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
    2017-06-06T10:13:25+00:00

    This happens for me in Surface UEFI mode so I don't think that hard reset may help. It is hardware failure or firmware bug. I'm afraid if it's hardware failure :S

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-06T10:03:00+00:00

    Hi All,

    I've lost track on this thread because the problem has been disappeared after these updates (or less become an issue). But after the updates I also did a factory reset to my SP4 i5 8GB. So not sure which one of those solved the screen problem.

    But suddenly the problem reoccurring about a week now, usually after 10-20 minutes of use and or after 5 minutes watching Youtube. My device is always up to date, the problem came after a couple of updates that follow the creator update. Well, from my experiences, the screen problem usually reappears after big windows update and I suspect any updates that causing high processor use.

    Today I, desperately, open Task Manager soon after startup and what a surprise to find out the processor is at 100% when I haven't open any application yet, until I realized that I have so many app that run on startup like OneDrive, Send to OneNote tool, SpotifyWebHelper, Windows Defender notification icon, Dropbox, Google Drive, Spotify, Slack, HP Printer Driver utility that cause high processor use.

    So, you can see the pattern. It is silly, but, maybe the processor is shocked/tired/getting hot after 100% use on the startup so can't perform well after that. :D

    So I tried to remove almost all startup programs especially the one with high impact and as typing this comment,  I already spent about 1-2 hours without screen flickering. I also watched about 12 minutes video on Youtube about half an hour ago. The problem is gone surprisingly.

    Will update this comment if the problem comes back!

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-06-05T02:58:53+00:00

    Just abandoning last Saturday, trade in for 1/3 of purchase price at PC Trade show when there is still value for this SP4 before their new Surface Pro hit the local market.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-06-05T00:43:04+00:00

    I have the same problem :'( By the way it started happening after Creators Update or maybe some Surface firmware update for Creators Update. It never happened before with Anniversary Update and even first weeks after I've got the Creators Update. Is there any solution? Maybe old drivers will help or reset and not install firmware updates?

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