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
    2017-11-26T20:32:40+00:00

    Just to update, I just had a chat with their agent with regards to seek a replacement/repair for my out of warranty surface pro 4. I was told that the replacement will cost me $475.21. I am certainly gutted to hear it and was hoping that they could provide me a free replacement since the problem seems to be a defect from their manufacturer.

    Does anyone here had their out of warranty surface pro replaced for free? If so, can you kindly walk me through the process.

    Cheers!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-26T19:57:30+00:00

    Can you explain your thinking, or is that all you've got?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-11-26T19:49:44+00:00

    I have the same problem; in my case it sets in after about 8 hours of reasonably light use. Machine is out of warranty, naturally.

    I've found one other way to keep it at bay (probably temporarily). In the course of looking at the temperatures I downloaded a small app called Core Temp (version 1.11). That pops up an "always on top" window which contains just a few numbers (temperatures, power level), but they continually update - once a second or so. At the moment, I am finding that if I run that in its smallest mode (options...minimode) and park it somewhere out of the way, it behaves the same as the task manager was said to - suppresses the flicker. If I push it off the side of the screen so that none of the changing numbers are displayed (only the labels), the flicker returns within 5 seconds.  For the record, I didn't find that having the task manager running helped.

    So the flicker is something to do with the display driver going unstable if it's not being asked to update the screen, by the sound of it. I'm sure it's caused by extended or heavy use, but that doesn't mean that the CPU has to be running very hot to see it. Mine is currently at 35 degrees C, which is quite low; flickering slightly but it goes nuts if I push the coretemp window off the side of the screen. Also, a concern: some component other than the CPU may be implicated in this. Since the only temperature measure you're able to get is the CPU, fixes like the task manager and coretemp may be allowing you to overheat whatever that other component is. So I probably won't be resorting to this much... 

    It's just plain bad that people at microsoft must, surely, be aware of all this, but are not posting anything, anywhere.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-11-26T19:05:10+00:00

    How about devices that are out of warranty? I recently experienced the same problem too. I had tried all solutions posted here and also had MS agent remotely connected to my device to resolve it but to no avail. I also had tried reinstalling win 10 with the recovery image method recommended by the agent. My device is now out of warranty and I face this problem everytime I use my device for more than an hour.

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