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
    2018-01-26T11:23:52+00:00

    The warranty on my Surface Pro 4 ran out at the end of October 2017 and the flicking started in December 2017.

    It was very subtle flickering to begin with and for a while I even attributed it to eye strain. It started to get progressively worse in December but I managed to 'fix' it by adding seconds to the clock on the task bar which involved making an entry in the registry. 

    All was well until about two weeks ago when it started to flicker regardless of whether there was movement on the screen. It also regularly freezes which requires restarting the computer. Now it's at the point where after a short period of use, the screen will continuously flicker and become unusable. 

    I think it's obscene that Microsoft are still refusing to acknowledge that this is a problem. This was an expensive computer and for it to fail like this after such a short period of time is a huge failure on Microsoft's part. It's very frustrating because I feel powerless to do anything about it except to avoid Microsoft products where possible in the future.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-26T09:03:16+00:00

    As the recent posts have suggested - this is NOT a solution.

    Firstly you should not be expected to run an application like this but more importantly, after a while it will happen with or without an application/task manager running on the side.

    In my case it starts off quite mild and happens when I stop moving the cursor.

    After an hour, it happens regardless and I have to walk away as it's unusable.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-26T06:43:19+00:00

    Unfortunately this is not a solution, the flickering returns after a short period of time.

    Please read the hundreds of other comments on this forum to confirm the above.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-26T06:42:20+00:00

    Unfortunately this is not a solution, the flickering returns after a short period of time.

    Please read the hundreds of other comments on this forum to confirm the above.

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