Spectre x360 with Intel 520 display problems - screen corruption - driver is too old!!

[Angelog]

I have the i7 gen 6 Spectrex360 model N1R86UA#ABA with the Intel 520 HD display chip.

The current driver on HP Support as well as thru the HP Support Assistant App  is dated 1-25-2016. 

This driver is WAY TOO OLD!

Firefox and other browsers and some software are turning off features such as H.264 decoding and other items because it is out of date.  For instance, in Firefox using the out-dated 1-25-16 driver, I had to turn off hardware acceleration to stop the screen from being corrupted. 

I updated the driver by simply going into Control Panel, opening Device Manager,  selecting the graphics chip, and selecting "update driver" from the internet.  This process updated the graphics driver to what is considered the 'anniversary release' from Intel dated 9-23-2016 (current Win 10 driver).

If you open up firefox, in the menu select the "?" and then "troubleshooting information" you will get a report as shown below (shown with updated driver).   You will notice in the first section, everything seems fine and enabled.

If you use the HP supplied driver (nearly 1 year old now) it will show you most features have an issue.

Updating to the latest driver really improved my performance.  This is especially true when playing video as with the old driver, the video playback features of the 520 chip was being turned off and thus video decoding was bring done by the processor .. very hot .. very short battery life.

HP .. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR APPROVED DISPLAY DRIVER TO THE INTEL LATEST!!!!

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Angelog,

At the outset, I really wish to thank you for sharing this information with the community to help others. That was super generous of you. I am glad that technical specialists like you are working to make this a better community to help others by exchanging ideas and sharing information that is really helpful for several others.

It has been an absolute privilege to share this platform with you as you are technically competent and also brilliant.:) If you liked my reply to your post please give me a kudos by pressing the  thumbs up button. 😉

Take care now and have a fabulous week ahead. 🙂

[Angelog · Accepted solution]

David,

It would be beneficial to everyone if you can verify that HP engineering has been made aware of this issue and that they are going to update the driver that HP specifies as the "latest HP approved" on their support page for the Spectre's with the HD520 chip.

As it is now, if you click the HP Support Assistant app and check for updated software and drivers, it doesn't suggest that you update.

Also, I have an open tech call with an HP support specialist.  I spent about 1 hour on the phone with them as they remote-controlled into my computer  .. reinstalling Firefox .. and trying different things.  Once he saw that I had the latest driver that was on HP's website, he didn't go any further.

Updating the Video Driver from within Device Manager was completely my own idea ..

HP Support needs a bulliten about this issue so that they don't waste hours of other people's time running down rabbit holes.

Angelo

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Angelog,

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. 

They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. 
Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. 

Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum. To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help.

Take care now and have a splendid week ahead. 🙂

[MatrixRaven]

Hallelujah! This fixed it for me.

Thank you so much! I'm no longer feeling like my sleek new ultrabook is second rate! I can use Firefox Developer Edition without worry.

If I could give you more than one thumbs up, I would.