T61p Horizontal Flickering Lines When Playing Video

My problem is best described as a horizontal flashing that occurs in the top part of the screen whenever there is motion in the top part of the video. It occurs within Windows Media Player and in flash videos. I don't have any games installed so I cannot determine if the issue propagates itself there as well. Further, this happens on the internal screen as well as when my laptop outputs via VGA. I would like to know how I diagnose this as a hardware or a software problem so I can determine if I should send it in for repair. I remember there being a large Nvidia recall for GeForce cards, but no recall was ever issued by Lenovo. Also, I am currently running Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit.

 

you can get the T61p repaired free if it is nvidia gpu problem. YOu just need to call Lenovo warranty support in your country

 

Get Furmark and run it to verify that your GPU is stable or not.

 

I ran Furmark for about half an hour. It didn't crash or anything along those lines. System was still responsive. Can't say I noticed the horizontal flickering or flashing but the rotating object was going about at too constant a rate to elicit the effect. My machine also hasn't exhibited the 1 beep, 2 beep problem as discussed on other forums concerning the unstable batch of Nvidia GPUs(yet). Any other tests I should conduct or should I try to do the Furmark one for a longer period of time?

 

there is a chance that it is a LCD problem. which country do you reside in and what model/type number does your T61p have?

 

Possibly. I am in the United States and I am still within the warranty period but it's a hassle nonetheless to have it in for service. But, I believe you're asking for this number - 6459CTO. Also, as I mentioned above, the issue is present when I plug into my TV - the issue is even more evident given it's 46".

 

if it is present on both internal LCD and external LCD, then you are looking at a failing GPU.

 

By changing some settings within the Nvidia Control Panel and turning off PhysX acceleration, the problem went away. Should I still request a replacement anyways since the problem came up?

 

yes, you should, this is a good indication that your GPU is on the way out.