yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 7 General] id628:
Light sensor?

According to the app "Custom Auto Brightness" by Dmitry Matuzko, it might be the light sensor. It jumps around like crazy, even when the light isn't changing. Using that app instead of the built-in autobrightness seems to have helped my Nexus 7 a bit.
[Nexus 7 General] kangxi:
Off topic a bit, but I hate silent videos! Talk! Say something! LOL! Then another guy posted another one. What the heck am I looking at? LOL. Just a pet peeve.

Anyway, no screen flicker here.
[Nexus 7 General] R3dbeaver:
my screen flicker experience:

was reading some tech news article during the night at complete darkness, and it started flickering. i thought, maybe now that its in the dark i just start noticing it??

then i really look into it and i notice it... it's the auto-brightness that's being too sensitive.

when the article is mostly text, the screen is bright due to the white background and small font, and the nexus try to reduce the brightness as it reflects... my face? i was holding it pretty close, about 1ft. then when it got darker, it detects that too and try to increase it abit. this go back and forth for about 2-3 seconds before it settles.

then i change into a full-color article which is darker due to pictures and images, and the opposite happens. 2-3 sec flickers before it settles.

so i turned off Auto-brightness, set it to 20~30%, and voila...

no more flickering.
[Nexus 7 General] gerrylum:
I am returning my C70KBC16**** because of the flicker issue. I'll post the results from the replacement when I get it hopefully in a few days.
[Nexus 7 General] Luxferro:
This thread is a waste and just a spread of misinformation. The OP didn't confirm anything.

It just annoys me how people say things that aren't true. It's one thing to guess, or state a theory, but it's not the same as saying something is true for a fact. Just like the people that say the screen screws are the reason for the screen lift - no one confirmed it by taking measurements of the screw or thickness of the bezels.
[Nexus 7 General] JaSauders:
What about auto brightness disabled, and your brightness set to 0-10%? All of these reports surrounding the auto brightness have never really hit home with me seeing as though I've always had the flicker without the auto brightness even enabled. It's pretty subtle compared to some videos I've seen, but it's irritating enough to warrant a replacement, which I'm in the process of doing now.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
Please save your denials for the correct thread. Its annoying.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1740385

This thread was set up by the original OP to give before and after for exchangers to help see if we can find a pattern via SN or other. I will agree the hardware change portion of the title is misleading as we don't know if its faulty assembly by one of the production lines for these.

Also auto brightness has nothing to do with this issue. Nor the light sensor. See the above master thread on how to correctly check your unit.

1. Set brightness below 30% (not at 0) with auto brightness turned off

2. Have a weak wireless signal. Like only 1 bar.

3. Play around in a active net program with a light background (off white versus pure white seems to work better at showing). Like Google Maps, or other. Play with for a minute or two and see if you have an issue like showing in the OP video. If you really want to stress test it have something downloading in the background while your checking. That really makes it apparent.

If you have the problem or not post in the original topic above. If you replace your unit please post the results in here.
[Nexus 7 General] hullbay:
This is awesome news, can anyone else confirm this!?
[Nexus 7 General] R3dbeaver:
i had the issues fixed with Auto-Brightness DISABLED. see below for further testing.

1. done.

2. done. my bedroom from the living room.

3. opened maps. opened google currents. play Heroes Call THD. all the while downloading a firmware ROM from XDA app. no flicker.

sorry i posted here, ill move on to the next thread. but i just want to post this last one to reply.
[Nexus 7 General] styxx:
I used to have really baaad flickering everywhere when connected to wifi. Recently, its gone. I am unable to reproduce it anymore. Maybe once a week I find myself thinking whether I am seeing flickering or just my eyes are tricking me. It used to be obvious clear flickering before. I don't know what to think anymore.
[Nexus 7 General] JaSauders:
I just caught wind that Wal-Mart got in some Nexus 7's yesterday. I wonder if they're part of the "2nd wave hardware revision" that we're all hearing about. If not, yay for return policies.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
Don't suppose you could post part of your csn and sn ?
[Nexus 7 General] Kitten Mittens:
My Thunderbolt flickers a bit whenever it is loading something it's mostly noticeable on a gray background. I did the maps test on my Nexus 7 waited and waited and no flickering.

I'm curious about the serial numbers though. Mine is the original one I preordered on July 2nd, and it's C50KBC021xxx. C = 2012 5 = May, so mine is the first 21,000 batch made in May? Do the last 6 digits reset every month? Another poster on here was in the 14,000 in June, so I would assume so.
[Nexus 7 General] DualSportDad:
I just turned my auto brightness off... screen to about 25% and I still have the flicker.... although not as bad/ often while in tapatalk. Maps is awful tho.
[Nexus 7 General] YomsThe3rd:
Yeah sorry, there was some talk, but I killed all audio as it was mixed in with my kids yelling loudly :). Said kids would not allow for a redo on video ;).
[Nexus 7 General] R3dbeaver:
SN: 015D17******FC01

whats CSN?

there is an Item# 90OK0MW******0U
[Nexus 7 General] t_007_v2:
I have had the screen flicker issue on my N7 using chrome & opera. Interestingly I bought a screen dimmer from play yesterday that has contrast and brightness sliders. Using screendim app flickering has vanished on my N7 so it sure looks like a software issue to me. Just stoked to have the issue fixed.
[Nexus 7 General] DualSportDad:
Care to share a link to the app?
[Nexus 7 General] naqlc:
My Nexus 7 flickers in Chrome, Kindle, and Maps. I've even noticed it slightly in the Launcher with a bright background and with full strength Wi-fi. So it si going back to Google with the replacement on order.

For reference here is the SSN and CSSN for the flickering one:

CSSN: 015D24A8190xxxxx

SSN: C60KBC22xxxx

Edit: I forgot to add that I got the flicker with the automatic backlight off with brightness set below 30% too.
[Nexus 7 General] chubb16:
My Nexus 7 purchased from Gamestop is pretty good, no dead pixels, no separation, but it does flicker. Not all the time but i do notice it. At first i thought it was the light sensor after i installed a screen protector, but i shut off auto-brightness and it was still doing it.

I am in the 30 day return window with gamestop, they would have to get me one from another store cause they arent expecting any in at all. I kinda wanted to wait for a new run to get shipped but dealing with a rma from asus looks like a nightmare.

Did anyone have any luck with replacements from gamestop?
[Nexus 7 General] GotLoveForAll:
I have the flicker issue on stock rom

I have the flicker issue on reset stock rom

I have the flicker issue on custom rom

:(

---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

The droid X issue was not a brightness flicker issue, it was items actually flicking across the screen really fast. lol
[Nexus 7 General] compumasta:
In reality, all of this RMAing doesn't make any sense. Nothing has been changed and yet people want to send their devices back to exchange them like they're baseball cards. I haven't read many responses of people who have this issue and are going to wait until Google offers a software update for the problem or until there is a hardware revision so that they can get one that actually works. Seems like a combination of things, which most likely can and will be fixed with a software or firmware update. Either way though, swapping them out ten times makes literally NO sense. Some of the people in this forum seem like they just came off the Apple train and have yet to begin the utilization of their neurons. This is supposed to be a community of thinkers and people who actually figure out HOW things work, WHY they don't work, and HOW they can make them better. Any more it seems like it has become a small collection of thinkers surrounded by a mass of run-amok-idiots-on-fire.

/endrant
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
SSN is more useful since it gives a better idea of when the device was manufactured. CSSN, on the other hand, appears to get reset for a refurbished device and is tied to Google Play and Wallet. Both are printed on the sticker on the box.

Unit shipped from B&H on 7/19 with SSN C60KBC29XXXX has eratic ungrounded touch input and more obvious screen flicker.

Unit bought from Staples on 7/17 with SSN C60KBC3XXXXX has eratic ungrounded touch input but less obvious screen flicker.

Does anyone have a unit with SSN higher than C60KBC3XXXXX? MacMall retail store just got in another shipment today. I might make the drive and buy one.
[Nexus 7 General] YomsThe3rd:
So expecting a non-defective product on purchase an idiot makes?

The Google Device exchange policy:

In other words, after 15 days of my purchase, I would have had to deal with Asus and a warranty repair. Meaning that I would have to send in my device and wait for them to fix it at their leisure. (http://www.service.asus.com/#!Tablet Warranty/ctzm)

My personal experience is that a change in device completely eliminated my flicker problem, and I decided to document that through video. By "Hardware Change Confirmation" I meant that a change in hardware eliminated my flicker problem, i.e. confirmed that there was at least a role that hardware is playing in this issue. Maybe a poor choice of words? I don't know...

Can it be fixed with a firmware update? Software update? Maybe. But a hardware change fixed it for me, and I shared my experience. If you would rather wait and see if it is fixable by firmware/software upgrade, then just keep in mind that you'll be dealing with Asus directly for warranty service if it doesn't. And if you're cool with that, then great.

I don't see how that makes you a "thinker" and anyone else "run-amok-idiots-on-fire".
[Nexus 7 General] Weeps:
Never had this issue.
[Nexus 7 General] compumasta:
Expecting a non-defective product does not make anyone an idiot. Exchanging one upwards of ten times could make someone clinically insane. You know, that whole repeating the same thing and expecting a different result thing?

You may want to reread that Google policy quote, because no where there does it say that Google would even take care of exchanges at all. It does appear that they are, however. But according to that, they don't have to.

And don't you dare call me a thinker. I have way to much fun being a run-amok-idiot-on-fire. ;)

Just sayin.
[Nexus 7 General] kenyee:
Someone on Android Central got one from Wally World with the same hope. Nope. Left screen separation too.

I happened to be in a local Staples this morning and for some reason, they had the 8GB version...couldn't see flicker, but they had full wifi signal. The left side of the screen was spongy though. Not sure what Asus is doing...this is a known problem and should have been fixed weeks ago and the 8GB ones were probably just released :p
[Nexus 7 General] JaSauders:
Can't say I have the same screen separation here. My Wal-Mart unit is perfectly fine. There again, the employee specifically told me he "just got these in", so I have to wonder if they managed to either A: squeak out of wave 2, or B: simply got lucky again with the draw. Either way, in this scenario we have a Wal-Mart purchased unit in southeastern PA = :good:
[Nexus 7 General] Lodovik:
Good point! Do you wear glasses? It could reflect on it too.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
So in other words since you got lucky with yours, us who did not are screwed? Ever think all these returns might make them correct the problem sooner than later?

---------- Post added at 02:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 AM ----------

This was gone over in the main thread. Unless your screen dimmer is working with the units brightness below 30%. You have done nothing other than change the LCD. You can tell as your home button will still be full brightness. The actual backlight is untouched.. So while it may visually look dimmer its still sucking more power. As you have to keep it above 30% system brightness.

It also fwiw causes banding since it squishes the value range.
[Nexus 7 General] matthewr87:
Just picked one up in Staples in Southwestern Ontario yesterday (it had literally just arrived in store). SSN: C70KBC27XXXX

I am returning it today because it also has screen separation. I didn't see any screen flicker. It was the best of the 4 tablets that I have owned, however the screen was still discernibly loose and I don't want to keep a device that is defective.
[Nexus 7 General] MattSkeet:
Google should never ask Asus to make a device for them .... cmon this is clearly hardware issue and QC problem ....

My first transformer had nearly identical issues ...

Screen collapsed in to the frame ... gap of about 2mm between LCD and the glass in one of the corners another unit had light bleeds ....

Now nexus nearly identical problems with hardware WTF ....

just returned my 2nd nexus but they don't have any spare ones in hmv (UK) got a refund ... will wait till Google it Asus release new batch with all problems fixed ...
[Nexus 7 General] GotLoveForAll:
I envy you. :(

I'm still waiting fit BestBuy to get more in stock.
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
That's insignificant especially when it's a fraction of a human hair compared to much worse issues like bad pixels, back light bleed or screen flicker. I would keep it.

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 PM ----------

Waited for a new shipment to arrive at the local MacMall retail store. Display unit with SSN C60KBC29XXX didn't have the screen flicker. I asked the store employee to grab the highest SSN from new shipment SSN C70KBC168XXX but it had screen flicker. Had him grab another from a different batch SSNC70KBC163XXX and it was perfect with no screen flicker along with no bad pixels and no backlight bleed. Bought it. I don't care if the left edge is not flush by a fraction of a hair as that's insignificant. My 1st unit SSN C60KBC3XXXX was also perfect but sold to a friend so he didn't have to wait while 2nd unit SSN C60KBC29XXX had screen flicker and was returned.

The verdict is there's no rhyme or reason to the SSN as it's pretty much luck. Best bet is buy it from local store and check before you leave. Left edge and ungrounded touch input are insignificant so buy it/keep it if it doesn't have bad pixels, back light bleed or screen flicker (even this has limited visibility since it only shows with brightness turned all the way down and both WIFI and GPS active).
[Nexus 7 General] godrno:
FWIW I experience screen flicker with my brightness set to anything lower than 30% and with GPS turned off. GPS doesn't have anything to do with it. It only happens with WIFI actively transmitting and screen set lower than 30%.
[Nexus 7 General] gerrylum:
Just got my replacement N7 from the Play store today. Fingers crossed, but I have not noticed any screen flicker on this unit, even in a totally dark room.
[Nexus 7 General] Shamushand:
Turn brightness to 0, pan around in maps and load a page in Chrome. If you don't see a flicker, you're golden!
[Nexus 7 General] gerrylum:
Yup, that was my first test when I got it! No flicker!
[Nexus 7 General] dansan382:
for those who got replacements with no flicker im curious if there was any change in screen lift at all
[Nexus 7 General] gerrylum:
It's only been a day since I got my replacement, but there's no noticeable screen lift on this unit, whereas my last one had quite a bit.
[Nexus 7 General] johnmurrayvi:
I got a replacement yesterday. No flicker so far, but I haven't used it much. I'm pretty frustrated though, because the screen separation is much worse and the screen is comparatively MUCH dimmer than my original. Holding them side by side, both with automatic brightness on, the difference very noticeable.

I'd rather keep my original one.
[Nexus 7 General] kenyee:
Gerry:

What's your SSN?

The C70K might indicate a new rev...or they managed to sell over 1 million and the 6 digits at the end wasn't enough :o
[Nexus 7 General] naqlc:
My old one didn't have screen lift and my replacement doesn't either.
[Nexus 7 General] gerrylum:
The replacement is C70KBC45****.
[Nexus 7 General] WizeGuyDezignz:
You are 1000% factually incorrect. There are units from the first shipped all the way up until now that are defect free. I know this because I now own a perfect and defect free device after multiple exchanges. And my coworker got a defect free on his first one which was a preorder.

So your theory is debunked completely. With that being said, telling people to not exchange a defective product until they get a non-defective product is absurd. My current unit has zero screen lift/separation, screen flicker or any other problem. It is possible to get one without a hardware or software revision.
[Nexus 7 General] Kitten Mittens:
The first letter is the year, C: 2012, the second number is the month it was produced, 7: July. From what I've seen on here most preorders are C6 (June), mine is C5 (May). The consensus in this thread seems to be that later devices aren't exempt from the issues.
[Nexus 7 General] thenewire:
I have also been experiencing the flicker (or wifi screen interference) most prominently visible while using Google maps and occasionally the Chrome browser. When I'm in the maps app the flicker is clearly visible at intervals of 2-3 seconds without the need of any touch input.

I managed to get rid of the flicker by going into 'location services' and disabling 'Google's location service.' I believe the problem, which could still be hardware related, has something to do with how the location service function is coded and has nothing to do with the display.

Hope this helps someone else get rid of this annoying issue.
[Nexus 7 General] Shamushand:
So they accidentally coded the location service to change brightness sporadically? The reason why the flicker is gone when you turn that off Google's Location Service is because it uses wifi to determine your location, and the root of the flickering issue is the wifi chip interfering with the backlight.

This also explains why not all units flicker when panning in Maps.

Sent from my SGH-I997
[Nexus 7 General] thenewire:
I'm not saying it isn't a hardware problem but implying that it can be fixed through software update.
[Nexus 7 General] jameswf:
If I turn off autobrightness and crank it up it goes away. So I am thinking a simple fix is to set the minimum brightness level...

By the way I took mine back to a different staples than the one i purchased from and the flicker is on both when autobrightness is on.

I just need to find $200 I can live without for a week to process an RMA with google.
[Nexus 7 General] oldpueblo:
I can't tell if I have this issue or if I just don't care. Is flickering the best way to describe it or is the brightness adjusting up and down randomly a better way? I think of flickering like rapid..well...flickering. It's looking like that's not really what happens. Either way if I have it then it doesn't bug me.
[Nexus 7 General] gerrylum:
It's the brightness adjusting up and down randomly in extremely rapid succession so as to appear to be flickering. "Flicker" is definitely an accurate description of what it looks like.
[Nexus 7 General] AZKJS:
Incredible. There has to be some relation to the google location service, and screen "flicker" at lower brightness levels.

I have turned off all location services except the GPS itself. And disabled the auto backlight. There is very little to no "flicker" remaining.

Both chrome and the maps app are working within tolerable levels at the lowest brightness with these settings.
[Nexus 7 General] WizeGuyDezignz:
I can assure you that shouldn't be the reason that you are getting flickering. I'm glad it helped you but it's not a real fix.

Reason why I say this is because I have all 3 boxes checked in location services and my Nexus 7 doesn't flicker at all on any brightness setting including the lowest.

It's simply a hardware issue and you should get a replacement. I had 6 of them with screen flicker. My 7th was the winner and has absolutely zero screen flicker even on Google Maps.
[Nexus 7 General] kenyee:
Thanks. That encoding makes sense.

Oh well...back to nexus roulette for me then...3 C60K's had flicker in my setup and all 3 went back...looks like it's time to try a C70K :p
[Nexus 7 General] IceColdKila:
Need to find C80K Model thats the ticket.

Not gonna bother anymore.
[Nexus 7 General] malawito:
I need to put some network traffic (e.g. download podcast) to see the issue. So looks related to the WiFi. Also its interesting that if disabling location services reduces it. Could be the channel looping to look for networks? ... as usually the WiFi chipset is also the Bluetooth on. I'm gonna be doing some stress test with my BT headset tomorrow and I'll pt here the results

BTW mine is c7 bought last week.
[Nexus 7 General] Sarxs:
My first model was a C60, the screen/bezel was terrible on it, standing up far above the case on the left side.

Return 1 from Google took about 6 days.

Second N7 was just as bad, return took about 3? days.

Third one looked good and I was super excited, its a C70 numbering pattern.

Cue last night when I was going to read an ebook as I went to sleep with the lights off in my room, I load up chrome for a second to Google something and ... Is that flickering like mad? No ... can't be. Load another web page ... more flickering.

Google "Nexus 7 screen flickering" and wind up reading this fun mess.

The conditions from the original post seem to be about right for me, low screen brightness, non maximum wifi signal and transmitting data. I actually see it worse in Chrome than in Maps but its there in both cases.

If I turn off auto brightness and jack the brightness up to about 40% it goes away. Setting beside my router, I can't reliably replicate the problem, although I still catch a little flicker in Maps.

It seems like this is something that could be fixed via software, I mean if it were a hardware issue wouldn't it flicker constantly?

I guess I will call Google support tomorrow. Are the hold times still absolutely ridiculous?
[Nexus 7 General] oldpueblo:
I have two C60 and for what it's worth they're both perfect. Speakers, screens, etc. So far anyway.
[Nexus 7 General] Kitten Mittens:
I've mentioned this a few times before but it seems like people still aren't getting it. The C5, C6, C7, C8 etc. at the beginning of the serial number are just date codes, not revisions of the hardware. The letter C being the year (2012) and the number being the month of the year it was produced, 5 is May, 6 is June etc. I wouldn't read too much into the serial numbers though, just because you have a later or earlier model doesn't mean it will be prone to or exempt from defects, every batch has been reported to have some defective units.
[Nexus 7 General] kenyee:
We already figured out the flickering is related to Wifi...read back in the thread a bit :P

Location services looks for wifi access points as well, so no surprise either...
[Nexus 7 General] rhodes588:
So I just got off the phone with a Google representative about my screen flickering issue at low brightness and was told by him that they are no longer replacing devices and that they are working on a software update. I assured him what I've read here and all over the internet that people were receiving new devices that fixed the problem and was told to wait for the update and if that doesn't fix it, to call back for a return under the manufacturer warrantee.

Anyone want to chime in on this?