surface 2 led backlight issue?

[troykm]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and the surface 2 too.

I bought my surface 2 a week ago and its going great. A few teething issues but that's to be expected on a new software release as 8.1 is.

However, my screen is having an issue with the backlight and I want to know if its a fault or just normal for this kind of display. What's happening is when scrolling - vertically or horizontal- the backlight flickers or blinks quickly until you stop scrolling. Once I stop scrolling the backlight stops flickering a few milliseconds after. It does not do it when not scrolling. Its worse when the screen is mostly white or bright colors shown and as I reduce the backlight brightness it gets more noticeable. Is this a fault or is it normal? I have auto brightness disabled. Its almost as if the display is trying to optimize itself as its scrolling. The flickering can best be described as a very subtle brightness adjustment of only a shade or 2.

I've seen some led TVs do this when dynamic contrast is on but there does not seem to be a setting on the surface to turn it off. I've contacted Microsoft support and all they said was they could replace my device but I don't want to bother with that if it's normal as the new one will do it too.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Cheers

Troy

 

[troykm]

Surprised to see no responses as a Google search revealed others are experiencing this issue.

After speaking to Microsoft support about the screen issue, they suggested a replacement. I had the unit replaced at the retailer I got it from and was surprised to find that the new one also has the same issue! Now this is either a design flaw, a driver issue, or just a limitation of he led technology. Microsoft support are ringing me back later today to check how its going so I will discuss it further then.

I must say I am super impressed with Microsoft support.

 

[oion]

I see no flicker on my Surface 2 as I scroll through the store. This is the first time I've heard of such a problem on these boards, but perhaps it's faulty. Good thing you did report it to MS, though, to get the problem on their radar.

 

[troykm]

Its not a flicker like an old CRT monitor flicker. Its more like the backlight is changing dynamically. Try a website or screen that has dark content and scroll to a lighter part of the screen and you will see it, vent scrolling slowly.

I did come across this on the surface website this morning.

ClearType HD Display (1080p)

Surface 2 has an optically-bonded ClearType HD display that is strikingly sharp with a wide viewing angle. The wide screen is perfect for watching 1080p HD video, and optimised for multi-tasking with side-by-side apps. Auto-adjusting screen intensity gives you the clearest picture possible, whether you’re indoors or out

That last sentence explains what I am seeing and must be some kind of dynamic contrast. I wish I could turn it off as its really distracting. But at least I now know its not a fault. I'm surprised the tech support guys had no idea about it, it would have saved me returning a perfectly good surface 2 for replacement.

 

[troykm]

I want to add that despite this hiccup, I love my surface 2. It is exactly what I wanted from a tablet. It can do everything I need a computer to do. The only drawback of tablets is lack of storage. But surface solves this with the USB3 port. Although I've gone one further and set up a NAS at home that stores everything and I access right from the surface I can even access it from the browser remotely. My own personal skydrive

 

[oion]

It would help if you gave an URL as an example. It's still possible that this flicker you see is a fault, if no one sees it on the same website.

I want to add that despite this hiccup, I love my surface 2. It is exactly what I wanted from a tablet. It can do everything I need a computer to do. The only drawback of tablets is lack of storage. But surface solves this with the USB3 port. Although I've gone one further and set up a NAS at home that stores everything and I access right from the surface I can even access it from the browser remotely. My own personal skydrive

Don't forget the microSDXC slot! And SkyDrive. Though I personally won't use beyond the 7GB free.

 

[troykm]

How could it possibly be my fault? I can't access/alter anything to do with the backlight other than brightness level.

 

[oion]

How could it possibly be my fault? I can't access/alter anything to do with the backlight other than brightness level.

Reread. "A fault." As in the unit.

 

[troykm]

You many not see it depending on your brightness level, as per my op, its worse at lower levels and at 50% or higher its not noticeable at all. But lower to 20% or less and you will see it. The backlight as a whole starts to quickly dim and brighten by its self.

 

[troykm]

My bad I read wrong :nerd:

 

[oion]

My screen is usually permanently set to 35% on both battery/plug...

Now, I discounted the other screen flicker issue because you said you disabled auto-brightness.
This and this?

Sounds like a driver-type issue, then, when the auto/dynamic settings don't change anything. Even if mine had that problem, I doubt I'd notice since I don't really go below 35% brightness.

 

[Microserf2005]

One thing you may want to try is turning off automatic brightness. If you go to the Settings charm by swiping from the right side of your screen, going to Settings\Change PC Settings (at the very bottom). Then when the Settings app loads, go to PC and Devices\Power and Sleep and uncheck the first check box that says to automatically change your brightness. This will make it so that the display will stay fixed at your preference and not automatically change. Like the iPhone, it can sometimes feel overly aggressive, especially when you are in dim light or use a particularly high brightness setting. Hope that helps and glad you like your Surface. If you think it is a hardware problem, please do use Microsoft support or the Microsoft Store!