Surface Pro 2, All Images Being Dithered?

[eelpout]

OK, I'm a bit stumped. Recently picked up a Surface Pro 2. I have all the latest updates to 8.1 and all that (at least that's what Windows update tells me)

All my images are being displayed dithered, like they are being scaled down to 8-bit and there is a smaller color palette to pick from. I have the native resolution selected and the mode is set to 1920 x 1080, True Color (32-bit). Wondering if it's an Intel driver issue maybe.

Doesn't seem to matter what application is used. They all do it.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jnjroach]

What driver are you using? It sounds like a video driver issue, if not its your video card.

 

[eelpout]

What driver are you using? It sounds like a video driver issue, if not its your video card.

Intel HD
10.18.10.3262

 

[jnjroach]

Have you tried to do a roll back? I'm on my Surface 2 right now not my Pro 2.

 

[CreativeLemming]

Is this with all apps (Metro and legacy desktop) or just legacy?
If the latter, this is a known issue for legacy apps, and is up to the individual developers to resolve.
See this attachment for a tip that works for Chrome and some other apps: Chrome Looks Blurry in Windows 8.1: What to do
Merry Christmas all!

 

[eelpout]

Is this with all apps (Metro and legacy desktop) or just legacy?
If the latter, this is a known issue for legacy apps, and is up to the individual developers to resolve.
See this attachment for a tip that works for Chrome and some other apps: Chrome Looks Blurry in Windows 8.1: What to do
Merry Christmas all!

Hmmm, interesting. Well, it's happening in all the legacy and Metro apps I've tried.

Oddly I don't think it's happening on my Samsung 500T which is also on 8.1. So it may be the higher DPI of the Surface Pro 2.

 

[jnjroach]

Remove the Intel Video Driver, reboot and reinstall, if that doesn't work consider a machine reset or a RMA for a replacement unit.

 

[miko3d]

I suspect there is nothing wrong with your surface ,and its nothing to do with the screen dpi issue of legacy apps in Windows.

Unfortunately what you are experiencing is another issue of the new december (firmware and drivers)update, I am also experiencing it as some other people in this forums ,all after running the december update.

This and the stuck battery indicator issue are really annoying and i hope its not the result of microsoft moving its resources somewhere else from the surface project...

try the official intel drivers and see if it helps.But it could be something messed firmware wise so we have to wait for a solution from Microsoft...

under normal testing circumstances this update should have never passed beta testing stage.

 

[daniielrp]

Hmmm, interesting. Well, it's happening in all the legacy and Metro apps I've tried.

Oddly I don't think it's happening on my Samsung 500T which is also on 8.1. So it may be the higher DPI of the Surface Pro 2.

Well as a test you could reduce the DPI of the Pro 2 to 100% and see if the problem is still there.

Right click on desktop>Click Screen Resolution>Click Make Items bigger or smaller>Reduce bar to smallest.

 

[jnjroach]

OP states that it is happening on both Desktop and Modern Apps, so I doubt its DPI, the symptoms point to a corrupt video driver or at worse hardware failure.

 

[eelpout]

OP states that it is happening on both Desktop and Modern Apps, so I doubt its DPI, the symptoms point to a corrupt video driver or at worse hardware failure.

now that I've done a more thorough look, it's happening everywhere: Metro apps, legacy apps, the Desktop background image etc. it's very much like color depth has been hard set to 8-bit.

I've tried removing the Intel driver and went to the Basic Display driver. Same issue. Upgraded to the latest generic Intel HD driver (from October I believe) same problem. It also happens in Safe Mode, but I'm not sure what bit depth is even available there. It says 32-bit but it doesn't allocate a lot of video RAM so who knows.

I find it hard to believe it's a hardware display panel issue. Like they accidentally dropped in a 256 color 1920x1080 panel? Has to be deep in Windows software somewhere.

I did install a Sony RAW image display driver at some point, but took it out.

I'll go back to the earliest restore point I have available and if no luck there, back to factory settings. I'll do that when I'm back from Holiday vacation this weekend.

 

[SteveBorough]

I've had the same issue. Try uninstalling the Intel driver and reinstalling the latest version. There seem to be 2 identical versions of the 10/31/2013 10.18.10.3345 driver one causes the dithering. Try re-downloading the latest from the thread on this forum and choosing to use the new driver (not keep existing when prompted)

now that I've done a more thorough look, it's happening everywhere: Metro apps, legacy apps, the Desktop background image etc. it's very much like color depth has been hard set to 8-bit.

I've tried removing the Intel driver and went to the Basic Display driver. Same issue. Upgraded to the latest generic Intel HD driver (from October I believe) same problem. It also happens in Safe Mode, but I'm not sure what bit depth is even available there. It says 32-bit but it doesn't allocate a lot of video RAM so who knows.

I find it hard to believe it's a hardware display panel issue. Like they accidentally dropped in a 256 color 1920x1080 panel? Has to be deep in Windows software somewhere.

I did install a Sony RAW image display driver at some point, but took it out.

I'll go back to the earliest restore point I have available and if no luck there, back to factory settings. I'll do that when I'm back from Holiday vacation this weekend.