Surface Pro 7 flickers with every external monitor

I also have this problem with my i7 Surface Pro 7, have contacted support about 5 times and none of the software updates and solutions have done anything to help the issue. Seems support is blaming Windows 10 and saying to wait for a software update and that scaling is the problem... have tried all sorts of scaling and nothing fixes the issue other than a restart of the computer, until it is disconnected from the monitor. Never had this issue the entire time with my pro 4.

Sadly, I just replaced my Surface Pro 4 (bulging battery and only a 90 day warranty with that unless you get a new one) and was seeing the exact same issue with one of two screens dropping out and coming back.  I'm running dual 3440x1440 ultrawide LGs on a Surface Dock.  What seems to have worked for me is this. 

1. Reset the Surface Dock, which is something I usually try first anyway. (still did it)
2. Flushed the display with the registry file on this thread. (still did it)
3. Validated that the Surface Dock was up to date (still did it)
4. Manually updated to the latest driver (still did it)
5. Finally, looked at all the modes and changed to one with a slightly lower frequency  THIS!!  (seems to work so far)

Check all your modes.  Mine supports 3440x1440 @ 60Hz and that is the recommended mode, but it was dropping and coming back.

Once I changed it to another mode that was supported, in this case 3440x1440 @50Hz, I have not seen the flicker.  It has only been a couple of hours, but it seems to be working.  

I think this is only a workaround as it should be stable at the 60Hz as my SP4 was. 

You can get to this via the Advanced Properties.

Hello Flatted5,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community. We really appreciate all the efforts that you did just to possibly resolve the issue.

Download the Surface Updater tool.

To update your Surface Dock, follow the instructions at Update your Surface Dock.

Clear your display cache.

1. Undock your Surface from the Surface Dock.
2. Download the Surface Dock registry file. Choose to Open the file.
3. Select and run surface dock registry.reg.
4. Select Yes to allow changes to your Surface, select Yes to confirm, and then select OK to close.
5. Restart your Surface, reconnect it to the Surface Dock, and try your external display again.

Reset the dock and monitor

• Remove the Surface Connector from your Surface, turn the connector over, and plug it in again. Make sure that the connection is secure and the indicator light is on.
• If you’re still having problems, try resetting the power by unplugging your Surface Dock from the power outlet and plugging it in again.
• Try unplugging your monitor from the power outlet and plugging it back in.

If this answer your question, we highly encourage you to inform our Community by clicking on Yes or marking my post as an answer. This will help other members who may have the same issue as you. Otherwise, don't hesitate to update us so we can further assist you.

Regards,

Jonas_T

Surface Pro 7 is still running old Intel GPU drivers from August 2019... Microsoft have not released any newer drivers still.

Hi Janette,

I'm using displays of different brands, including Dell, EIZO and Philips. I tried on all monitors HDMI and DisplayPort - always the same outcome. With USB-C I'm using an USB-C to HDMI adapter from the brand "uni" (which got excellent reviews on Amazon). With power supply it doesn't matter if the Surface is plugged in or not, I got always the the same issue.

My guess is that this is not a hardware issue but a software issue, because I got a functioning environment at the end, but I have to restart my Surface every time with the monitor plugged in. This is very annoinig in case of unplugging the Surface for a meeting and then replugging it.

BR

Flatted5