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: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2017-11-28T21:17:10+00:00

    I had this problem too. Logged a call with Microsoft who suggested a few steps, mainly reinstalling the hardware drivers. Afterwards the problem remains.

    Seems temperature related. A couple of weeks ago it would take a CPU temperature of 80C to start the flickering and as soon as it dropped the flickering would stop. The cut-off temperature gradually dropped until the machine became usable only for light work.

    Microsoft have said that this is a hardware problem. Of course, the machine is out of the (very poor) one year warranty. I won't waste any more money on this machine so it will be entering a recycling centre at high speed. At least I'll get some satisfaction out of the noise of breaking glass before I go and buy a non-Microsoft product backed up by a sensible warranty.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-28T17:45:27+00:00

    I think the problem is due to faulty (overheated) display framebuffer memory. This display framebuffer is used when Panel Self Refresh kicks in. As soon as something changes on the screen, the display framebuffer is updated by the GPU

    That's the reason the flicker stops when something changes on the screen: the display framebuffer is updated with fresh values from the GPU. 

    In the beginning, when the first symptoms start, the display frame buffer memory starts getting corrupted after a few seconds.

    When the problem gets more severe, updating the display framebuffer memory by the GPU is not enough to let the display framebuffer memory hold its values longer then the refresh rate. Higher temperatures worsen the timespan the framebuffer memory gets corrupted.

    is there some solution to that?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-11-28T17:08:46+00:00

    I think the problem is due to faulty (overheated) display framebuffer memory. This display framebuffer is used when Panel Self Refresh kicks in. As soon as something changes on the screen, the display framebuffer is updated by the GPU

    That's the reason the flicker stops when something changes on the screen: the display framebuffer is updated with fresh values from the GPU. 

    In the beginning, when the first symptoms start, the display frame buffer memory starts getting corrupted after a few seconds.

    When the problem gets more severe, updating the display framebuffer memory by the GPU is not enough to let the display framebuffer memory hold its values longer then the refresh rate. Higher temperatures worsen the timespan the framebuffer memory gets corrupted.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-11-28T16:01:38+00:00

    Same here. I thought my eyes were getting old.

    Was glad to confirm the rapid flickering with wife.

    Started noticing this about a month ago, so as usual, I'm guessing it is due to

    firmware. I'm certain it is not the display driver, it is up to date and driver developers

    are pretty sharp people having been one myself eons ago....

    Hope MS gets on the ball. It is absurd to have nearly 100 pages on this issue.

    Come on get it fixed, MS.  Otherwise, this old SP4 is running fine.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments