XPS 15z Screen Flicker

Hi!

I've just bought a Dell XPS 15z, with the 1080p display. It has a screen flicker problem that's been driving me nuts Before I send it back for repairing, I'd like to make sure that I haven't missed any obvious solution, as the problem is quite odd:

- The screen flickers on AC power, never on battery. The flickering is quite light (i.e. it doesn't render the laptop unusable, although it certainly is annoying) and is more intense (i) right after the laptop is turned on and (ii) on white / clear images

- The flickering stops in certain situations: (i) when the battery is not fully charged and charging on AC power, (ii) when an external screen is plugged in (neither the laptop's screen or the external monitor flicker) and (iii) when I'm installing new drivers (after the computer has finished installing the drivers, the flicker resumes)

- I've tried every possible power / display option (Dell Quickset, Intel HD Graphics, Nvidia, Windows power options, BIOS options, etc.). Weirdly enough, the "Display Power Saving Technology" isn't listed in the options panel of the Intel HD Graphics card. None of these options seems to have an impact on the flicker

- The problem doesn't seem to be software-related, as I've tried doing a clean windows install (from the recovery partition and with a windows CD), as well as installing older versions of the nvidia / intel drivers. However, the flicker apparently only happens in windows (i have not noticed it in games, for instance) and not in the BIOS, for instance

I'm thinking this is probably a hardware issue (backlight inverter, or defective GPU). I'd be very grateful is anyone had any additional info on this problem.

Thanks in advance!

 

Hello

I have a fairly similar issue to yours, the screen flickers once or twice during gaming (worms reloaded) it is like switching to blank screen and then back to normal..

This happens only while in-game only.. and I really have no explanation of which.. I've noticed that disabling "Dell Smart Display" makes things better but does not resolve the problem...

Can you do me a favor and check you battery wearing level? currently, my battery is 96% after only two weeks of use..

Thanks

 

Hi!

I don't think I have any battery issues (the battery wear is 100% after one week).

 

Hi, I had the same problem. Please uninstall your intel hd 3000 drivers and install the updated drivers:

Drivers and Downloads

A09 version of Intel HD 3000 (and NEVER DOWNLOAD THE DRIVERS FOR HD 3000 from Intel's website)

 

Hi uchihacg,

Thanks a lot for your response. Unfortunately, the updated drivers from Dell's website don't fix the problem (I've tried uninstalling the previous drivers first, also without success...).

I'm happy to hear any other solutions =)

 

I had a similar problem with my screen that showed up after a week of use, it needed replacement and worked great afterwards

 

Thanks critidoc. Quick question: were the symptoms of your problem similar to mine (i.e. problem only happens on AC adapter, etc.) ? Also, did they end up changing only the screen or also other parts?

Thanks!

 

Under the Intel graphics properties, set the refresh rate for the screen at 59 Hz. See if that'll help.

 

Thanks! How can you set the refresh rate at 59hz? I have 40hz and 60hz in the options and I can't set a custom resolution with 59hz...

 

Screen was bad and they replaced it. worked fine except that after the replacement, they were unable to reattach the heatsink to the processor, only a couple of the screws engaged. they ultimately replace the entire unit as a replacement motherboard and heatsink had similar problems. The unit worked with the barely attached heatsink, but the fan ran on high all the time and battery life was horrible.