Spectre x360 - External monitor has intermittent flicker/fuzziness

[Joe185]

I recently purchased an HP Spectre x360 for use at my office and have had a display issue when connecting it to an external monitor via a usb-c to HDMI connection.

Often after first starting up the laptop the external monitor will display with a flickery distortion making it impossible to read any text on the screen. disconnecting and reconnecting the display cable will sometimes resolve it temporarily but it starts again after a few hours.

Things I have tried so far:

1. Restarting Computer
   • Did this in-between every other thing I tried, problem persists
2. Different cords/monitors
   • I have tried 2 different hdmi cables, 2 different usb-c to hdmi converters and 2 different monitors with the laptop in every combination and the problem still happens. The monitors and cables have no issues with other laptops.
3. Updated drivers
   • At first the flicker happened all the time but I tried using the built in "update drivers" option in windows it now happens only intermittently. I have also tried installing the latest drivers from both the HP website, and the Intel website. for both of these, the flickering stopped as soon as the new driver was installed, but started again the next day.
4. Disabling panel self refresh
   • I heard that this can cause some issues with flickering so I tried disabling it, and the problem seemed to go away, but returned the next day.

Any ideas or suggestions for fixing this would be appreciated.

here is some of the system information if it is helpful

Spoiler

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise

Version: 10.0.19041 Build 19041

System Manufacturer: HP

System Model: HP Spectre x360 Convertible 13-aw0xxx

System Type: x64-based PC

System SKU: 7YZ47UA#ABL

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1035G4 CPU @ 1.10GHz, 1498 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date: AMI F.13, 2020-03-02

SMBIOS Version: 3.2

Embedded Controller Version 87.46

BIOS Mode: UEFI

BaseBoard Manufacturer: HP

BaseBoard Product: 86F9

BaseBoard Version: 87.46

Platform Role: Mobile

Secure Boot State: Off

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.1"

Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB

Total Physical Memory: 7.75 GB

Available Physical Memory: 4.80 GB

Total Virtual Memory: 9.00 GB

Available Virtual Memory: 5.99 GB

Page File Space: 1.25 GB

Page File: C:\pagefile.sys

Kernel DMA Protection: On

Virtualization-based security: Not enabled

Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes

Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions: Yes

Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware: Yes

Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection: Yes

Display
Name: Intel(R) Iris(R) Plus Graphics

PNP Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_8A5A&SUBSYS_86F9103C&REV_07\3&11583659&0&10

Adapter Type: Intel(R) Iris(R) Graphics Family, Intel Corporation compatible

Adapter: Description Intel(R) Iris(R) Plus Graphics

Adapter: RAM 1.00 GB (1,073,741,824 bytes)

Installed Drivers: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\iigd_dch.inf_amd64_b57a83a6990c9a72\igdumdim64.dll,C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\iigd_dch.inf_amd64_b57a83a6990c9a72\igd10iumd64.dll,C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\iigd_dch.inf_amd64_b57a83a6990c9a72\igd10iumd64.dll,C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\iigd_dch.inf_amd64_b57a83a6990c9a72\igd12umd64.dll

Driver Version: 27.20.100.8476

INF File: oem70.inf (iICLD_w10_DS_N section)

Color Planes: Not Available

Color Table Entries: 4294967296

Resolution: 1920 x 1080 x 60 hertz

Bits/Pixel: 32

Memory Address: 0x3C000000-0x3CFFFFFF

Memory Address: 0x0000-0xFFFFFFF

I/O Port: 0x00003000-0x0000303F

IRQ Channel: IRQ 4294967261

Driver :C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERSTORE\FILEREPOSITORY\IIGD_DCH.INF_AMD64_B57A83A6990C9A72\IGDKMDN64.SYS (27.20.100.8476, 25.29 MB (26,519,392 bytes), 2020-07-28 9:52 AM)

[Riddle_Decipher]

@Joe185 Here's the specifications of your USB Ports:

• 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C™ with Thunderbolt™ 3 (40 Gb/s signaling rate, Power Delivery 3.0, DisplayPort™ 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge); - ONLY THIS SUPPORTS VIDEO CONVERSION
• 1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (HP Sleep and Charge)

Ensure the correct USB port is being used, and go through this article to check the alt mode: click here

And check if the flickers appear when connected to an alternate device.

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Keep us posted,

If you would like to thank us for our efforts to help you, 

Give us a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below, followed by clicking on the "Accept as solution" on this post, 

Have a great day!

[Joe185]

Hi, thanks for replying.

I am using a USB-C to HDMI adapter to connect to the monitor so I am using the Type-C port as you suggested.

I have tried the computer with several monitors and the flickers appear on all of them.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@Joe185 If the issue occurs on alternate monitors as well, there could be an issue with either the system board or the graphics card and I suggest we run a test to identify the issue:

Install the latest version of the HP Hardware diagnostics (UEFI) on your device using this link: Click here for details

• Hold the power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.
• Turn on the computer and immediately press Esc repeatedly, about once every second. When the menu appears, press the F2 key.
• On the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics (UEFI) main menu, click System Tests.
• Click Extensive Test.
• Click Run once, or Loop until error.
• While the test is running, the time remaining and test result for each component display on the screen.

If a component fails a test, write down the failure ID (24-digit code) for when you respond back to us.

[Joe185]

Thanks for this feedback.

I may have solved the issue by using a different kind of adapter.

I bought a usb3->hdmi converter and so far it seems to be working.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00NQCFXGA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The issue shows up somewhat irregularly so if it does end up coming back I will be sure to try out your suggestion and let you know how it works.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@Joe185 That's awesome, please take your time and get back to us with the results.