRAND NEW ONE!

    MICROSOFT NEED TO RECALL THESE UNITS IMMEDIATELY AND COMPENSATE EVERYONE FOR ALL OF THE DOWN TIME AND INCONVENIENCE! ***

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-05-28T19:41:12+00:00

    This is untrue. I have had automatic brightness disabled since day 1 of owning my Surface (as a matter of preference), and can confirm that it does not relate to much less resolve the issue at hand whatsoever.

    (Also note: this flickering/shaking is completely different from the flickering some SP4 users experience at <20% brightness)

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-29T02:50:27+00:00

    what should we do now?

    my unit was bought at november/december 2015 in malaysia. i did not experiencing the shaking/flickering issue all the while till the Anniversary Update, i had the shaking/jumping up and down issue whenever the device got heated up, even watching youtube at 1080p for just after few minutes, not so serious and the shakes were happening on and off not every time when the device got heated up.

    thinking the issue will be finally resolved by further updates, so i did not go for warranty and thinking it will be okay after all, but now the warranty period is expired and after install the Creators Update, the issue of shaking were happening more frequently or 100% sure happening when the device is hot.

    it is totally NOT-use-able, this is my ONLY device, i need to use it daily for all my personal and work stuff. SP4 is an expensive and premium product and wishing it to last me for at least next 5 years, however...

    to others who are having few devices, they can just stop using SP4 for heavy work/program/application/whatever and switching to other devices, but to me, this is the ONLY device i have, and microsoft seems not doing anything although they knew this issue is related to hardware (most possibility) and software issue.

    i will not buy microsoft product anymore, and i will NOT recommend microsoft product to friends and family, and when and where ever i see microsoft hardware promotional page over social media like facebook and such, i will copy and paste my issue in their comment column.

    never expecting this is happening, it is really annoying, the problem is, what should we do now?

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