Question Toshiba Satellite L50-C-22L flickering

[nrf77]

Hi,

I have a Toshiba Satellite L50-C-22L. Its screen started flickering (i.e. screen temporarily turning off and on again), both with a fixed hinge angle and while moving the hinge.

As the screen had an old crack I got the screen replaced by a laptop repair firm. After replacement of the screen the screen wouldn't flicker while moving the hinge but it would still flicker.

The flicker does not seem to be related to whether the laptop is running off the battery or off the power cord and seems to happen when there are blips of CPU activity (see the video below as an example, where a Java update notification came up and the screen started flickering).

View: https/youtu.be/Bx3gcNwrWnc


The flicker also happens when a new USB stick or external device (mouse, keyboard etc) gets plugged in, again confirming the relationship with the CPU activity.

The laptop repair firm is convinced it is not a hardware problem and has tried different Toshiba drivers to check compatibility with the latest Windows 10 updates, and in their view the firms has minimized the flicker, but the flicker is indeed still happening.

When the laptop is starting up I also see color dots on the black background. See following video:

View: https/youtu.be/0iPa9ic0JK4

These go once the laptop is up and running.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[hang-the-9]

Heat issues, RAM issues, video chipset failing will cause flicker if the screen and connector are fine. Try different RAM.
That seems to be a system with a 5th gen CPU, you may want to think about costs to repair it vs just replacing it even with a used fully working one.

 

[nrf77]

Thanks hang-the-9.

I have also tried to connect to an external display via HDMI and the external display does not show any issue.

Uninstalling the Intel display driver I get the flicker less frequently but still there... and same for the dots. The latest Intel driver makes the display basically unusable due to the constant flicker.

I will try a new RAM. I understand the cost implication when taking into account the screen repair cost, the RAM cost and the laptop repair firm cost, but the laptop is almost as new and used just for internet browsing and video calls so would be a shame to just chuck it in the bin. I am still at less than half the price of the original laptop when summing the cost sustained up to now.

 

[hang-the-9]

Thanks hang-the-9.

I have also tried to connect to an external display via HDMI and the external display does not show any issue.

Uninstalling the Intel display driver I get the flicker less frequently but still there... and same for the dots. The latest Intel driver makes the display basically unusable due to the constant flicker.

I will try a new RAM. I understand the cost implication when taking into account the screen repair cost, the RAM cost and the laptop repair firm cost, but the laptop is almost as new and used just for internet browsing and video calls so would be a shame to just chuck it in the bin. I am still at less than half the price of the original laptop when summing the cost sustained up to now.

Yes but that half the price of the system originally is as much or more than a working used one.

 

[nrf77]

Brand new 8GB RAM installed and no difference. With hindsight, there was no issue when using an external monitor, maybe pointing indeed a driver/software issue.

Any more suggestions?