yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 7 General] vincentlodato:
honestly with all the other stuff people say about their N7s i consider myself lucky to have gotten one with just a little screen flicker and guess what my brightness is always at at least 30% so i didn't even notice it until i saw someone post about it happening under low brightness. just saying some people are being a little anal about a $200 device.. have u seen the quality control on ebay android devices that cost between $150 and $200.
[Nexus 7 General] Dr.Kildare:
Received the replacement unit two days ago & all good :)

SN: C60KBC386172 (8GB)
[Nexus 7 General] jashsu:
If it looks like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrpSyYnZbw0 then I hope you processed your return already.
[Nexus 7 General] mariolouis:
Some hardware are more tolerable than others. Just like overclocking for example. Not all cpu's will overclock the same. The oems have done it in the past and will continue doing this. Cripple some "functionalities" to have a more stable system. I wouldn't be surprised if Google/Asus would do the wifi txpower tweak and call it a fix.
[Nexus 7 General] boneskid1:
i would be surprised if they did because their impression on me is that they are trying to dominate the 7 inch tab category and if they are selling a device that would be known for shoddy internet connection, they wouldn't have as many followers/sales.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
I already have shoddy connection with it. :(
[Nexus 7 General] Nascar Dog:
Yes, this tablet has by far the worst WiFi reception ever. :crying:
[Nexus 7 General] NeverAlwaysEver:
I just noticed the screen flicker this morning when white pages like yahoo.I just noticed it today only as my brightness was lowered than usual. Flicker is worse when set to minimum brightness. I tested many times to see if it just flickered when viewing and loading web pages but unfortunately, screen continued to flicker randomly even after closing the browser. It also flickered when I just opened a browser without even loading any pages. It's definitely more noticeable on white backgrounds. Conclusion, flicker is noticeable when set to lowest brightness, which I will definitely be using during dim lighting and night time so I will be exchanging and not going to wait and try my luck with possible software update as I doubt it may entirely be software related. Don't even know if the production batch matters anymore in determining which batch will have less defects but this current of mine is C60 and the local store has one C70 left so I'll go pick that up. They say, they'll get a new batch once this last C70 goes. By the way, this is like my 4th exchange lol. First one had bad battery and left screen lift. 2nd had bad left screen lift so I decided to try my luck again and 3rd one had bad screen lift and top back cover was way lose and big gap. This 4th one has screen lift also and I was going to ignore that and just keep it but after noticing the screen flicker this morning, back to exchanging again lol.

---------- Post added at 02:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 PM ----------

So you'd definitely want to take care of your keeper. Lol imagine if you drop it and end up breaking ur keeper.
[Nexus 7 General] boneskid1:
i haven't noticed terrible internet connection from the n7 i had the router is all the way at the other end of my house in the basement and i got about 1 to 2 bars in my room, 3 if i am closer to my doorway.

anyone else get a good replacement yet
[Nexus 7 General] NeverAlwaysEver:
I'll report back here after I exchange and get a new one tonight if the last one is still in stock.

Update: Got a replacement and after testing, set the brightness to lowest and no screen flicker. But it had left screen lift and back cover on that left side was way loose and I can easily pop it even with my finger nail lol. Theres some clicking or sticky noise also when I press on that left side bezel. This is from Walmart and SSN is C70.

Update: I tested again this morning. This is when brightness is set to lowest and the screen only flicker on web pages when wifi signal is poor but doesn't flicker when wifi signal is good. So, the flicker somehow seems related to poor wifi signal also.
[Nexus 7 General] khaytsus:
wat? My N7 has great WiFi reception. Out in my back yard I have nearly a full wifi signal and great speed where at the same exact spot two other phones barely get a wifi signal, and only keep it if you hold them up a bit away from you.
[Nexus 7 General] Nascar Dog:
Compared to all my other wireless devices in my home, the Nexus 7 is the absolute worst.

I'm on my 5th one and they are all the same.
[Nexus 7 General] kiewee3:
Agreed!

Compared to any of my other devices (evo 3d, old dell streak 7, old iPod touch, etc...) my nexus 7 gets great signal. Still have terrible flicker problems though...
[Nexus 7 General] mariolouis:
Same on mine. It has the best wifi compared to my other devices which include an ipod touch 4G. Worst is a cheap china tablet named Eken T01a.
[Nexus 7 General] Solange82200:
This flicker issue is weird and hard to pin down what is going on. One of my previous ones had flicker on lowest brightness (although nothing like the video a couple posts ago where even the soft buttons flicker). The one I have now has only a slight slight flicker only on Google maps, to me it's so slight I would have thought my eyes were playing tricks on me if I didn't know any better. Considering I don't plan on staring at Google maps in the dark at lowest brightness for hours at a time, I'm sticking with this one.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
Its not the signal.. Or at least not always. It pulses the signal. I might be at 3 bars and drop down to 1. My video player constantly crashes streaming local content as the signal power fluctuates so significantly. Web pages can fail to load. Youtube stutters.

I saw first hand another one. Literally right under a business node go from full bars to disconnected to back in the matter of minutes

My home router runs dd-wrt and the one at work uses a enterprise level system. I also read one review where a guy went out and bought a different router because the one he had wouldn't connect.

Fwiw my SGP4.2 has the same issue. I think they both use broadcom wifi. So its either something at the driver level that Broadcom (wouldn't be surprised considering the lack of support they have on their other products), hasn't addressed or a flaw in thd Android OS.
[Nexus 7 General] Pete7ate:
Well there is a saying that in everything there is a positive and a negative.
[Nexus 7 General] solgems:
try watching video in landscape mode with dim brightness

I have the bad screen flicker issues on one of my N7 too. Setting brightness to too low and the screen starts to flicker, when scrolling in chrome, launcher.. which are still acceptable.. but I discovered something unacceptable: try watching video in landscape mode with dim brightness!

And this is how it happens on my N7:

1. turn off auto brightness adjustment

2. set brightness to something very low (like 20%)

3. watch something in landscape mode (I did it on Transformers and youtube and some pre-downloaded flv using flv player)

- see it go dimmer and dimmer into TOTAL DARKNESS

- on youtube (turning back to portrait mode makes the screen bright again... LOL?)

some pointers I discovered:

- I have 2 N7 (both 16gb and same C7O and bought and shipped from Google Play at the same time)

- on the good 1, setting brightness to 0% still has some brightness (perhaps dis is why pp are complaining dimmest is not dim enough)

- on the bad 1, setting brightness to 15% and below is total darkness (therefore the first 2 brightness setting of power control is total darkness)

- wifi or not doesn't matter, (tried it with pre-fully downloaded transformers with wifi off)

- it is definately hardware

- I flashed 2 different CM10 and the issue is still there

- heck. the screen even flickers in CWM if u look closely!!

does any of your broken N7s shows the above described symptom?
[Nexus 7 General] NeverAlwaysEver:
I tested my new exchanged unit this morning. This is when brightness is set to lowest and the screen only flicker on web pages when wifi signal is poor but doesn't flicker when wifi signal is good. So, the flicker somehow seems related to poor wifi signal also.
[Nexus 7 General] kenyee:
<facepalm> Read earlier in the thread....we already isolated it to this. Mentioned it a month ago on an android central thread initially :p

It's a power/ground issue...look at the other thread in the forum about putting scotch tape on the antenna ground for a decent workaround...
[Nexus 7 General] masterg0g0:
Try the wifi grounding fix.
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
I'm on my second device due to this flicker and screen lift. Now while I thought that flicker was removed it only became apparent to me today when I had one bar on the signal that even the new device suffers slightly from it. However it seems to me that the flicker progressed a bit since it was not there when I first got the device... strange.

In any case I tried wifi grounding fix and it looks that flicker might be removed for now (I used double paper tape). It would be great to know if this would affect badly the chip due to the grounding being covered now... If anyone has some insight on this please share
[Nexus 7 General] nolook:
it seems my slight flicker has gone away using the app lux...I'll test a bit more and give an update...sucks to need an app but will hold off on the rma for now...

oh and i find the wifi very strong even when battery is almost dead...
[Nexus 7 General] masterg0g0:
As per the original post technically wifi signal would be weak, but I have had no effects due this grounding. Only the flickering is really reduced, like the device like this. Phew
[Nexus 7 General] capntang:
Glad I bought mine from Staples. I've exchanged it nine or ten times for various C6- and C7- serial numbers, and all of them flicker. All of them. Period. Some appear to flicker a little less than others, but they still flicker. Coming from an iPad and Nook Tablet, any screen flicker at all is simply unacceptable on a device like this.

In addition to the flicker, all of the C7- models I received had screen lift on the left side. Tightening the screws in the back did nothing to correct the issue as it was the glass itself that was lifting, and the glass isn't directly held down with screws.

I will be returning this last exchange and giving up on the Nexus 7 for a while. ASUS/Google dropped the ball with the quality control on these things. For something billed as an e-reader replacement, the screen was arguably the most important thing for them to get right.
[Nexus 7 General] masterg0g0:
You are pretty damn unlucky, one more lost android customer?
[Nexus 7 General] expose11:
I have very little screen flicker on the lowest brightness and with weak wifi. For a while, that is what all the posts said. Now it seems the stories are becoming outlandish. And I'm not saying I don't believe anyone who says they returned 5,7,10 times, but I just can't imagine 1.a store that allows that 2.the person who would really go through all that. I mean my gosh who has that much time on their hands.

I don't know, some of this just smells troll to me.
[Nexus 7 General] wynand32:
There are likely a few reasons why a person might go through so many units trying to get a good one.

1. There's the simple fact that this is the only Nexus tablet available, and some folks want the benefits of a Nexus device. They might not go through the same things for the usual Android tablet.

2. Some people are just persistent, and when they want something they'll keep trying until they get it. They're likely this way with many things in their lives, and their efforts to get a defect-free Nexus 7 is just one example.

3. Some people get pissed off and frustrated, or maybe just fascinated, and the whole thing becomes something of a quest.

For me, it's elements of all three. I've decided to go with Nexus devices across the board, having grown weary of waiting for updates and of messing with vendor skins. I'm terribly persistent in general, and I just find it fascinating that a device can have so many different issues.

There's a fourth element, as well: the desire to spend one's money on products without obvious (to me) defects. That fits me as well.

Look, there are enough people who've went through an unusual number of units that there's obviously something going on. I'm on my 6th, and it's not perfect (distorted speaker), but I'm keeping it because it doesn't have the yellow tint that my other ones had and there are no dead pixels. I also haven't seen the flicker, maybe because I'm always within decent wifi range.

So, calling people trolls is unwarranted. Certainly, I think I have enough of a history on these forums to have earned at least the benefit of the doubt, and I'm definitely one of the people who've gone through numerous units in search of a good one.

And, I'll add that these issues seem endemic to the consumer electronics industry in general. I went through four iPad 3s in order to get one without its own yellow tint issue, and when I tried the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7", one out of two had it as well. So, ASUS isn't alone here.

I don't think anyone's trolling. I simply think that companies are making 10's or 100's of thousands, or millions, of units of relatively low-cost but incredibly complex devices, and the gross margins are so tight that corners are cut wherever possible. So, things like inconsistent LCDs, dead pixels, manufacturing defects, etc., happen because the money's not being spent to make things "perfect." And it works out, because many of the defects that are complained about on forums like this one are things most people don't even notice.

I'm sure if you look at ten MRI machines, you'll find a level of quality control and consistency that ensures that each one works absolutely perfectly. Then again, the machines cost millions of dollars, are made in very low quantities, and the consequence of defects is exceedingly dire. I mean, most people won't notice if their screens lift a millimeter more on one side than the other or if their screens have a single tiny dead pixel, but they'll certainly notice if an MRI puts an erroneous shadow on a scan and thus results in a wrong diagnosis. Or, for something like a CT scan, if the radiation levels are too high.
[Nexus 7 General] holymolys:
just wondering how much flickering is alot? sometimes the screens dims/brightens itself slightly when switching between apps, is that a defect or just a app thing?
[Nexus 7 General] Nascar Dog:
That's what mine does now.

Still not acceptable.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
Newest unit (third replacement)

This month made

SSN: C80KBC06****

Same old flicker.

You know what? I'm calling bull. The percentages we are getting here with replacements shows that if anything. This without flicker are in the minority.

I tried the tape mod, and it reduced my range.

I've had it. Calling Google for a refund. wish me luck. Next tablet probably will be an iPad Mini or a M$ Slate. Nothing else on the Android platform interests me.
[Nexus 7 General] masterg0g0:
:mad: sorry man but I think android has just started to become good with jelly bean and tegra.3 like processing power. The bad part is android need comparatively better hardware specs compared to its counterparts in Apple. If Microsoft does well with windows rt, we going to be some nice competition ahead
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
I am seriously starting to wonder if there are any devices that are flicker free. The reason that I say this is that it took me couple of days to establish that I have the flicker even on the replacement device. It is a difficult one to notice and not a very common setting. Will send it for a replacement again bit I have very little hope that the 3rd one will be defect free.

Definitely starting to annoy me
[Nexus 7 General] Outrager:
I'm in the same boat as you. This is my second one and I notice the quick constant flickering, especially on white/grey backgrounds, and it's very distracting at night when I usually use the device. Not to say I can't notice it in the morning with bright sunlight, but just not as much. The best way I can describe it is sort of like there's a layer of static going on behind the screen. (Interesting note, this shows up on my Asus VH242H monitor if you look closely on a non-movie image so I wonder if this is just normal LCD behavior or normal for Asus sourced screens.) I also got mine from Staples and I think I'm going to return it as well.

You say that other tablets don't have this problem? If so I hope the iPad Mini rumors are true. I really loved the Nexus 7 since it was my first Android device and I was even going to wait for the next Nexus phone to get as my first smartphone, but I just recently got a hand-me-down iPhone 4 so I'll pass on that. With both devices I can see the advantages and disadvantages of both OSes and I wouldn't mind using either one, but this screen flicker issue is really annoying and I like the stock experience of Android so I don't know if another Android tablet would suit me.
[Nexus 7 General] WizeGuyDezignz:
Well wonder no more because I have absolutely zero flicker at any brightness on any background or app. I was once skeptical too after going through 6 returns, but I'm not a skeptic anymore. Good units exist.

I don't think I will be able to do it tonight, but I will take a video and link the video through YouTube to show you. Stay tuned.
[Nexus 7 General] origin_of_symmetry:
Just an update on my predicament:

I suffered from the screen flicker last Saturday night, whilst reading a book via the Kindle app quite late at night with no light on in the room - the day after I posted on here.

Since then I've tried to replicate the issue in order to test some software fixes in the first instance, but the flicker just hasn't happened.... at all.... since last Saturday (11th).

:confused:

I realise this isn't some sort of miraculous Jesus tablet or anything, but it's really strange. I just can't make it do it again.

So.... I can't tell you what I did to make it stop. It just stopped. And it's been the same for the last 9 days. Hopefully it'll stay that way. :fingers-crossed:
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
You have my attention :)
[Nexus 7 General] Rycon33:
I have very very few random flicker when on white background like xda app. From my experience guys, my Sony Arc was heavily flickering when on low brightness when I first got the phone last time but it was resolved after a software update. Let's hope it's the same case here, software-related.

And on HTC one x thread wherein many people also have screen flicker issue(my one doesn't have fortunately), I think I read one time that some resolved it by leaving the phone at max brightness for few hours with it's display on the whole time. Then after that, they went back to autobrightness and they noticed the flickering was gone or at least minimized for some.

I'm personally not bothered by the random flickering on my N7 coz it's really not that frequent.

Edit: BTW, my SN is C70KBC.......

Tapatalked from my N7
[Nexus 7 General] bushpilotwannabe:
Count me among those who believe that flicker-free devices do exist. I never noticed it on my first, but unfortunately that one had to be returned due to the screen lift issue. My replacement has no defects other than the flicker, which I was able to work around at home by changing the WiFi channel. However, it still has the issue when connected to other routers, and I can't really change the channel on those, so I've sent for another one which is due to arrive around the end of the month. I'll let you guys know how that one works.
[Nexus 7 General] xzombiex66:
So the By changing the WiFi channel it fixed your flicker ? That's weird..
[Nexus 7 General] bushpilotwannabe:
Yeah, I've read the entire thread and it looks like it works for some people but not others. My best guess is that, depending on the environment, it needs varying amounts of power based on the channel and the distance from the router. It doesn't drop the signal (for me at least), but it will steal from the power going to the display if need be. I don't know enough about how it all works to speculate on why or what makes it tick, but if you're running into this issue, it's worth trying out different frequencies and seeing if some are better than others. For me, it was terrible on channel 6, but perfectly fine on 11.
[Nexus 7 General] JCSands1109:
+1 for Lux. Mine had a flicker at low backlight levels, especially with white/light backgrounds. I installed Lux and let it manage auto brightness, and I have been flicker free since.
[Nexus 7 General] spamlucal:
why didn't this post get more attention? it hit the nail on the head, this looks exactly like dynamic contrast on tvs and pc monitors

I hope they disable it I think it looks horrible
[Nexus 7 General] nolook:
I'm still flicker free using lux so I'm thinking this is a software issue...
[Nexus 7 General] 45FGF:
Unfortunately, I'd never heard of this problem, so I do not really understand.
[Nexus 7 General] masterg0g0:
If you want to see it we can exchange our tablets :)
[Nexus 7 General] Pepmaster:
I just wanted to add my case and confirm as well that it appears that when the screen is set on auto or on the lowest brightness setting it does appear to flicker. If you set it out of brightness and bring it up just a little more than 20% it seems to stop the "flicker" effect. In either way I would have to agree that the problem does appear to be software related rather than hardware. Thanks for reading :)
[Nexus 7 General] Solange82200:
Mine is to a certain extent. I only see it while on Google maps, and only on the lowest brightness setting. And even then I have to stare hard to catch it. I had one before this one that had it worse. I'm curious, those of you that have it, is it only on Google maps? Mine is really finally perfect in my eyes, after four replacements this barely noticeable flicker in an app I hardly use anyway is ok with me. And like I said, you have to be staring hard to catch it
[Nexus 7 General] sammyboy405:
I have it bad. I notice it more when I have a white background. But like most everyone else its only when I have a semi weak wifi signal. Once I have a 3 or more bars of WiFi it instantly goes away.

I really don't want to fool with a return. But I will if it can't be fixed with a software patch. I've read a couple other sites they say the WiFi antenna is to close to the backlight and a simple piece of electrical tape will fix it.

I don't know about you all but I'm not cracking my tablet open to see lol

---------- Post added at 03:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:08 AM ----------

Mine flickers on anything.only when WiFi signal is weak. Mainly on apps or webpages with a white background. And I think that's just because its more noticeable then.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
LUX DOESNT WORK

It just covers up the problem. This has been discussed again and again and we still have people such as yourself who dont bother to research the problem and make claims many have said and disproven in the past.

Its not software. Get over it. Get a new Nexus, get a refund, or deal with it.
[Nexus 7 General] jtrosky:
Guys - I think that this flickering (at least some of it), is in fact the "SmartDimmer" feature (which is *not* the same as auto-brightness). There is a way to disable the SmartDimmer if you are rooted. Here is a link to a post the describes the issue and the resolution:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=29793711

Hope that helps - sorry if this was already mentioned in this thread...
[Nexus 7 General] kalinf:
Once you get something thin enough wedged in the gap around the back casing it pops off simply enough - a fingernail will do. The tape trick works for me.

See here : http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1819596
[Nexus 7 General] parmend:
My screen doesn't flicker like some 7's that I've seen , but it does glitch kinda like the one x when it had problems . I'm not sure if its the same thing some of you guys are having
[Nexus 7 General] khaytsus:
Tried today, didn't seem to help flicker to me.