yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 7 General] Brac20:
It's hard to know what "bad" screen flicker really means. My One X still flickers (as I am on Three UK, the only network in the Europe not to release the 1.29 update that fixes the issue) but I really don't find it much of an issue. Other One X owners seemed to think it was the worst fault in the world, but I don't know if they had it worse or they are just much more picky about their devices.
[Nexus 7 General] HiddenSanctum:
This happens quite often on xda. Rumors spread like wildfire.

Does anyone notice this only happens when something is loading? Like in chrome it flickers until the webpage is fully loaded
[Nexus 7 General] qwerty123321:
Here's a video of the issue I'm having with my flickering..

Are u guys getting this also?

h**p://dl.dropbox.com/u/13153603/Videos/VID_20120715_100253.mp4
[Nexus 7 General] b0n3:
yep .. same thing. At first I thought it was automatic brightness setting. I unchecked it, same flicker. Like others, it seems to happen at lower brightness settings.
[Nexus 7 General] ntba:
Just got mine on Friday, noticed the issue on Saturday in a dark room. Same flicker. Prod Unit.
[Nexus 7 General] hemligt:
no, not yet rooted, anyway, thank you, I'll keep that app in mind.
[Nexus 7 General] Metallice:
Trickstermod will do all of that and more for free.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Nexus 7 General] jtrosky:
I tried Trickstermod originally, but I had issues with it, which is when I switched to the Prism app (if I remember correctly, I had issues where it wouldn't disable prism mode automatically at boot and it also caused shutdown issues with my N7 - I would always have to hold the power button for 10 seconds to get the device to actually turn off).

Although, Trickstermod may have improved since I used it last - thanks for bringing it up - it's certainly worth a shot before paying for something!
[Nexus 7 General] presslab:
It seems that on shutdown /system/bin/sensors-config will overwrite /data/lightsensor/AL3010_Config.ini. It must be pulling this data from somewhere else, like a special spot in flash memory where the factory stores the cal data. This implies that my factory calibration is borked, and it's not exactly a software problem.

---------- Post added at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:38 PM ----------

Here's how to change the light calibration forever:

su
mkdir /data/calibration
mount -t vfat /dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/PER /data/calibration
echo 880 > /data/calibration/lightsensor/AL3010_Config.ini
umount /data/calibration
rmdir /data/calibration
[Nexus 7 General] brfsa:
Original was something like 1193 ... I can't remember.

I'm on slim ROM 4.2.1

---------- Post added at 03:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 AM ----------

Seriously forever? That's awesome news... Will try tomorrow

Thanks for the tip!
[Nexus 7 General] MadHacker:
Has anyone tried this, does it work ???
[Nexus 7 General] TimmyUK:
Seems to work for me, continuing with testing as this can be intermittent.
[Nexus 7 General] Maybachiswhereitsat:
Same
[Nexus 7 General] jocke_lulle:
I did root and install trickstermod. Even if i disable smartdimmer i can see that the screenlight is fluctuating. It does it even with autobrightness off.
[Nexus 7 General] jocke_lulle:
Sv: Nexus 7 BAD screen flicker!

So they replaced the screen and you haven't noticed the flicker since you got it back?

Skickat från min Nexus 7 via Tapatalk 2
[Nexus 7 General] caplanjr:
Disabling smartdimmer did it for me. Screen is beautiful. Flicker is gone. Battery hit is about 20% even with reduced brightness.

CM 10.1 nightly build
[Nexus 7 General] N7R:
Apparently Asus hasn't completely eradicated the problem; my brand new ME370TG (mfg 02/2013) has a bad case of this. I'm sending it in tomorrow.
[Nexus 7 General] keoni8888:
Just got mine back from service today. The sheet included stated "No problem found". And, surprise, the screen still flickers badly. I documented the heck out of the issue, included a written description of how to reproduce it with the unit, and they are indeed either blind or simply incompetent. I don't even know if I want to go through sending it in again to have the same thing happen. And, they will not pay for the shipping back to them to check it out again!

Anyone have this issue with Asus and, if so, how do you make it right?

John
[Nexus 7 General] N7R:
I'm very sorry to hear that!

Mine came back on Tuesday (door-to-door in less than a week, which is quite impressive). Apparently it suffered from what they called a "gap anomaly", which they had corrected by replacing the "topcase assy". Clearly they did something, as the flickering is now far less severe - in fact, it now matches the typical description of prism lag.

Interestingly enough, they shipped my N7 directly to a Wistron facility in Czech Republic instead of a nearby Asus service center (Wistron is the ODM that manufactures the N7 for Asus). This might explain the quick turnaround time: I'd imagine they have an ample supply of spare parts, and therefore might be less stingy about replacing components.

Unfortunately this doesn't really answer your question. Perhaps you could convince Asus to send it to Wistron North America (assuming they didn't already) - but that's probably easier said than done. I'm sure their RMA-process if fairly rigid.
[Nexus 7 General] jocke_lulle:
I had to send my n7 to Asus service twice before they replaced the screen. They sent my device to Czech republic too. First time the service report said something about "gap anomaly" but for me the screen flicker was still there so I sent it to service again. The second time they replaced the "topcase assy" and they did something more that I don't understand but now the screen is good :) I'm happy again :)

Sent from my Nexus 7 through Tapatalk 2
[Nexus 7 General] goldwoods:
Anything news about how to fix screen flickering?
[Nexus 7 General] khaytsus:
Don't obsess over it is the fix that works for me. It only happens on low Backlight with a white background and wifi transferring data.
[Nexus 7 General] nolook:
just rma'ed my launch model and got a new one back that has no screen flicker... will sell if a new model comes out though...

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 7 General] goldwoods:
Can't stand with this annoy! Just sold it :( :( :(
[Nexus 7 General] Crossvxm:
Future reference

For everyone who thinks its their fault, theirs is faulty, etc, I'm on my 5th Nexus 7 (2012) now and ALL 5 have had this same issue. I know this is late, but Google Search, Bing, etc does have this as one of the first links so just thought it may be helpful for some of our newbies or guests searching up this issue.

Statistically speaking, 5 out of 5 Nexus 7 (2012) have this issue, so its not you, your device isn't faulty, that guy from Craigslist, Swappa or EBay did not scam you.

;)
[Nexus 7 General] rjspark89:
what would you call this?

would you guys call this screen flicker? it was very rare.. maybe once in two weeks.. now my display permanently looks like this.. i've had no accidental drops...im on stock 4.3 and unrooted!.. any ideas what the hell happened to it?
[Nexus 7 General] jtrosky:
That is definitely not screen flicker!!!
[Nexus 7 General] Swede2008:
So a few months after sending my nexus 7 to the repair center twice, both times with an unsuccessful fix, I found a solution that seems to be working. Basically you make a foil shield. I used electricians tape instead of kapton tape. I also made the foil shield a little larger. Here is the link: http://lukeskaff.com/?p=768
[Nexus 7 General] encoreAC:
turn of wifi optimation, that did it for me
[Nexus 7 General] Outrager:
This is a thread for the first gen Nexus 7.
[Nexus 7 General] kaediil:
Mine is a Google I/O unit and it flickers so badly at low brightness.

One other thing is I used the app called LogGraph to test and see if the autobrighness algorithms were at fault. What I found was that the lux or brightness sensor is a jumpy mess at low light conditions. It goes from 0-30 and bounces all around. Once it gets bove a certain threshold value that I could not pin down, it settled down nicely. Now that does not explain the flicker that I see when I manually set the brightness to low, but it makes me think that the autobrighness algorithm is going to be very difficult to get right with that kind of wide fluctuation in a darkened room.

-frank
[Nexus 7 General] joshintoshin:
I had this same problem as well, but after an update that I just recently got it got fixed for me. So try to look for an update, hopefully this works for you too. :)
[Nexus 7 General] styxx:
I also noticed this issue but i experienced it with different wifi conditions. At strong signal, there werent any issues but at low signal, the flickering intensified. Auto brightness or Chrome didnt seem to affect it... that also doesnt make any sense. There were similar issues with the Nexus S back then. Mine is a retail version, got it from Adorama last Thursday.
[Nexus 7 General] njs05:
Mine is insanely noticeable in maps when panning... as others have mentioned its not exactly flicker but its as if its trying to dynamically adjust the brightness and can't get it correct. I get it even when going to home screen but its driving me nuts.
[Nexus 7 General] adrianblack:
Add me to the list. It is doing it right now. It is not major but it's certainly annoying. I have auto brightness enabled and it's currently quite dark in my living room. I've been using my nexus 7 for several hours and this is the first time I saw it in the dark....

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 7 General] 916Kev:
No problems here!
[Nexus 7 General] cwc3:
Got mine today like 90% of you from Google store. Didn't notice till I brought the brightness down, flicker time! I'll give it a week. I am on the latest update, JRO03D.

Edit: Like above; Does look like WiFi does help with the flickering. Whenever I see those arrows ( data transfer ), the screen flickers. Maybe something not shielded, inverter/backlight not enjoying the WiFi signal?
[Nexus 7 General] qwerty123321:
Google hasnt said anything officially about a possible recall or fix for this !
[Nexus 7 General] pclov3r:
I have the flicker issue as well.

Hopefully a software patch fixes it
[Nexus 7 General] scootle74:
I just tried this also... darkened room, auto-brightness on, google maps... panning and otherwise interacting with the maps seems to exacerbate the flicker a bit as you describe. From the way it only seems to occur at lower brightness settings on the screen (on auto), it might very well be the software problem that people have described on other Tegra3 devices. I think I'll give it a little time and see if Google pushes a fix.

edit: I am also on the most recent build JRO03D (4.1.1)
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
Not seeing it here in dark room with auto brightness before or after the 4.1.1 update.
[Nexus 7 General] bravo890:
Just got mine, on the 4.1.1 update, and I get some significant and noticeable screen flicker when auto brightness is enabled.
[Nexus 7 General] big samm:
I hope for the same!

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 7 General] sinatosk:
I noticed screen flicker with 4.1 but then I installed 4.1.1 ( just got my n7 today ) and I've not seen it since
[Nexus 7 General] redmonke255:
I noticed screen flicker (more like lines flashing across) in only the xda app and the cracked reader.
[Nexus 7 General] sundaypostman:
I just exchanged my Nexus 7 for a new one with Gamestop because of the screen flicker. They over-night shipped it from their newest shipment that arrived at the warehouse for me. It would drive me insane whenever i had the brightness lower than medium. Sad to say, the new one has the same problem. Because of this, i am thinking it is probably a software problem as previously mentioned. Some people probably just don't notice it (like my fiance) which explains why some say it doesn't exist.

also, it happens in every app, every screen. It is not just caused by auto-brightness or chrome like some say. auto-brightness will sometimes set the brightness lower than the low setting though, making it more apparent than the low setting on the widget. It is most easily noticed in a dark room with brightness slider set to the lowest it can go, when viewing a white/light colored video or web surfing (because of chrome's white background). If the screen image stays static, it does not seem to happen as much (but still will occasionally). but when the picture is changing, from either loading a new webpage or while watching a video, it is much more noticeable, such as on skin.

At least that how it happens on the two i have used, and it is exactly the same on both of them. They both did it before and after the updates.

It is most annoying because i got it so i can surf the internet in bed without bothering the woman as much as a laptop. But if i have to use on on medium brightness, it is lighting up the room and not useful for what i want it for. Hopefully they can fix this soon, or at least let us know if it's hardware or software or just something unpreventable due to cheapness. If that's the case, i want my money back.
[Nexus 7 General] removesstains:
I noticed last night when using mine that it would only flicker if it was downloading something and when the download was finished it was fine. So to me it seems like a software issue. I'm on 4.1.1. Other then that the screen is fine as long as i dont hold it up next to my Gnex, if i do that i notice how awesome the blacks are on my Gnex and it makes me sad. LOL
[Nexus 7 General] flathead031:
I see it when my brightness is set relatively low and it makes me think I'm having a heart attack at times...lmao Hopefully it's a software fix.
[Nexus 7 General] adrianblack:
That's it -- the brightness seems to go up slightly....

Brightness at minimum (whether on auto in a dark room or on manual)

Using Wifi and actually transmitting perhaps

I have a production 16gig

I'm skeptical this can be fixed in software as it seems like a backlight LED power supply issue. It may be flickering at higher brightness levels too but our eyes are more sensitive to the variance at low light levels.
[Nexus 7 General] mackendw:
cable jiggle

Have you replaced the dongle cable?
[Nexus 7 General] sundaypostman:
So very, very true.
[Nexus 7 General] sinatosk:
OK I take back what I said earlier... sort of... it still flickers sort of...

When in the dark... it tends to flicker and only a little sometimes but still noticeable

Happens in any app as far as I can remember

I too think this can be fixed at software level
[Nexus 7 General] Mbarland:
I just got my n7 and am sitting in a dark room and am getting the annoying screen flicker. It happens for me with auto brightness on and when set to the dimmest level on the widget.
[Nexus 7 General] Shaquiel Harris:
Sure does. Just got mines from office office Depot (best shipping on the planet) and it flickered terribly when I was watching a video. Jumped to 4.1.1 and I don't see it anymore. It flickered again in the status bar after the update so far but it's not doing it anymore. Just watching videos to see if it will occur again.
[Nexus 7 General] sinatosk:
Mine flickered less with 4.1.1 but still flickers... I noticed it flicker when I have bright things on my screen
[Nexus 7 General] Shaquiel Harris:
It's flickering uncontrollably now this is awful.. Going to contact office Depot since they said they are getting shipments of them in store tomorrow to see if I can just exchange this one I got offline..
[Nexus 7 General] Thegreatheed:
I have only noticed it flicker myself while reading with Google Play Books app, in bed, at night, lights off, low brightness.

Not enough to distract or make me stop reading, but just bad enough to make me research it today.
[Nexus 7 General] Shaquiel Harris:
It's flickering uncontrollably everywhere I am that's why I want to exchange. Like a bar going down my screen.
[Nexus 7 General] akiootsuka:
Google CS nightmare... -_-

I literally just spent 45 minutes on hold with Google CS to voice concerns about the flickering and my device randomly turning off and on? O.o

I was immensely patient with the customer service rep, who was very green, and I explained my issues in detail.

My, Nameless, CS rep informed me that the screen needs time to "break in", "Some LCD devices have a wear in time. If after a certain amount of time the problem continues, exchange for a new device. " I purchased my device from.... Staples... and I've yet to contact them about the issue, but I have a suspicion that they will be complete tools about this.

Problem/Answer to issue two the device powering off(with 100% or charging doesn't matter), he was more concerned about this than the previously mentioned seizure inducing flicker, Final solution? Factory reset... if that doesn't work? Maybe try to power cycle the battery...

Other information, if you bought your device from a retailer you are royally screwed. Sure, you can return it, but as soon as you paid for that device google and Asus washed their hands of you (as far as the hardware aspect goes,but concerning the os, tech support they will gladly let you wait on hold for an hour then tell you to factory reset.). IF you didn't buy your device from google, they will not replace it, neither will Asus, currently. They were told that for the foreseeable future they will not issue replacements for anyone who bought the device from a retailer. It makes sense if you really stop to think about why, but still seems... shady.

Has anyone else rooted their device yet or am I alone in this boat? haha

OH!

Cliffnote. CS reps dont even have production models, they have i/o pre-release models. Very curious.
[Nexus 7 General] xastey:
I get this too from time to time in chrome.. prod unit. Glad I got office depot warranty after reading this
[Nexus 7 General] dmalovic:
Possible explanation, not solution thugh

Can more people try to do this test in order to see if the flickering problem exists:

Settings->Display-> Brightness Turn of automatic brightness and set it to the lowest setting

Be connected to WiFi network

Start Google Maps, and pan around and you should see the screen back-light flickering like and old incandescent bulb

It is not the light sensor, as you can cover it and the problem persists!

The SOLUTION:

If you turn of WiFi, the problem is gone, and it seems like it's caused by WiFi working! Having the device on a charger does not help, so it does not seem like a power problem!

Hope others can test this. I would love to know whether I should return mine or not. I am afraid of getting one with a bad speaker, or screen lifting, or back-light bleed.... :(((((

I admit I am an early Android user who just had too much and switched to iOS that I hate with Nexus 7 being my return to the Android platform. Not a smooth one :))))

Ordered from PS on the 12th, got it on the 16th, Nexus 7 16GB version
[Nexus 7 General] Blasty007:
Hmm, this makes me want to go pick up the extended warranty from Staples within my 14 day window.
[Nexus 7 General] tylerwatt12:
OK here it is. Its a hardware issue, on every device. The IPS panel is affected when the broadcom WiFi chip receives data.
[Nexus 7 General] sm_x:
can any one take a look at my screen and tell me if this is a defect or is this normal. I have had devices with some light leak but this drives me insane when I am reading.
[Nexus 7 General] akiootsuka:
Still...Trying to drain my battery...

I agree, Except for the fact that... if you get a warranty from staples they dont replace the unit itself (If its destroyed or what have you). they give you a gift card for the original price. Still a year warranty is around 50? I'll be getting mine tomorrow from staples, After I saw the review on Gizmodo I've been leaning towards the extended warranty -

:(

I did, however, contact 2 local staples and they said they would be happy to exchange my tablet, no questions asked, but! they don't know when they will be receiving more units?!!?!? The store closest to me has received... 2 units! altogether... one of which I bought.haha :silly:

I understand that the models we've all purchased are basically the first or second production batch, of course there will be bugs... But this wasnt a disposable tablet, Mine was around $265? for it to have this many issues, and little to no support from google is disappointing.. Although Its fast, stable(for the most part) and really well designed(for the most part), I barely use it because of the issues I've been having. :(
[Nexus 7 General] igjoe:
So is it pointless for me to get a replacement device? Also, is it possible for Google to fix this with a software update?
[Nexus 7 General] dmalovic:
How do you mean here it is? Where is it? Somebody confirmed? And why do some people report theirs work OK, or some units work OK? The test I listed will show it for sure. Can we hear from more people?

It's really unfortunate, as many of us got the devices for reading and surfing at night, and you need the back light at the lowest setting. What's even worse for me personally is that I am just visiting from Europe, until the end of August, and I am perplexed as to what to do now. It will cost a lot more to return the device from Europe, and I would hate to bring back a faulty device :(.

What to do, what to do? I really like the freedom of Nexus 7 + JB compared to my iPad3 jail-broken prison. But this is not helping! Rooting for Android. heck even Microsoft! :)))
[Nexus 7 General] kaediil:
I decided to turn off autobrightness, get an app like Lux Auto Brightness and set it to never allow the brightness to go below about 40% brightness - less then ideal but I don't have to worry about causing an epileptic seizure in someone because of the flickering. :o
[Nexus 7 General] lazl0:
Mine is flickering as well noticed it in a dark room. Not a big deal. It seems to happen when the screen is adjusting its brightness.
[Nexus 7 General] cdsmith7:
Not A Lemon

I am experiencing a screen flicker as well on automatic light setting with WiFi on. I don't really notice it except on pages with a lot of white however. I hope there is a software update sooner than later for this issue.
[Nexus 7 General] WizeGuyDezignz:
I can 1000% confirm that this only happens when wifi is on. How embarrassing and disappointing. I just find it hard to believe that a software update can fix this. Anyone think one can?
[Nexus 7 General] dmalovic:
It can be on manual brightness as well. Really weird, and bad for the late nights!
[Nexus 7 General] TwinDaddyKev:
Strike 2

I have this flicker screen issue while using chrome on grey pages. I'll play around with the display to see if it goes away.

Hopefully they can fix it with a software update.

This is the second issue with the n7. Wifi doesn't support wpa enterprise tls.
[Nexus 7 General] sinatosk:
Yeah.. this is what I meant by bright content
[Nexus 7 General] Shaquiel Harris:
This is what happens with mines.. Same with everyone else's right?
[Nexus 7 General] scootle74:
With a little bit of testing, this does appear to be the culprit. This is why it is so evident in Google maps... panning and such forces data to load.

Will be interesting if this is something they can hot fix...
[Nexus 7 General] adrianblack:
OK this is odd. I have been using my N7 for a few hours tonight and the flicker is gone. I'm in a dark room on auto brightness and of course on WiFi but nothing.

The only difference is my battery is around 29% now with it starting at 45% has anyone else noticed the flicker when your battery is low? Could this be something to do with it?

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 7 General] warr3n:
Another new owner disappointed by the constant screen flickering.

Hope this is resolved quickly.
[Nexus 7 General] ardsar:
I have both the HTC one x and the nexus 7. This screen flicker is the same on both devices.
[Nexus 7 General] HiddenSanctum:
My flicker has also been gone. I was wondering if the lighting in the room affected this problem also.