Laptop screen issue

I have a Clevo P650RA laptop with an intermittent serious screen issue.

I upgraded a broken 60Hz screen with a 144hz screen last July, and the issue I have was present then and I mentioned it in a post at the time ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/clevo-bios-update.829799). I have an Intel 530HD GPU and a discrete NVidia 980M GPU and using Win10.

The issue is that sometimes when maximising a window, or opening a certain webpage, or sometimes moving my laptop or adjusting the screen position, the screen does something like this;



Usually you can see the desktop at first but it looks like the VSync is completely wrong, and the it gets so much worse that you cannot make out any of the windows or icons on the desktop, like the frequency sync is getting faster..

I've lived with it and I can usually get around the issue when it happens; sometimes pressing the "minimise to destop" button in the bottom right will refresh the screen and clear the issue, sometimes CTRL+Alt+DEL will clear the issue, and most often just restarting Windows will clear the issue. At the most extreme I can clear the issue by connecting a TV to the 2nd display connection and change the resolution or Hz of Display 1.

The issue does not show in the BIOS info screen or when Windows loads to the login screen, if it's going to happen on start up then it will start after I enter my login password and Desktop boots.


I have never been able to get to the cause of this problem or fix it, but currently I'm stuck with the issue and no way of clearing it. Right now I can only use the laptop screen Display 1 by connecting the 2nd display to a TV and selecting "Duplicate Displays" which clears the issue on Display 1 iimediately (I assume because it's using the NVidia GPU for Display 1 at that time?). If I select "PC screen only" or "Extend displays" then the laptop screen has this issue now.

I believe it is likely a Windows issue when using the Intel 530HD GPU, and it may be something to do with the frequency or resolution. Is there a way to force the NVidia GPU to be used for everything and ignore the Intel GPU?

Or could it be something else causing this? I don't think it is a faulty EDP cable from the laptop to the screen as I cannot force this issue or fix it by manipulating that cable or connector. It seems to be software driven seeing as I can clear the issue just by restarting Windows usually.

I'm well aware that it's likely a faulty or conflicting monitor or a faulty Intel GPU, but if I can force the NVidia to be the primary GPU then I believe this issue won't happen. It has never happened when playing any game using the NVidia GPU, I played a game today for hours this afternoon and this issue only started later when I was browsing the internet.

Thanks, especially if you can figure out this problem.

 

Well, I'm hoping that someone can explain this.

My screen was flickering no matter what I did to try and clear it for an hour so I removed the laptop battery and powered the laptop only by the mains and the flickering screen issue was fixed on first boot.

So how is my battery linked to Windows to affect the screen settings/drivers/anything?

 

I know! I know! It powers it up!

 

So the battery is still disconnected and the screen had that same issue just now while I was watching a YouTube video. I put the laptop to sleep, woke it up and the issue had cleared.

I've used my laptop all day and it had been turned on for nearly 24 hours before this happened.

Anyone got any clue why this is happening?

(Is this the correction section of this forum to ask for this help? If not can a mod move it to the correct section please.)

 

Interesting issue. Probably has something to do with the Intel integrated graphics driver or a corrupted Registry. Have you tried disabling the Intel HD Graphics in Device Manager so Windows cannot use it? Force using only NVIDIA GPU?

You could try deleting all of the display related Registry keys in CurrentControlSet and rebooting to force Windows to recreate them. Windows may be trying to use the EDID stored in the Registry from the 60Hz panel.

Have you tried a clean install of Windows? That might be the easiest solution rather than wasting time trying to find and fix the issue.

It definitely sounds like a software issue. If an OS reinstall does not fix it then it may be hardware related.

 

Thanks, I'll try this tomorrow. Which registry directory is the control set for the display you mentioned?

If I disable the Intel GPU in Device Manager will everything just automatically use the nVidia? I don't want to turn off the Intel GPU and not be able to see and use Windows to enable it again if it doesn't use the nVidia.

I haven't tried a clean install of Windows yet and I'm currently in isolation and don't want to put my laptop into a state I cannot recover from without decent internet, so I'm going about this slowly.


After living with this issue for a long time, I'd say it's either a faulty;

Monitor (possible as this issue started the day I installed the new monitor, bought from eBay.com and shipped to UK)

Corrupt Windows (possible because a simple sleep and wake will clear the issue)

Intel GPU or a conflict with this 144Hz monitor in any frequency or resolution (possible as I never get the issue when using the nVidia, I play games all day and never once since the beginning has this happened on the nVidia)

EDP cable (possible but unlikely as I cannot force the issue manually)


One thing to note is a couple of times I have had that screen flicker when the issue happened in Window and I restarting the laptop and went into the BIOS setup screen. I don't know if that eliminates a corrupt Windows as the sole suspect(?).

If I knew it was definitely the monitor then I would buy a new 60Hz monitor and be done with this issue. What I don't want to happen is to find this issue pops up on a new monitor.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

Incidentally, when I emailed the company that sold me the monitor they said that a BIOS update should clear the issue.

I have never been able to find the updated BIOS file and nobody from Clevo or PC Specialist has ever answered me about it either.

 

You should find "monitor" information under:
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers

Should be able to delete InternalMonEdid and MonitorDataStore keys. You may find both old and new laptop displays listed there, along with any external monitors or TV sets you connected in the past.

 

I have only this;

 

I found this root with several configs in it. My newer display is the BOE

 

I'd try deleting all of the displays present in the "Configuration" key and the "InternalMonEdid" key, then reboot to force Windows to rebuild a new key with only your current display and see what it shows. Then wait to see if the issue resurfaces again.

 

OK, I'd backup the registry/create a restore etc tomorrow and do this.

Just to clarify, you mean to delete each folder under Configuration and InternalMonEdid, is that correct?

 

Yes, that is correct. When I was having issues with laptop LCD panel EDID corruption back in 2015 I deleted them and rebooted, forcing Windows to rebuild them.

 

I finally chanced deleting those registry directories and let Windows10 rebuild them. I still get that screen issue but not as often and for some reason if I hit Esc a few times it usually clears the fault. It never did that before.

Again, this still only happens on the internal Intel GPU. I can game all day on the nVidia GPU and never had that screen sync issue happen ever.

Also, I now get that screen issue occasionally in the BIOS POST for a second or 2.

So, I don't know if I had two issues, 1 being corrupt Windows settings and 2 being a hardware issue with the interconnect from the GPU to the screen or something conflicting or faulty with the Intel GPU.

What I've always thought it is is something with the EDP cable not being the correct type for my monitor, as in it is using a wrong pin or it doesn't have enough pins for something to do with the frequency or certain features for the screen and that's why it sets off this issue. But then why does it work fine with my nVidia GPU card as they both use the same EDP cable from the motherboard to the screen?

I daren't disable the Intel GPU at this point as I am stuck in quarantine and getting locked out of displaying Windows and rendering my laptop useless would be a disaster at the moment.

So I assume it is a hardware issue with my Intel GPU and the screen. If I could turn off the Intel GPU in the BIOS I think it would fix this issue but that doesn't seem possible.

 

That is interesting about pressing the Escape key. Once you figure out the exact cause, please share that and the solution. It is a strange problem.

 

Does it go away if you move your display?
I would tear it all down and re-connect the eDP cable and see if it helps.

 

Actually, the screen issue happened several times this afternoon and it appears to resolve itself after a few seconds now, I thought it was me pressing the Esc key. If it doesn't resolve after a few seconds then putting the laptop to sleep and waking back up again usually clears the issue.

So it's like the screen is losing sync and sleeping Windows resets the sync. I also now can't seem to be able to put Windows into 144Hz mode anymore without it causing this issue until I revert back to 60Hz.

I bet the solution is going to be buying another screen which is the same model as the original screen that came with the laptop before I upgraded it.

 

No, if it loses sync (or whatever is causing the issue) then it doesn't matter how I move or knock the screen, that has never fixed it. However, occasionally moving the screen or accidentally knocking the laptop has caused the issue many times.

I've tore down the screen many times and made sure that EDP cable is seated properly. Manipulating it never causes or resolves this issue.

 

Do you still have the original screen you can install for testing? If you do and putting back the original LCD panel fixes the problem, then you know for sure the screen is defective.

Never mind. You answered that question above already in the first post.

Are you certain that Intel HD 530 supports more than 60Hz refresh rate over its internal display output? Perhaps that is the problem? Do you have a 6700HQ CPU?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...6700hq-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-50-ghz.html

If the HD 530 supports it, then my other thoughts are, does Clevo support it?

Was this model available from the factory with 144Hz? If so, are you on the same BIOS as when you had the 60Hz panel? I ask because sometimes you need a BIOS update to support a different screen refresh rate for the internal display and if you install a different brand and model number than what was available from the factory you may need a BIOS update, even if the BIOS you have now supports 144Hz using a different panel part number.

If it came with 144Hz as a factory option, is the panel you installed exactly the same model as the original factory 144Hz option? What is the exact brand and model number of the screen you installed?

 

Very certain its a windows issue. My screen occasionally goes down to 60hz, even though windows says its at 144hz. Interestingly, games on fullscreen mode with vsync on show it to be correctly what it is at. I additionally have this happening after the screen turn off for power saving:


it goes away like ash once I put a curser over it or minimize. Not sure if its related to what your issue is, but seems like it.

 

While I have never seen that issue, I will build upon what you have said about the screen feeling like it's at 60Hz even though Windows is saying 144hz. I had this issue on my Eurocom Tornado F5 after I had upgraded to a 120Hz AUO panel before a BIOS update was made available to add full compatibility. Windows would say 120Hz, but it definitely was going back to 60Hz randomly while gaming and you could feel it/see it.

My workaround which 100% prevented/fixed the issue was to download CRU, run it as admin, and find your active displays. Delete all non active display profiles. Then go to the active profile and delete all resolutions except the 120Hz or 144Hz profile. Reboot and ensure they got deleted. This should prevent the screen from being able to ever go back down to 60Hz. You will need to do this each time your reinstall your driver. While it's not necessary for me anymore, I still tend to do this on both my laptop and desktop anyways to ensure my monitor is always running with the proper profile and making sure Window's isn't doing some weird stuff in the background without my say so.

 

I asked Brother @Prema what he thought.

Apparently 60Hz is what your system is made to support. The high refresh rate laptop screens were rare back in 2015 and most laptops were not designed to accommodate them.

Apparently it was not. Seems like I can remember only a few models that were made to support 120Hz and there were very few 120Hz panels that existed back then. Those that did exist were driven by a GeForce GPU and not supported by Intel integrated graphics or Optimus.

 

if I recall correctly, someone here posted a similar issue, and the cure was literally just to lower brightness rgb values: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...black-screen-mystery-rgb-color-values.831879/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...inding-the-the-boe-nv156fhm-n4b.827021/page-5

 

Thanks for the replies. For some reason I didnt get a notification about them.

My laptop is a 6700HQ, however it seems to run 144Hz ok on the Intel GPU most of the time.

I've read that other thread and I've now adjusted my RGB values under Colour Mangement within the Display Adpator Properties window. I lowered each of them by 6 notches. Each RGB slider had 50 notches each so I assume my RGB values are now set to 225 each. I saved this as a default profile. Is this the correct procedure?

The seller of this 144Hz BOE display said he'd seen this issue before and it's usually caused by the BIOS needing to be updated but I could never find the updated bios for my laptop. PC Specialist and Clevo neither replied to me about it.

My laptop is a Clevo R650RA. If anyone knows where to get an official updated BIOS than the 2015 version I have then I'd love to try updating it.

Thank you.

 

Well, I don't want to jinx it, but since I adjusted the RGB values, installed CRU, installed Intel Graphics Card Center and re-seated the eDP cable on the motherboard all at the same time I haven't seen that screen issue in over 1 month!

Thanks to all for the help. I'll be back if the issue re-surfaces immediately after this post.

 

Hey sorry I didn't get back sooner on this and what you said in your other thread. Does the issue return if you go back to the default ICC profile?

Your LP156WF6 and NV156FHM-N4B datasheets specs appear relatively similar except for a few things. The eDP pinouts on the display side are the same, though the motherboard eDP output and firmware and/or the cable may not be 100% correct for the BOE. Could be the pair-soldered LED power pins like in my HP's eDP cable that causes my black screen issue, or something else.

You did mention the BOE's brightness is higher, but at first that looked strange because both data sheets show 255-300 cd/m^2. The BOE's backlight does use about 1w less power, so it could be that the motherboard is outputting a higher voltage for the backlight because it expects the higher power usage of the original LG display. The voltage parameters for the LED operation is slightly different: 5.5/12/21 for the LG and 5/12/21 for the BOE. The BOE does use 1w more overal power than the LG, BOE 6.58w vs LG 5.4w.

The LG display uses 6-bit color while the BOE uses 8-bit. I don't think that would be a problem as long as the motherboard output and cable utilize both lanes (both data pairs) and both display datasheets show both data lanes being used. But I guess it is possible that that a motherboard firmware issue could be causing artifacting or other issues due to the this color bit difference.

I can also report in my case that I've finally seen a screen bug that isn't the black screen bug, rather artifacts. I was using this display test website, and the phase test caused slight artifacts on areas outside of the browser window. So no black screen, but an error that is certainly related to the incompatibility with the BOE and my HP laptop.