XPS 15 9530 screen flicker

Question

Every 5-60 seconds, the screen will flicker on this 2 week old laptop. It shows on the bottom of the screen most frequently (approx. bottom third). The screen just goes black for a half second then comes back normally. I have up-to-date drivers for intel (HD4600) and NVidia (GT 750M) at the time of this post. This just started happening this morning. I have not touched the drivers since the 335.23 update. I have tried rebooting a couple of times without success. Anyone else having such an issue?

wiseman_ · Accepted Answer

I had the same problem. I know it's sounds weird but disabling the Intel driver from Device Manager solved the problem.

DELL-Nat M · Answer

Workaround for Monitor Flickering Issues 1. Update Intel Graphics Driver: Update to Intel Graphics driver version 31.0.101.4953, A04. This update fixes issues with external monitors flickering and may improve symptoms with the internal display. To download and install the driver, refer to the guide on 'How to Download and Install Dell Drivers.' 2. Disable Panel Self Refresh (PSR): Open the Intel Graphics Command Center application. On the left panel, go to System. On the top row, select Power. Disable the Panel Self Refresh (PSR) under On Battery (see Figure 1). Disable the PSR under Plugged In (see Figure 2). Close the Intel Graphics Command Center application. This should resolve the problem. 3. Disable Display Stream Compression (DSC) if PSR Disabling Doesn't Work: Refer to the guide on 'How to Enable Display Stream Compression on Latitude, Precision, and XPS.' In the registry, at step 11, change the value to 1 (see Figure 3) and click OK. Restart the computer to disable the DSC feature. Display Stream Compression Modes Explained: '0' enables DSC all the time. '1' disables DSC all the time. '2' enables DSC when attached to a DSC MST monitor or disables otherwise. Important Notes: Impact of Disabling Display Stream Compression (DSC): Disabling DSC may limit video output bandwidth. If using multiple 4K external monitors connected via a dock or using the Multi-Stream Transport (MST) protocol, video output might be limited. Users can change these settings anytime in the Windows registry and restart the computer to apply the changes. For example, with two 4K monitors, one monitor might have a limited refresh rate of 30 Hz or a reduced resolution of 2K instead of 4K. Disabling DSC Manually or Using Batch Scripts: For step 3, disabling DSC can be done manually or with batch scripts. Ensure to use the correct batch file and change the extension from .txt to .bat to run the file: To disable DSC, use the file: 0516_DSC Setting change to 1_int.txt To revert to default DSC settings, use the file: 0516_DSC Setting change to 2_int.txt

Ostrich Egg · Answer

Yes, I've been having this identical problem. I've reinstalled Windows, upgraded and downgraded drivers for both video drivers, updated the touchscreen firmware, updated the BIOS. Nothing. I'm probably going to have to get it serviced, and it wouldn't surprise me if they have to replace the motherboard.

Ken PC · Answer

A long shot, but,, I just had a display problem on a Dell 15z (no, not the 9530 I know) but, the display would go quite 'fuzzy', nearly unreadable, then 'come back' to normal. It seemed to occur at random times, but also seemed to be correlated to using either a BT or USB mouse after it sat idle for a few minutes. The unit was upgraded to a 7260AC wireless card some time ago, and after a string of attempts to fix the display problem, it was changed back to the original 6230N wireless card - and the display no longer went 'weird'! I don't think it is a 7260/6230 problem since the computer worked well for months with the 7260 card. But it might be a wireless card that went bad. How it affects the display I don't understand, but changing the wireless card did 'fix' the display erratic behavior. Before that, I had changed out the RAM, the SSD, and the battery, but all those had no effect. You could try perhaps disabling the 7260AC wireless card for a while via device manager and see if the display problem changes.

Ken PC · Answer

UPDATE>....... I swapped out the wireless card, and the 15z worked find for a few days and I thought I found the culprit. But then, the flickering screen re-appeared...... It is NOT the wireless card that is the culprit causing the screen flicker.

JasonF14 · Answer

I have had a similar problem since purchasing the XPS 15-9530. I have installed windows 7. This lead to issues about clarity and size of text when using the native display 3200X1800. So I set the display to 2048X1152.

When I get flicker I reset the resolution back to 3200x1800 and then back to 2048x1152. This fixes the flicker. But it is a pain to do. I usually have to do it after a restart or a resume.

Ostrich Egg · Answer

I got the laptop serviced and Dell replaced the motherboard and monitor. That fixed the problem.

npogaku · Answer

Thanks Wiseman, it worked for me too. Nag

JWHXPS · Answer

New XPS 15 flickering.  Fixed it by disabling FATrayMon from Sensible Vision.  Flicker disappeared immediately and did not return!

JasonF14 · Answer

This is good news. Can you tell me how to disable FATrayMon from Sensible Vision? Cheers.

H-I · Answer

There is a better solution found here:

The issue might have to do with adaptive refresh

Right click on desktop.
Go to graphic properties.
Go to the Power tab under Intel HD graphics Control panel.
Select the On Battery tab at the top.
Disable Panel Self-Refresh.

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XPS 15 9530 screen flicker

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