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
    2017-11-08T07:50:39+00:00

    I have the same problem with a surface pro 4 i7 device.

    Contacting Surface sup they tried everything together even reinstalling with no success. since warranty was for few months expired (Murphy's law) , I would think that is normal to happen sometimes

    But seeing all these messages in forums is generic problem not rare....

    I bought this Surface for business and its so disappointing to realize that spending all this money didnt succeed to buy a professional equipment from Microsoft.

    They proposed and created a case number for replacement but since my Country is Greece I can not fill the exchange form and even for service request.

    then they provide me a telephone number to call to fill this form but this phone never answers!!!!

    Last 4 months I am in same situation with no solution....

    It was the third AND LAST SURFACE I will ever buy so much disappointed . I think that a company with status of Microsoft should react differently in a generic problem like this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-08T07:47:35+00:00

    I only started getting this after the Creator's Update as well. This is very bizarre and I guess I'm not the only one getting it.

    Its hard to say whether the update caused the flickering or not. Because every time there is a new update, people complain about flickering. I feel like the issue is the heat during updating somehow triggers the flickering to start. Just a guess though.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-11-08T07:36:51+00:00

    I only started getting this after the Creator's Update as well. This is very bizarre and I guess I'm not the only one getting it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-11-07T22:11:27+00:00

    Exactly the same here. Never seen this before,

    it does seem to be coincident with the Creator's update (1709)

    and it has got worse with every passing day, which makes me worry that some lasting damage is being done inside the machine. One detail to add: the effect seems to be accompanied in my case by a bright line across the very bottom of the screen when starting up; could be a red herring of course.

    Task manager isn't showing anything unusual and most of the time the fan isn't running, so although I agree that it doesn't usually happen after a cold boot it's also happening when the machine isn't particularly taxed (I do note, though, that memory use seems very high now even with no apps running). 

    This effect varies from annoying (like right now, where I'm seeing double vertically) to totally unusable (jumping all over the place like an old TV set).

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