My laptop display starts flashing under certain conditions. While at first I thought it was just a software issue, I have noticed certain details that suggest it may be related to hardware, but I'm not completely sure.
The laptop is a Lenovo Yoga 710-14IKB running Windows 10 21H1. Most of the time, I have a second monitor connected to the HDMI port for a double screen. The flashing never occurs on the external monitor.
I've not had this problem that long. I can't remember exactly when it started, but it might have been 3 or 4 months ago.
The flashing consists of what ought to be on the display alternating perhaps 3 or 4 times per second (I haven't measured it exactly) with a mostly black screen. Sometimes elements at the top of the screen remain visible on the otherwise black screen. In those cases, there is a blue line that separates the visible top of the screen from the black below.
It occurs mainly with certain web pages in browsers, but I have also had it in the Todoist app and at least one other app. (It may have been the WhatsApp app, but I can't remember for certain.) It only happens with a minority of web pages.
It happens, for instance, with this page, and it has happened in both Chrome and Firefox. I have made sure to disable hardware acceleration in Chrome, but it happens anyway. It usually happens either when I am scrolled to the top of the page in my browser, or to a point a tiny bit below the top of the page. I can't remember it happening when I am scrolled well down a page.
Why I think it might be hardware-related:
The laptop is a Lenovo Yoga 710-14IKB running Windows 10 21H1. Most of the time, I have a second monitor connected to the HDMI port for a double screen. The flashing never occurs on the external monitor.
I've not had this problem that long. I can't remember exactly when it started, but it might have been 3 or 4 months ago.
The flashing consists of what ought to be on the display alternating perhaps 3 or 4 times per second (I haven't measured it exactly) with a mostly black screen. Sometimes elements at the top of the screen remain visible on the otherwise black screen. In those cases, there is a blue line that separates the visible top of the screen from the black below.
It occurs mainly with certain web pages in browsers, but I have also had it in the Todoist app and at least one other app. (It may have been the WhatsApp app, but I can't remember for certain.) It only happens with a minority of web pages.
It happens, for instance, with this page, and it has happened in both Chrome and Firefox. I have made sure to disable hardware acceleration in Chrome, but it happens anyway. It usually happens either when I am scrolled to the top of the page in my browser, or to a point a tiny bit below the top of the page. I can't remember it happening when I am scrolled well down a page.
Why I think it might be hardware-related:
- It doesn't happen consistently. For instance, with the page I linked to above, it happens most of the time, but not always.
- After a bout of flashing, sometimes the top of the display will continue to shimmer a bit before settling down, a bit like the wick of a candle that glows and fades after you have extinguished the candle.
- Sometimes this shimmering happens in the top corners of the display, and there doesn't seem to be a clear line dividing the shimmering areas from the rest of the display.
- For the last couple of weeks, I have started finding that sometimes, when I power up the laptop, the login screen will appear on the external monitor instead of on the laptop display. Unplugging the HDMI cable and then reinserting it sends the login screen back to laptop display. Like the flashing screen, this doesn't happen consistently.
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