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
    2017-06-10T06:27:09+00:00

    I‘ve got the exact same problem and I noticed some patterns.

    The time for jittering to occur seems to depend on how long the surface rests for, if I shutdown surface for one night and cold boot, it will takes around 1-2 hours to shows jittering, however if it rests for only 5 minutes or so it will only take minitutes to show the problem...

    I did try to contact support and sent my surface for replacement, but they said my surface had taken water damage (really can't recall when) and they couldn't do anything, all my warranty was lost! At the beginning I thought the problem is caused by water damage, but after searching on the internet I don't think so now...

    Forgot to mention that my surface was also purchased around 1.5 year ago... Anyway I will keep following this thread until MS gives an explanation

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-10T02:25:09+00:00

    My 15 month old SP4/i7 is also now having this problem.

    It looks like this is a frequent problem for anyone who uses their SP4 extensively or has had the unit for more than 1yr.

    I suspect the original firmware or hardware design had bugs that allowed the system to overheat and damage sensitive electronics - It's possible that Microsoft has been trying to minimize the cost of fixing it by releasing new firmware that reduces the thermal load and/or encouraging users to wait for hardware replacement until after their warranty expires.

    Unfortunately, Surface is a mainstream device now used everywhere, if due to firmware bug or hardware design flaw the unit tends to become unuseable 12-18 months after purchase...covering up won't work and I expect MS will be an overwhelming amount of support requests soon.  Perhaps thats part of the reason for releasing the surface laptop and SP 2017 earlier than the next generation Surface Book.  Microsoft may be doing whatever it can to avoid selling more SP4's and certainly that they designed the new SP 2017 to be fanless suggests they've been aggressively targeting heat dissipation.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-06-09T02:43:26+00:00

    I‘ve got the exact same problem and I noticed some patterns.

    The time for jittering to occur seems to depend on how long the surface rests for, if I shutdown surface for one night and cold boot, it will takes around 1-2 hours to shows jittering, however if it rests for only 5 minutes or so it will only take minitutes to show the problem...

    I did try to contact support and sent my surface for replacement, but they said my surface had taken water damage (really can't recall when) and they couldn't do anything, all my warranty was lost! At the beginning I thought the problem is caused by water damage, but after searching on the internet I don't think so now...

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-06-06T11:30:26+00:00

    I went almost a year with no problem.  Now I get flickering whenever it's on more than an hour or so. I think it has to do with the screen heating up but I'm not sure.

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