February 2014 update ...

[godson594]

I think the reason is that the Surface team is focusing to have everything in power saving mode, to provide the most battery. So they set the Intel option which, as mentioned, is called "Contrast Enhancement" on desktop but on laptop it's claimed to boost battery life. While I don't have any scientific data that it does in deep does not affect battery life, I think the Surface team don't want to take any chances. The last thing they want to see is: "New Surface Pro 2 firmware drops battery life". And, I also think, that even if they saw that this feature does nothing beside being annoying to some people, they trust Intel that it actually helps battery life. And I think they are in the mode: "If it saves 5min, we will take it! It's better than nothing".

Now that people seams to be happy with the Surface Pro 2 battery life, I expect, that feature to be disabled in the next Surface Pro, as they know the battery life that people expect and are happy with, especially helped with Intel next gen CPU wihch has a goal to consume even less power, while still being faster.

Coincidentally I was talking to some contacts on Skype and realized my old colleague is working at Intel. I spoke with her and I will write up the bug in full detail tonight so she can pass it on to the team there (she works in a group that handles display drivers+android, her friends are in the group that handles windows8) so who knows... We may get lucky

 

[GoodBytes]

Well, it's not a bug at all. It works as it is supposed to. I think for TN panel, black consumes less power than white to display (a hint), so Intel idea is to adjust the contrast of the display to be dimmer when you have dark scenes, saving, in the long run, a few minutes. This is probably for laptops. For IPS panels this is not the case, and even so, the small variation is power is minimal.

 

[Nil Edwin]

Hey, any1 know how or where can i check my firmware version to be sure he updated?

 

[MickeyLittle]

I wasn't happy with the update and now my SP2 not going to sleep so I decided to do another refresh. After the refresh before I re-installed any of my legacy apps I checked for updates and of course all of today's updates are downloading and installing. I find it strange that a refresh won't remove my modern UI apps or data but it will wipe away Microsoft Windows updates in a heartbeat!

 

[beq]

Well, it's not a bug at all. It works as it is supposed to. I think for TN panel, black consumes less power than white to display (a hint), so Intel idea is to adjust the contrast of the display to be dimmer when you have dark scenes, saving, in the long run, a few minutes. This is probably for laptops. For IPS panels this is not the case, and even so, the small variation is power is minimal.

Wait, the SP2 uses TN and not IPS panel?

 

[GoodBytes]

IPS panel. Easily identifiable with it's wide view angle, reduce back light bleeding, glow on all 4 angles when looking at angle, and any back light bleeding doesn't affect colors, sharpness, and improved colors.

 

[Nil Edwin]

Another question: everytime i format or restore my windows 8.1 on surface pro 2, i must re-install firmware again?

 

[Nil Edwin]

for example: if i do a "system restore" to an old point where my firmware was a diferent one, he will back to the old firmware?

 

[drolem]

Firmware is flashed in, and once it's in it, need not be re-flashed -- it stays there until it gets overwritten by a newer firmware. (you cannot go back to older FW) Some associated files will get put into the driverstore, and that may look like a re-install, but in reality the Surface should work without those.

You can check the FW by looking at Properties -> Details -> Hardware ids

 

[Zkyevolved]

Not my favorite update. I updated yesterday, it updated "successfully" and while restarting the device after the update, buttons stopped responding, fan turned on, and nothing worked. I chatted with Microsoft and they helped me, vol up + power, that worked. Still, scared the bajezzies out of me!

 

[gman713]

Hey, should I be concerned that after updating to the latest firmware today, I noticed a red line running across the middle of my desktop? While I noticed it, it just vanished. Is this a bad sign? I just got this updated SP2 last month with the latest CPU (1.9).

 

[GoodBytes]

Hey, should I be concerned that after updating to the latest firmware today, I noticed a red line running across the middle of my desktop? While I noticed it, it just vanished. Is this a bad sign? I just got this updated SP2 last month with the latest CPU (1.9).

Same issue. I use picture password. The line isn't red, it's your lock screen background. Change it picture, and the color of that line will be different.
I would assume your lock screen picture is this:
http://www.windows8core.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Default-Windows-8.1-RTM-lock-screen-image.png

But it doesn't happen all the time. In fact, I can't replicate the problem anymore. But if it happens I'll play closer attention on where it happens. But I recall happening with picture password.