Screen pixelation and artifacts at 10bit colors

[Nabeel56]

Hi,

I bought this HP Omnibook X Flip 16, Core Ultra 9 288V, 2.8k OLED laptop a couple of months ago and immediately upgraded all windows drivers.

Having installed the latest Intel graphics driver, from Intel site, the laptop's screen gets random heavy pixelation and flickering black screen (both in SDR and HDR). Trying to revert to the original Graphics drivers does not solve the problem.

However, using Intel Graphics Software that comes with intel driver, if I turn the color depth down to 8 bits, the screen becomes stable and all is fine (I may get the random odd pixel when HDR is activated).

Does this laptop's display (140V) handle 8-bit and not 10-bit color? or is there something wrong?

[Pallipurath]

Hi @Nabeel56 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query.

Your HP Omnibook X Flip 16’s OLED panel is technically an 8‑bit display with dithering (8‑bit + FRC) rather than a true 10‑bit panel. That’s why forcing 10‑bit color depth in Intel’s driver causes pixelation, flickering, and artifacts. Keeping the color depth at 8‑bit stabilizes the screen and is the correct setting for this hardware.

Set Color Depth to 8‑bit

• Press Windows + S and type Intel Graphics Command Center.
• Open the app and go to Display.
• Look for Color Depth (usually under advanced display settings).
• Change the setting from 10‑bit to 8‑bit.
• Click Apply. 👉 This stabilizes the screen because your OLED panel is 8‑bit + FRC, not native 10‑bit.

Update Drivers

• Go to the HP Support website.
• Enter your model: HP Omnibook X Flip 16, Core Ultra 9 288V.
• Navigate to Drivers & Software.
• Download the HP‑provided Intel Graphics driver (not the generic Intel one).
• Install it, then restart your laptop. 👉 HP customizes drivers for their OLED panels, which prevents mismatched timing issues.

Configure HDR Settings

• Right‑click on the desktop → Display Settings.
• Scroll down to Use HDR and toggle it On if you want HDR.
• Keep Color Depth at 8‑bit in Intel Graphics Command Center. 👉 HDR will work, but since the panel is 8‑bit + FRC, you may see occasional minor pixel artifacts — this is normal.

Firmware/BIOS Update

• Go back to the HP Support site for your model. https://support.hp.com/au-en/products 
• Check under BIOS/Firmware updates.
• Download and install the latest BIOS update.
• Restart your laptop after installation. 👉 These updates often include display timing fixes that reduce flicker and improve stability.

Hope this helps, Please revert if the issue persists.

Take care and have an amazing day!