Surface Pro 4, Screen Flickering, Shaking

Anonymous

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:

A video being played in browser
If I keep the touch screen busy by either taping it or keeping a finger on it
If I use the touchpad
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***

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.***

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.

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Anonymous

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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2,779 additional answers

Anonymous

2017-02-14T04:37:11+00:00

Hi Kevnt,

I checked your thread and it had put me to a lot of worried. The video explains the problem very well. I am also residing outside of USA and I think the support agents assurance to wait is just a cover to expire the warranty somehow. If the can't repair it in the last one year in which your warranty expired then I don't think they will do it this year (while they will be busy with a **** SP5).

Its very hard for me to send my device for replacement as I am currently using it full time for projects. Does anyone know how much time it will take for the new device to be resent back? God knows its my first and LAST dealing with Microsoft. No wonder why people love expensive MACs so much. Its the quality of the service not just the marketing.
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Anonymous

2017-02-02T06:46:36+00:00

Hi Charline,

Yes I have tried that and with the task manager windows active, nothing flickers. I don't have any of the three mentioned apps. The screen flickers even when I just start the device. I allowed the support agents to have full control of my device and they were also not able to figure out what's causing the problem.

If MS provides any utility which can detect such apps or a procedure to find out the root of the problem then it will be grade. And Thanks for reply Finally.

Cheers,

Abbas
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Anonymous

2017-02-14T02:15:52+00:00

Thank you for this thread. I recently encountered a similar issue with my year-old SP4. I posted about it here. In my post I shared two videos that may help clarify the problem - the screen isn't "flickering" exactly, but shaking up and down rapidly. Mine also degraded quickly from "only when idle" to "sometimes, all the time." It rapidly gets worse on hot days or when running high-performance software like games or Unity3D.

I've also noticed that it has particular trouble with rendered images; covering photos or video with an opaque window (say, the Photos app with a web browser) can cause more traditional flickering (black and white boxes and triangles in the shape of the image being overdrawn). I haven't been able to capture an image of this yet since it's more intermittent and unpredictable.

In any event, the main issue makes my computer borderline unusable and appears to be getting worse.
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Anonymous

2017-02-07T10:42:22+00:00

I have exactly the same problem as well! I am a student and I also read a lot of articles and journals on my surface, and now the screen is totally unusable. I too, need to connect to an external display to read texts without the flickering screen. The surface team was willing to send me a replacement but I feel it is too much trouble for me to send the faulty device back (and I seriously suspect that the replacement would also have got the same problem) therefore I haven't started the procedure for the replacement yet. I do hope they can fix it as soon as possible! I like surface when it's working properly, this is just frustrating.
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