Screen Flicker - Response from HTC

OK guys, the more that's reported, especially the intermittent nature of the problems, the more I'm convinced the issue is Teg3 related.

I followed the Asus Prime's launch from the beginning and it had very similar issues that all turned out to be either code or drivers related to Teg3. It took Asus/Nvidia four updates to finally stabilize everything.

The One XL is out now and even though there aren't a lot in people's hand you'd think this would have popped up on at least one if it was common to the One X family. The One XL has a different SoC, kernel, and graphics drivers than the international version while I'm assuming the majority of the rest of the s/w is the same. So as long as it's unaffected you can draw the conclusion that the international version's issues are either Teg3 h/w or related s/w.

The good news is that the majority of issues were eventually resolved on the Prime. But just like Asus, HTC is dependent on Nvidia to identify, isolate, and release new code to correct the issues because their s/w and drivers are proprietary. Having two companies involved is certainly not going to speed up the process. Just like the One X, not every Prime had the issue(s). And when early updates were released devices that were fine suddenly had problems and devices that were broken were fixed. No one from Asus or Nvidia ever explained why devices with identical h/w and s/w behaved differently. My guess is that there are unforeseen variances between individual Teg3 chips and the s/w adjustments were made to enable the s/w to account for them. So while this isn't an answer or a fix hopefully it helps better frame the problem.

I snipped some posts from the Prime forum so you can see that a theme similar to what we're experiencing exists. The first couple are from an Asus manager that participates in the Prime forum.

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3/22/2012 Update –

The next firmware update is in qualification testing now. We are also working on solving some flickering problems reported by a few users and hopefully that will be addressed in this next release.
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4/2/2012 Update -

In addition, I have gathered additional details from a few users who are seeing locks or weirdness after playing a Tegra 3 optimized game after a few hours. I will be in California next week to work with NVIDIA and Google on this problem.
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2/1/12 Update - We received new code from NVIDIA today and are in the process of testing it. If this code is acceptable and provides a solution to the lock/reboot problem after the ICS update, we will release it in beta form for additional testing
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2/7/12 Update - We received another new code update from NVIDIA for testing today. Hopefully we will be able to release a beta patch or OTA update shortly. I will have an update after testing is completed tomorrow.
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THE INITIAL ANDROID 4.0 UPDATE (BUILD 9.4.2.11) CAUSES FREEZES/REBOOTS FOR SOME. BUILD 9.4.2.13 FIXED THIS, BUT INTRODUCED A NEW BATTERY DRAIN ISSUE FOR SOME OTHERS. A FIX IS EXPECTED VERY SOON.

it is now believed that bugs in nvidia's tegra3 video drivers were the cause of freezes and reboots that some experienced after making the initial ICS update (build 9.4.2.11).

asus shipped new drivers with build 9.4.2.13 on 2/8/12 that fixed these issues, but a new battery drain issue was introduced that affects some others. this battery drain has been referred to as the "sleep of death"

asus confirmed on 2/14/12 that a fix has been developed for the battery drain and should be released within a week
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I went 36 hours after the initial ICS update without a problem and then a sudden reboot. I then had no issues for another day of normal use. Then a reboot. No pattern at all and definitely not when playing games when the CPU/GPU was being stressed. So not a thermal issue. This reeks memory issue whether the storage or ram and could be bad code or bad memory.
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Wondering if any one else has had this issue. The left edge developed a series of blocks that would disappear when I touch he screen, and then reappear when I stopped touching the screen.. The issue persisted into app browser, but reappeared while playing a video in mx player.. It appeared again after I quit mx.
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I took screenshots, via the app switcher button throughout, and I can see the corruption in the shots, and so I suspect its a software issue and not something in the display itself. Screenshots will follow once I compression them a bit.
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Today I was playing zen pinball and i pressed hardly for the right flipper and this screen flickering again. Starting with the bezel when I apply pressure to the right bottom part of the tab the screen flickers into white. I don't think it is a common issue.
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I find I can replicate screen flickering just by tapping the recent items button after having a dozen apps/pages stored there. A reboot fixes it but it comes back later.

I just can't see how it can be hardware...

Mine is flickering at times too.It seems like just about every device that is out there is doing it. I still think its software based, and probably a setting to do with the LCD display. If its hardware then HTC are going to run out of phones...

Oh i see, my serial starts HT24

saih said:

You are getting me a little worried about this flickering.
When I check the brightness adjust screen (at 100%) the grey area around the box has a tiny tiny little flickering - as in it seems like the brightness dims a little and turns the brightness up very little 1-2 times a sec, but it is nothing I notice during usage, only at this particularity place when I look for it. It is from HT23 batch.

It it this you are talking about, or is it much more visible?

And well, just checked the screen while it charged and I would say it was gone...

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

No.. on my second phone it is like that.. it does not go away when charging though.

On my first it was constant flicker no matter which brightness setting it was set to... Much much worse than on the One X that I have now..

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
You have been connected to Olga.
lalit sehgal: hi htc how r u?
Olga: Hi lalit, thank you for contacting HTC Support. How may I help you today?
lalit sehgal: well i have jst one queery regarding one x
Olga: Yes of course, what is it?
lalit sehgal: well i got this yesterday and really pissed off coz of screen flickering
lalit sehgal: specially when gray colours are produced
lalit sehgal: its so annoying
lalit sehgal: is it software or hardware related......
lalit sehgal: coz if its hardware i will return this piece of crap....
Olga: I am not quite sure as this isnt something i have come across, have you tried anything to resolve this at all?
lalit sehgal: well there are forums loaded with this issue
lalit sehgal: many across globe are facing it
Olga: yes but i am afraid as customers dont come to us directly, we have no way of knowing about such issues.
lalit sehgal: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1597448
Olga: you can certainly try the full factory reset as a last resort to see if it helps.
lalit sehgal: i did
lalit sehgal: no help no use
Olga: If you still have the problem then it is most likely a hardware fault
lalit sehgal: i am not sure why all of us are facing this
Olga: and in this case would be best if you returned the phone to the store
lalit sehgal: u mean hardware faults with so many sold......
lalit sehgal: what abt quality check?
Olga: as i have mentioned we are not aware of this issue.
Olga: We do not know how many devices are affected.



HAHAHAHA response frm htc.....can u believe this