Surface Pro 4, Screen Flickering, Shaking

Question

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.***

Answer 1

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]

Answer 2

As a two-time sufferer of this issue, I'm gonna start by saying I STRONGLY advise against replacing your SP4 for this screen jittering/ flickering- especially for those of you dropping $300+ for out-of-warranty replacement; because there is an extremely high likelihood that your replacement device will face the same problem.

Allow me to explain (also bear with me, first time on this forum).

Basically, I've gone through one Surface pro 4 already for this same exact problem and now the second has it as well. The first device's screen started the crazy jittering/shaking about 7-8 months after purchase, and after bearing with it for 2-3 months I decided to contact Microsoft seeing that only 1 month was left in my warranty. The rep concluded that it was most likely a hardware defect (I went as far as doing a factory reset, did not help) and offered to have it replaced. I agreed, but the problem was (like many of you) I'm currently residing outside of the US, with no access to a microsoft store. He recommended that I shipped it to my family in the US to conduct the replacement, which I did.

This was at the end of December 2016. After spending over $200 in shipping fees and being without my only college PC for over a month, I received the replacement around the start of February 2017. The replacement was in a plain brown box and noticeable a refurb unit, but in perfect condition. The unit also has the infamous light bleed, but I overlooked it that seeing that the jittering was absent; and was just relieved to have a usable machine again for school. Also, I was contacted around the same time via email by a Surface rep basically giving a support ref number and saying to request a call if I had any issues with the replacement, and they'll help the best they can.

Fast forward approx 2 months later and the dreaded screen shaking suddenly appeared again (first noticed this week of April 10th). Its noticeably more vigorous than my previous device and cursor input/ movement on the screen doesn’t cause it to temporarily stop (I suspect the seconds on clock trick would work in the last case, but doesn't help in this instance). I don't attribute it to heat as I did last time because the shaking starts from cold boot, sometimes even showing on the black Surface splash screen.

What's worse, I tried to contact Microsoft as they recommended in the email but they require $29 per call since the warranty is over which I find to be ridiculous.

At this point I'm extremely disappointed in Microsoft and the Surface team.  I'm sitting overseas exams in little over a month, but can't even read my notes off of my device w/o an external display. All I can say is that I deeply regret choosing Surface over a Mac.. problems like this are unacceptable for such a premium device. I understand everyone else's frustration and definitely agree that this is grounds for a full recall of affected devices (if it is indeed hardware related). Otherwise, they should at least release an official statement acknowledging the issue and promise a patch or whatever needs to be done.

Also I'd like to point out that the number of users reporting the same problem has drastically increased since I last researched it back in December, so it's definitely getting more and more widespread.

TLDR; Don't replace your SP4 just yet as you might get back a worse device with the same problem. Try and wait it out until Microsoft gives some definitive feedback.

Answer 3

I got this problem few month ago, but after an update, the problem disappear. Got a windows update this morning, and now the screen is flicking and shaking again.

But if I open task manager and put it on the screen, the flicking stops, so now I have to work like this...keep the task manager on the right side of the screen.

Answer 4

You took the words out of my mouth. For me, replacement will cost upto $600 just in postal service. (Excluding the hazards or sending and receiving). Only thing I am doing currently is to point out this problem again and again on twitter to surface team. https://twitter.com/surface  And I ask you guys to do the same.

The support team didn't even called me. I don't think they are even considering to diagnose the problem. let alone fixing it. I would have never complained if it was a moderately priced device, but for such a premium device, its a point of shame for Microsoft team.

Answer 5

I have been trying such fixes from blogs and reddit posts. Nothing available online is fixing it . I have wasted several days watching my screen while Surface support agents were installing and removing drivers, users and other software. At the end, all I got was that our engineers are aware of the problem and are working on it.  I am gonna right a post on my blog about this, Hope it will save someone else from throwing few thousands dollars for a "Parkinsonized" screen with bleeding lights.