Screen flicker poll G Watch R.

[unclebor]

Hi,

I've started this poll for ALL owners of the LG G Watch R.

The question is: does your G Watch R flicker after charging it to full 100% when you take it off the charger?

After selecting yes or no on this poll, can you check your build number on your watch and post it here?
If you post the info, please also note if your watch does flicker or not to keep the results clean.
something like this:

Does flicker:
Software version: 5.0.1
Build number: LWX48P
Serial starting with: 412KPGS0139XXX

or

Does not flicker:
Software version: 5.0.1
Build number: LWX48P
Serial starting with: 412KPGS0139XXX

What I'm trying to figure out by starting this poll, is if it's hardware related or not.
To check your build:
Go to "Settings" on your watch.
Then press "About".

in the about section you will find the following info:

Software version: 5.0.1 (This will change after a new update.)
Build number: LWX48P
Serial starting with: 412KPGS0139XXX (Just replace last 3 digits with XXX, we don't need to know your exact serial number.)

Above info is from my own LG G Watch R.

Thanks for participating

Treborov.

Results so far:

All watches posted so far have Build number: LWX48P. I wonder if there are other build numbers out there? If anyone has a different build number please post it here
Serial ranges: 410KP series, 411KP series and 412KP series.
Everyone so far is running software version 5.0.1 (Which is the latest update.)

Remarks by users about what might cause the flickering effect:
Screen brightness settings: 1x
(Google calendar event) notifications: 1x (Could be any notification because I had the same problem with multiple notifications that all tried to pup up at once)
Watchmaker app: 2x (installed on 2 watches that have the flickering effect.)

Hardware related:
Loose display ribbons: 1x

 

[RoosW]

I have had the snow-crash in one and the flickering in my second watch, now on my third. that one seems all right at the moment. what makes me suspect hardware in stead of software is that the LG G, does not show this problem. and both are technically quite close related.
If my watch shows the flickering again, i will partake in your experiment, as i am quite curious as to what is causing this. I also noticed the much brighter flickering as brightness was down to 1.
As i read the posts concerning this problem, i also noticed that the part that flickers is not always the same, on my watch it was the lower half blinking, others have mentioned the upper half.
It still reminds me of what a led does when power goes below a certain threshold.

Good luck in your project!

 

[unclebor]

I have had the snow-crash in one and the flickering in my second watch, now on my third. that one seems all right at the moment. what makes me suspect hardware in stead of software is that the LG G, does not show this problem. and both are technically quite close related.
If my watch shows the flickering again, i will partake in your experiment, as i am quite curious as to what is causing this. I also noticed the much brighter flickering as brightness was down to 1.
As i read the posts concerning this problem, i also noticed that the part that flickers is not always the same, on my watch it was the lower half blinking, others have mentioned the upper half.
It still reminds me of what a led does when power goes below a certain threshold.

Good luck in your project!

Thanks for leaving a comment, I did read all your comments in the other post about you sending your watch back to LG.
So you're on your third LG G Watch R now right? Not exchanged it for an LG G Watch?
If you got another Watch R. would you mind posting the build number?

Let's just hope your 3rd watch doesn't go all "disco" on you like the other two

 

[wicked1683]

Disco time haha. Half of the screen flickers, same as the OP explained. Really annoying, happened 2x already within 3 weeks of owning the watch

Does flicker:
Software version: 5.0.1
Build number: LWX48P
Serial starting with: 411KPZK0129XXX

 

[RoosW]

Software : 5.0.1
Build : LWX48P
Serial starting with : 411KPPB

---------- Post added at 16:39 ---------- Previous post was at 16:32 ----------

So you're on your third LG G Watch R now right? Not exchanged it for an LG G Watch?

I had a Pebble before i had an LG G, my wife now has that one, i decided to stay with the LG G R, because the recessed screen helps in preventing random contact with my sleeve (thus interrupting the music playing on my headset), and i like its looks a lot more then the LG G, the screen above the bezel like the 360 has, is why i did not got that one (besides the poor hardware and battery) until someone writes an app that kills the touchscreen until the crown is pushed once or say 2 times, all other options are just to annoying

 

[wicked1683]

Hmmm.. 2 days straight of flickering every morning when I tried to check the watch right after I wake up.

I noticed that after I restart the device, a Google calendar event notification will pop up. Then the flickering will stop

Looks like a Calendar Event notification bug in Android wear, could someone confirm this?

Update : It flickers again, no calendar event notification. Maybe this is a hardware problem

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[doki81]

Does flicker:
Software version: 5.0.1
Build number: LWX48P
Serial starting with: 410KPVH0010XXX

thought the 5.0.1 solve the flicker but it came back after few days

 

[unclebor]

O.K. Update on my watch.

I did a factory reset yesterday on my LG G Watch R.
I haven't touched the watch as in, changing face plate installing software etc.

This morning when I took it off the charger it didn't start flickering like it did the last two days. (So it was working as it should.)

Things I had installed on my watch when it was flickering: (before factory reset)
Multi Calculator
Instaweather app.
Intellicom Watch faces app.
Luxury watch faces app.
WatchMaker free app.
Facer app.

After factory reset, the only thing that automatically popped up on my watch when I checked watch faces, was the Facer app. The rest of the apps wern't showing on my watch anymore.
However, I didn't uninstall those on my phone.

I uninstalled the Facer app on my phone.

After checking the Watch Face options this morning, all the installed programs are back on my watch.
It seems they all got synced again between my phone and my watch.
Maybe I checked to soon yesterday after the reset and these programs weren't synced yet.
I'll take a closer look after next factory reset.

Thanks everyone who has participated so far in this thread :good:

 

[wicked1683]

@unclebor
In your app list, we only have 1 common app installed.

I also installed watchmaker, and as far as I remember the flickering started after i installed that! I will uninstall watchmaker and delete the data folder because I already tried uninstalling it but the data folder was not deleted.

Hopefully this is the culprit, if not maybe this is a hardware issue.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[siraltus]

The flicker is most likely due to a loose display ribbon connector and stops after a while because the watch warms up, the connector expands and makes better contact, but it will remain intermittent since it's not pressed all the way in. You need to open the watch and press in all the connectors (there are 4) and the flicker will likely stop.

For the record, I'm on 5.0.1, LWX48P, 411KPSL0096XXX, no flicker.

 

[jhun80]

Mine does the same with LWX48P. It happends since i started using it with always On screen. Can we return it and exchange to a new one? I like pebbles warranty since they have issues about flickering screens too. Returned and sent me a new one.

 

[Lt.Spock]

Since update 5.0.1 the display flickers sometimes after fully charged. Power off and power on the watch helps for me (no reboot!)

Software version: 5.0.1
Build number: LWX48P
Serial starting with: 410KPNY0036XXX

cheers
Manfred

 

[unclebor]

Update on my watch day 2 after factory reset.

I took it off the charging cradle this morning and again, no flickering.
It seems the factory reset helped so far. (Crosses fingers.)

my current settings are:
Adjust Brightness = 4 (stock after reset)
Always-on screen = off
Face plate = suit

Installed apps:
Intellicom watchfaces (did not select any face plates after reset)
Luxery watchfaces (did not select any face plates after reset)
Watchmaker (did not select any face plates after reset)
InstaWeather (did not use this after reset)

I'm going to change one setting today, and that's the Adjust Brightness = 4 to Adjust Brightness = 1 and see what it will do tomorrow when I take if off the charger.

If indeed it flickers again tomorrow (which I surely hope it won't), I'll change the setting back to 4 and recharge it to 100% and check again.

After tomorrow (if the brightness setting isn't the issue), I'll put the brightness level back to 4 and select a 3rd party watch face.

Yes, this is going to be a slow testing process, because I want to check only after a whole night of charging to not manipulate the charging time.
When I can trigger the flickering process by changing some setting, I'll just recharge it on the fly. Check if I can make it "un-flicker" by undoing the last change I made on the watch.
if that doesn't help, uninstall the program that made it flicker in the first place and check after that. (if it's a 3rd party app and not a Google Wear 5.0.1 setting)
If that doesn't help, factory reset, one more night charging on default settings, if that doesn't make the watch flicker, re-install the program that caused it to flicker and retest the last procedure that triggered the "disco" effect.
Makes sense? LOL for me it does

I wish I had like 10 of these watches, would make the testing process go much faster.

Thanks again for everyone participating in this poll and posting serials and such :good:

 

[wicked1683]

It flickers again this morning without the watchmaker app. So that's not the culprit, really annoying, i will return this for warranty.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[chrisnewton]

Why don't you guys return the watch? Sod the testing the watch was not designed to flicker! When I get mine on Xmas day, if it flickers.. Back it goes

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[wicked1683]

There's a reply on the other thread, he returned it ang LG fixed it. But flickering still persist. So looks like LG doesn't really know how to fix this. But I sent mine for warranty.

No official statement from LG regarding this issue.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[unclebor]

There's a reply on the other thread, he returned it ang LG fixed it. But flickering still persist. So looks like LG doesn't really know how to fix this. But I sent mine for warranty.

No official statement from LG regarding this issue.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Here are my 2 cents about the flickering on the watch:

Quick summary,
Got the watch (day 1), it was fully charged 100% when I turned it on, paired it and played with the stock settings and options.
Didn't flicker the first morning after full charge (day 2).
I played with it a lot, installed apps, changed face plates, (Also tried out some MOMO 360 face plates through the 3rd party app to see what they looked like on this G Watch R, didn't like them, chose another one), played with the weather app..etc.
Flickered after full charge! (day 3).
Played with it a bit, didn't really pay attention to the flickering because it was working normally after a reboot, just thought it was annoying. However put it in the back of my head for the next morning to check.
Flickered after full charge! (day 4).
Thought it was pretty annoying and checked the web for possible solutions and if other people had the same problem with this "disco effect".
After reading the threads here, I decided to do some testing myself.
I did reset my watch to factory settings.
Didn't flicker after full charge (day 5).
Didn't flicker after full charge (day 6).
Changed display settings to brightness level 1 (was on 4).

If the watch was broken, hardware related, the flickering effect would be there all the time right? (Broken = broken, no matter what the settings).
If it was a loose wire, it wouldn't only flicker after charging. (Unless the watch heats up to a certain level on the charger which would cause a bad connection in the watch itself which makes it flicker only after recharge.)

Therefore I think it's either software related OR the combination between the brightness/always-on settings and hardware.
There might be something in one of the installed (3rd party?) apps OR in the brightness/Always-on settings that triggers the "disco" on your watch.
Maybe if the brightness level is put below stock settings, there is a condenser that regulates the screen brightness? (Going to put this to the test.)
IF tomorrow morning my watch flickers, I know it's the hardware that can't cope with the low brightness setting. If not, I'm going to change the brightness back up to 4 and install a 3rd party watch face.

I still think, because Dersie changed his brightness settings through another app, it is software related.
if it was hardware related, it would always flicker after recharge, no matter which app you use to dim the screen. (condenser/hardware goes all stressed when it has to power up the screen in dimmed mode).

It's like searching for a needle in the haystack, but hey.... I like finding needles in haystacks.

 

[jhun80]

It gotten worse! After charging I decided to turn it off, I slept, when I woke up I turned it on, then seconds later flickering happends. Restarted it, but still the same. I turned it off for a couple of times. Until I decided to just leave it on until flickering dissapears. Did factory reset but still the same. Sick and tired of this, $300 watch and its defective I dont wanna deal with this everyday, Im gonna return it to newegg since they have 30 day return/replacement warranty. But my watch has a lil dent on the bezel already. I hope they still accept it.

 

[dersie]

I still think, because Dersie changed his brightness settings through another app, it is software related.
if it was hardware related, it would always flicker after recharge, no matter which app you use to dim the screen. (condenser/hardware goes all stressed when it has to power up the screen in dimmed mode).

Mine started flicking after 4 weeks, batt at 42% 2 day after charged, on a table since 1H, so no movement to move hardware screen connector, no after full charge. No issue the last 2 days after using brigntness setup with SWApp....

condenser problem is maybe a way for the problem. It happen only from screen OFF to ON for me, never when screen is already ON for awhile. So only after condenser can be not charged.

 

[unclebor]

Time to let you guys know about what's going on with my watch.
Didn't have much time to post anything the last couple of days :/

All I can say is, so far so good.

The last 3 days it didn't flicker at all.

I am running a 3rd party watch face now, brightness settings set to 1. No flickering after full recharge.
I don't know what caused it in the first place.
Maybe it was a MOTO 360 face watch I tried on my watch to see what it looked like, I don't know.
I will do some more testing after these busy days at the end of the year.
I will post again in this thread when the flickering returns or when I find out how to trigger it.
If I can find out anything else about the "disco effect" on the G Watch R series on other sites, I'll post a link here.

I'm sure this isn't over yet, I guess I am just lucky at the moment that it doesn't flicker.
However, knowing hardware /software it will probably come back since I already experienced the affect on this watch.