XPS 16 screen flickering on low brightness

I have this issue as well among some others all related to the LCD display (RGB LED, 1920x1080).

I notice it only when its on battery (mainly because its on lowest brightness), and I notice some form of flicker while generally using it (e.g. word processing and reading). However, I experience both the flicker type you describe above, and also more of a brightness 'drop out' and the flicker lasts only milliseconds, but it long enough to be annoying.

Other issues with the RGB LED screen I have experienced, are as follows

• The brightness level seems to be 'forgotten' after a Sleep or Hibernate. Instead, the brightness is returned to full on resume. This also occurs after a cold boot on battery.
• The display appears to 'flicker' when on low brightness, and occasionally fade to a blue tinge (based on viewing a white background) then back to the normal colour. Interestingly considering the issue below, its almost as if only the Red LED's decrease in brightness last for example, and the Blue LED's have the tendency to become randomly brighter.
• The colours of the screen (when adjusting brightness) seem to transition down to 'red' then fade back to blue. This is not so much an problem/issue, however just looks a bit strange.

The brightness level on battery is particularly irritating, as I loose battery power whenever resuming from sleep. This is also when using Windows 7; so I can't determine whether it software or hardware. Based on not being able to adjust the brightness through the power settings, I would guess it is hardware controlled, maybe a BIOS issue.

-- Jake

Did you ever get a fix to this?  I just received a Studio XPS 16 with the RGBLED, ATI 4670, and I'm having the same issue - very brief moments of brightness flickering at any setting other than full brightness. 

I actually called support for a replacement and it does the same thing... Frustrating.

VoodooDaddy, did you receive a replacement and the display kept doing the same thing? I am asking because mine has the same problem (received it 2 days ago) and I am thinking about returning the computer and wait until they have a more stable technology on RGD displays (or a better quality control).

It will be painful to return this baby because the colors are just awesome.

FDRXPS -

That's correct - The replacement had the EXACT same symptoms, and the diagnostics showed the exact same problem.  If you hit F12 and go to diagnostics when the boot screen first comes up, wait for the color bars, and answer n(o) to the color bars questions, you're supposed to see flashing colors and hear beeps (according to the Dell Support People on the phone).  I see nothing but black screens on both of my laptops (original and replacement).  I'm sort of wondering if the RGBLED (being a new screen type) just has a different reaction to the test. (When you say 'n' to the color bars, after the beeping is done, I bet you'll get a 2000-0334 error).  If anyone out there has a Studio XPS 16 without the flickering problems, please run the diagnostics as I described and let us know if you see colors AFTER you hit "n" from the color bars test!

Here's something else curious - when the diagnostics are running, you can increase/decrease the brightness using the FN+Up/Down, and maybe it's just me, but I don't see ANY flicker at all while the diagnostics are running - it's almost like the flicker only happens in "graphics mode" for the screen, not "text mode".  Odd.  Another thing I'm wondering is if the BIOS brightness levels (there are BIOS settings for battery/AC power brightness) are somehow interfering with the video card's settings, i.e., competing for settings.  So strange.  I've thought about dumping Vista and installing XP or Win 7 RC, or Linux to see if the flicker goes away - at least that should tell me if it's a software/driver issue, but I have a feeling it's not.

Anyway, I am awaiting a call from a Dell Tech to schedule a house visit for repair/replacement of parts.  I'm not too thrilled about someone tearing apart my new laptop, but the warranty remains intact, so if it fixes the issue, I guess there's not much to complain about... I'll keep this post updated with my findings... If this doesn't fix things, I may just downgrade to the plain old WLCD, which means bye bye blu-ray burner too. 

Fingers crossed...

Update -

Parts were backordered, so the tech has been delayed - I'm supposed to get an update on the status of the parts/tech service sometime today (9.28.09). 

-Voodoo

Hello guys, after 2 hours with the person from tech support installing and reinstalling drivers (24 reboots to be exact) they said it was a defective part and it had to be replaced. The day after that I thought there is no sense on repairing something it is brand new, so I called Dell and I am returning the laptop (now that I read your post vajnorcan I am conviced that it was a wise decision). I will probably try to get a WLED or wait until they have a non-defective RGB display.

Thank you!

now that's what I call patience!! 24x reboot? hats off :)

Update -

The Dell tech came to my house and spent an hour tearing apart my (brand new) laptop to replace the screen, only to find that the screen he brought is an RGBLED with a RED cover, not a black one like I ordered.  I figured, what the hell, if it works, I'll live with the color.  So he gets it bolted on, and hooked up - SAME ISSUE.  The diagnostics are exhibiting the same problems as well.  Only after testing (and after the tech left) did I notice the huge gash in the red leather on the back of the screen.  NICE. 

Dell, are you listening?! 

Obviously there's something wrong with the RGBLED or some other component that causes the brightness wobble/flicker.  Time to send it back.

I like the notebook, so I'm probably going to go with the lower-end screen and dump the BD-RW.  what's the point of a BluRay playing on a screen that can't even display Full HD?  So sad. 

For anyone reading this that hasn't bought the Studio XPS 16, or is having the same problems - don't bother with field replacement - send it back.  The original had issues, the full replacement had issues, and the field-serviced unit continues with the same issues.  Obviously there is a problem with this display.  Time to try out the WLED, I guess.  :-(

-Voodoo

Searched the forum to see if anyone else was having the same issue as me... sounds similar but not the same.

My problem is that sometimes when the PC switches on the screen is fine until i get to windows, where the backlight will flash red,green,blue,white or slowly fade between these colours or simply be totally off. I was wondering if its some sort of driver issue, i'm running win7. Hoping its not a HW issue, but i'll contact dell later if i cant get it sorted with a reinstall. Very annoying on a 3 week old laptop!

Definitely sounds different than what I've experienced... After 2 months of going back and forth with XPS Support, I finally got my entire laptop replaced, and "downgraded" the screen to the WLED Full HD screen (1920x1080, 15.6" edge to edge).  I must say, I'm very content with the color and brightness of this screen.  For work, gaming, and occasional movies, it has performed flawlessly, and to my (unprofessional) eye, the colors seem fairly accurate (maybe a little cool) out of the box. 

All in all, the RGBLED was beautiful when it worked properly - but I found that it appeared "blown out" to me at full brightness, and turning it down to around 60% would result in a flicker that was unbearable to me. The WLED is crisp at full brightness, but its just too bright!  I have it cut back to around 50% for work, and usually around 70% for gaming.

For anyone with their heart set on the Studio XPS 16, I'd highly recommend the laptop overall - I love mine! - but would advise that you look at the WLED option if you want full HD as of the date of this post.  I'm sure it's something that will be ironed out, but for now, go with what works...

Good luck!

-Voodoo

Thanks for the info voodoo- my problem seems intermittant. I turned the machine on last night and it booted fine, no problems what so ever. I used it for around 4hours, some web browsing, played a game and watched 2 hours of tv on iplayer and the screen didnt miss a beat. I dont have any flicker on my screen at any brightness level- however my girlfriend has a studio 15 (1366x768 res) and her backlight flickers all the time, shes thinking of sending the machine back.

I'm at a bit of a loss what to do with mine, I will wait and see if the problem reoccurs.

Intel Core 2 Duo P8800 (3MB cache/2.66GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
ATI Mobility RADEON™ HD 4670 – 1GB
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Edge-to-Edge FullHD Widescreen 16.0 inch RGBLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP

Same deal here. New computer. Noticed a slight flicker but wasn't too concerned until I played with it more. I then had an issue where it wouldn't power off correctly which lead to it having to have the battery pulled to power up. Long story short...new motherboard.....fixed power on/off issue....flicker worse than ever. Read several blogs about a potential issue with the RGB LED technology.

Sent back for refund. Not sure if I am going to order the same computer without the RGB LED monitor......

I received my XPS 16 with the RGB screen two weeks ago, love it, but am experiencing a weird issue too.

It doesn't flicker per se, but when viewing a bright white screen, it shifts in color tone.  It's usually a bluish white, but will shift to a pinkish white while typing and then back to bluish.

As a matter of fact, it's doing it right now while typing this.

Is this the same problem you all are writing about?

I had a nice chat with Dell technical today and they're sending a repair guy on Monday to replace the screen.

It's incredibly distracting and I figure that for what we spent on these (otherwise awesome!) machines, the thing should be 100% perfect.

My question: is there some sort of sensor that automatically adjusts the picture quality the same way that some televisions adjust to low light/bright light? 

If so, is there a way to turn it off?

The flicker that I experienced didn't last longer enough for my eye to tell if there was a shift in color - it just looked to me like a shift in brightness.  My screen's flicker was literally probably 1/10th of a second - very fast, but distracting enough (and frequent enough) to force me to get a different screen. 

I did notice a color shift when the brightness was raised or lowered, and if the screen suddenly went from dark to light or light to dark - it always seemed like the red LEDs were just a little behind the others, because when the screen went from dark to light, the color pushed a little bluish or blue-green, and when it went from light to dark, there seemed to be a little residual pinkness.  Odd, but not really enough for me to be concerned with because the maddening flicker on mine was so distracting that it was hard to evaluate any other potential issues. 

To describe the "flicker" I saw - if you are running your laptop on AC power, then unplug it, there is a tiny flicker while power switches to the battery (even if your brightness is set to the same value in power options for AC and Battery).  That flicker in itself is normal while unplugging power, but it was happening to me all the time - on AC power, on battery, etc. - anytime when the brightness was under 70% or so.  Full brightness "fixed" the flicker, but it also seared my retinas in a dim room or at night, so it wasn't the ideal "solution". 

I went through 2 brand new laptops, and a tech-serviced screen on the 2nd laptop without resolving the issue - So I "downgraded" to the LCD or WLED or whatever it's called (the non-RGBLED one that is Full HD).  Hardly a downgrade, since the color is beautiful, the brightness is more than adequate, and in my opinion, it looks better than the RGBLED looked at 100% brightness in a light environment.  The RGBLED at 100% looked "blown out" to me - when light and dark areas were next to each other (text, graphics, anything), the edges looked fuzzy and bleeding.  Nothing like that on the WLED (although I typically run at 60-70% brightness to avoid eye strain).

Good luck with your servicing - I hope the screen replacement fixes your issue... but if not, I would bet that you'd be just as happy with the WLED!!

Let us know how it goes!

-Voodoo