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
    2017-04-25T15:02:27+00:00

    I made a test today. I used my sp4 for 6 hours (almost just Excel and Chrome) with no problem. I was checking the computer temperature with CPUID Hardware Monitor and all day long the temperature ranged form 30 to 45 (Celsius). Now with a temperature of 35 the screen started shaking. I really thought that it was a temperature issue, but with this test I not sure anymore. 

    Anyone with another computer (not surface) is having similar problem? Anyone tried to downgrade to Windows 8?

    I made the same test today, but now with more softwares open. The screen started shaking after 3 hours of use and the temperature range has from 40 to 47 (Celsius). Now I'm closing some softwares to let the computer temperature decrease and check if the shacking disappear. 

    Just as a comment, the shacking/ghost screen is so bad that I'm having to use an external monitor.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-04-25T14:56:43+00:00

    It's very funny that people do the service to replace surface pro 4 in Vietnam, it seems this error happen in a very large scale.

    To confirm, you are saying there is a very specific service for this? Are there multiple businesses offering this?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-04-25T12:14:53+00:00

    I have this issue also, very wrong decision that I made ever. My case is the screen flickering in a specific area only, not yet all the screen as the level that I saw on the internet, but paying that much of money for a premium-look but poor-quality-control device is really painful. I'm in Vietnam and now the expenses to send it back to Microsoft through a middle man is around 200 USD. It's very funny that people do the service to replace surface pro 4 in Vietnam, it seems this error happen in a very large scale.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-04-25T03:07:00+00:00

    I made a test today. I used my sp4 for 6 hours (almost just Excel and Chrome) with no problem. I was checking the computer temperature with CPUID Hardware Monitor and all day long the temperature ranged form 30 to 45 (Celsius). Now with a temperature of 35 the screen started shaking. I really thought that it was a temperature issue, but with this test I not sure anymore. 

    Anyone with another computer (not surface) is having similar problem? Anyone tried to downgrade to Windows 8?

    My previous Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 also had similar shaking, shadow image problem, coincidentally both Yoga and SP4 use Intel graphic chip, I just sense the issue could be crash between Intel driver and MS firmware.

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