Why Surface Pro 4 Screen Flicker
Vanina Mazzillo
Other Surface devices can have problems that are perceived as screen flickering. If you don't own a Surface Pro 4, the problem probably isn't caused by a hardware defect, so the additional fixes in this article are more likely to resolve the issue.
First, switch to a different style of pen in the software (i.e. change from solid colors to a marker or highlighter) because the problem could be related to specific program tools. If that doesn't work, try using the Surface Pen in other apps or software to see if the issue is the program itself. Some Surface Pro users have also had success by turning off hardware graphics acceleration, while others have said that shutting off Desktop Window Manager will stop the flicker.
The problem could be related to your display drivers, in which case you can switch to the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver and the flickering should stop. However, this method will prevent you from using the Surface Pen and Camera as they don't work with that particular driver.
The problem is likely tied to your Surface Pro's display drivers. Uninstall the drivers from Device Manager, then restart the device. Once restarted, it should automatically re-install the necessary drivers and clear up the issue. If flickering persists, it might be hardware-related.
It looks like a that your gpu (intel hd graphics) is going to conk out! If this is the case, then its a hardware problem and the microsoft support or any other technical workshop would be the last hope for your surface.
I had the a similar problem with my notebook. It was a hardware issue and the only thing that I could do was it to send to the manufacturer support. He told me the same as I told above, and it was true.
I've had this problem for some time now. I tried a few of the solutions, but none of them worked. I'm writing this for anyone else in case it might work for them. I've found that the flickering stops if there is any movement on the screen: mouse moves, video playing, page tab loading. In order to stop it happening to me, rather than solve the underlying hardware/software issue, I simply turned on the seconds in the taskbar clock. This means that there is always movement on the screen, thus circumventing the shaking/flickering from starting.
@JeremyChapmanMechanics
@Nydia Cavazos
Is there any engineers on this forum that can confirm that this is an LCD heat problem, and if there's any know fix, or is it being fixed for future devices?
8. now the system will restart normally, go to device manager see under display driver and uninstall the driver > note that surface pro 3 driver is Intel HD graphics 20.19.15.4568 (this is the latest driver according to Microsoft).
@Ricard Jensen Before you read i just want to make this clear i live in Florida,
Sounds like you live Somewhere were theirs no air conditioning for all of Ur previous surfaces to just fail when gaming or idle.
So Basically I Teared The Surface Pro apart and replaced the thermal pasted and it did some benchmarks and stressed the system, And even through all the tests the fan doesnt even kick in It doesn't even get warm which is a good thing Tho when benchmarked it still flickers so your assumption of the screen being an issue isn't true if the motherboard possibly couldnt heat up the screen/the chips on the screen (i have tested ur theory by leaving the Surface open) It could be the cpus fault for the flickering, over time the solder balls gets cracked from underneath And looses connection To the Motherboard Causeing (flickering/scramble) Probably a reflow could fix the problem but if thats the case why doesn`tscreen captures not show the flickering..
Seems weird Altough ive heard some ppl say that When using an external monitor it doesnt show the flicker on there monitors which is weird..
not have tested it yet
Could be an easy fix its just weird why no one is taking actions to fix there 1500$ Laptop Investment that they spent there hard earn money Instead of leaving there surface in a fridge.
@ZionicPlaz i hear you on that i bought one a pro 4 and the box was sealed brand new in 2022 and they said it was out of warenty so that 600 for something that i cant use because it give me a head ache from the vibration i see on the screen
I suspect this flicker issue is strictly hardware related. I can dual-boot my Surface Pro 4 in Ubuntu as well as Windows 10 and the flicker persists while running both operating systems. It also flickers while in UFEI boot mode which is a tell-tale sign of it being a hardware issue. Very frustrating because I love my SP4. I can't seem to find a definitive answer on whether replacing the screen would fix the issue.
I replaced the display on an SP4 I have, and everything seemed fine. However, after now replacing the SSD drive I a running into an issue where after using the device for about an hour or so the screen starts "flickering", and shaking around.
Well, I dont know if there is anything wrong with the fan - but def. confirmed its a heat issue. While watching a movie yesterday the screen started doing that thing - I used an upside down can of compressed air on the back of the device and the picture returned to noral. For a little while
I had the problem of screen flicker when I replaced the screen on my tablet pro 4 with the spare part sold by ifixit. I finally had to opt for the Surface Pro 5 screen, which is compatible. You'll find my commentary on this subject here, which you might find useful:
By following these steps, you should be well on your way to resolving the flickering woes plaguing your Surface Pro screen. Remember, consistent updates, proper care to avoid hardware damage, and seeking help when needed will ensure a smooth and uninterrupted visual experience on your device.
The most possible reason is the hardware faulty, as this issue happens to some certain devices. Therefore, Microsoft has launched a replacement program that would allow you to replace eligible Surface Pro 4 within a 3-year purchase.
Microsoft has released an official statement addressing this issue and refers to it as a scramble, which is a hardware-related problem. Only Surface Pro 4 devices experiencing this issue, of any configuration, are covered under their replacement program.
Before having your Surface replaced, read carefully the statement, and follow the instructions to install the Surface and Windows Update on your laptop first. This hopefully can fix your screen flickering issue.
3) Click the Update button next to the flagged graphics card to automatically download the correct version of their driver (you can do this with the FREE version), then install it in your computer.
Fortect is tailored to your specific system and is working in a private and automatic way. It will first check hardware-related issues to identify problems, and then security issues (powered by Avira Antivirus), and finally it detects programs that crash and missing system files. Once complete, it will find a solution to your specific problem.
Had the same issue with my dell inspiron-15-3567 got the fix by using acpi=offin /etc/default/grub but a new issue cropped up when shutting down system reaches shutdown target systemd-shutdown process-udevd is waiting so have to press down the power button . so have to choose between either screen flicker randomly or a shutdown issue
Buggy kernel in my case was 5.15.xFlicker-free image appears as crisp and good as ever.5.19.x seems to be the last 5.x kernel, so am using this one before migrating to 6.1.x once that becomes mainline (I won't use 6.0.x), aka an actual mainline kernel.So I concur: Upgrading kernel (via mainline kernel app, as described above) worked nicely.
if you can hardly do anything because of strong FLICKER ...... do the kernel package management on a remote shell from another machine!Just via SSH ... if you have ssh installed on the target machine, package is openssh-server.
SSH -Y allows you to open gui apps from remote as well. -Y and -X are flags that specify carrying xwindow (linux graphics) capabilities over an ssh connection.If remote xwindow does not work, you can do almost everything from a commandline.After installing mainline (see other comment) you can run it from a commandline typing
For Ubuntu setup here 22.04 LTS with all updates applied, which is in operation since release 16.04, or so - means Ubuntu machine of long history and multiple measures of problem hacking so far - desktop flickering problem interestingly started to occur not until one week ago. Workaround grub config file was not applied as numerous users report it to not really help.What was tried is 5.19.x kernel by installing linux-generic-hwe-22.04 package which also doesn't help.
Yet another issue graphical environment this Ubuntu machine suffers from for multiple years is screen resolution setting is not stored permanently. Every new boot results GNOME shell to use low resolution and user to need to switch to desired one manually. No idea if it has common points with flickering.
Among GNOME extensions following are installed: (user) V-Shell vertical spaces (system) Desktop Icons ING DING, Ubuntu AppIndicators, Ubuntu Dock. As next I will try with user extension disabled. In the past have had few times graphical environment stability problems due to installed extension.
UPDATEUbuntu with GNOME extension V-Shell vertical spaces disabled under test since -up to- 5 reboots ago. So far graphical environment is back to its previous stability - flickering no more occurring. If it keeps to be this way problem is resolved this particular case. However I need V-Shell vertical spaces extensions back - without it low productivity.
Current AO post-process works ok on renders but flickering and low resolution makes it super annoying while sculpting. I think Matcap rendering could be improved by adding curvature effect similar to other sculpting apps.
So far I like Blender implementation the most because of separate sliders for convex and concave areas. I often use screen space curvature for convex areas and combine it with SSAO for concave ones. Would be great to have this level of control in Nomad. Including convex SSAO in matcap rendering.
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