Laptop randomly flashes as if you were taking a picture with the flash on

Hi,

For example I could be doing watching you tube or just web browsing or playing a game and it will do it randomly without me predicting when it will. When it flashes it is brighter than the screen brightness like a camera taking a picture with the flash on.

The laptop does not move and has always sat on the table.
I have been trying to figure this since I had the laptop which is probably a few years old. I have a Dell XPS 17 (l702).

Basically it does not flash often but maybe do it 1-2 a few days and I can't find where the fault lies. I do not know if it lies with the software or hardware side. I have checked the event viewer but nothing seems related or errors.

 

I'm assuming this is on the internal screen and that you've also tried different video driver versions. Are you able to connect your PC to an external monitor or TV and test it? If there are no issues in that instance, then it's possible the cable connecting the motherboard to the built-in display is loose or going bad.

 

Yes this is my main laptop display screen. I have two GPU, one is intel and the other is Nvidia. The only one I have tried is Nvidia but not intel (If I remember). Though the Dell's nvidia driver kept crashing so I used the Nvidia's website version. Sadly I don't have acces to an external monitor or tv to test it.

The laptop screen works but it rarely does a flashlight effect in a second and that is all it does. It just is sudden and you never know when it will pop up

 

If this is really an important issue, you need to back your files up and wipe the whole thing. Top to bottom. Reinstall Windows and load the latest Dell drivers. With Nvidia Optimus based systems, what is being shown on your laptop display is actually coming through the Intel GPU. Optimus drivers, depending on the OEM, are sometimes pretty specific about what system they're designed for. Wipe it. Reinstall the OEM Dell drivers. If the issue persists then it's almost certainly a hardware issue.

With macOS we have something similar to that in a feature. It's an accessibility feature for deaf people. When you get a notification or popup dialog box, or a password prompt... it will flash the screen like a camera flash to notify you. It's very handy in meetings when you have to mute your volume.

 

See if you can find someone who will let you borrow a monitor/tv. It's the easiest way to test if it's software or hardware without wiping everything.

Failing that, I'd try using DDU, reinstall the graphics driver, and if it still does it then do as outlined above to reinstall Windows.