Yellow hazy vertical line on left side of screen

[T.J. Godin]

I remember reading about this issue on the first gen Surface Pro, but I believe history may be repeating itself with the Surface Pro 3. I had my unit for 2 weeks when I began to notice it, in particular when web browsing with white backgrounds.

So, I exchanged my unit and now believe even my new unit may have the beginnings of the same issue - only a few days into using it. It is a very faint hazy yellow vertical line, maybe a quarter of an inch wide along the left side of the screen. Makes me wonder if there is a component behind the screen which is heating up causing it. (I've seen that before on Lenovo tablets)

Anyone else experiencing the same?

 

[wynand32]

Not on my SP3, but my Dell Venue 8 Pro has a slight dark gray haze along both sides. I think it's something about the screen not being secured and letting light leak through (or perhaps something getting in the way of letting light through, since with the Dell it's a darker shadow).

 

[wynand32]

As an update, I just studied my SP3 for a bit, and I can just barely make out what you're talking about. I really had to concentrate, though. Now that I've seen it one, of course, I can't unsee it, but really it doesn't bother me.

When my SP3 is on an all-black screen (say, at boot) and I wipe the screen with a microfiber cloth, I can see an area of distortion along the left side when I put pressure there. This probably indicates a design issue of some kind.

 

[wynand32]

So, as another update, I now have the entire left-hand side of my screen showing a distinct yellow tint. I'm 99% sure it wasn't like this when I bought it, and so it would seem that my screen is failing.

Anyone else experiencing anything like this?

 

[GreyFox7]

Just speculating but be careful with putting tablets into stuffed bags ... the pressure on the screen may cause issues...

 

[supervelous]

Honestly, I think this issue may possibly be more widespread than we think. I have had 2 Surface Pros so far and both have this exact line, a hazy orangy-yellow line going down the left side. I went to the MS Store and examined the ones on display and they didn't seem to have the issue. However, I then took out my Surface Pro 3 in the store and it also didn't appear to have the issue. I concluded that it's hard to see in very bright lighting like they have in the MS Store. As soon as I get home in dim lighting I can see it again, on both my units.

I am returning both and have ordered the i7 256GB. We'll see if that also has the issue. I hope not, but if so I think I can live with it, but will monitor the situation in case this is just an issue with early production units. Maybe I just have bad luck in going 0-2, but if it's 0-3 that would be a huge coincidence.

 

[GreyFox7]

Honestly, I think this issue may possibly be more widespread than we think. I have had 2 Surface Pros so far and both have this exact line, a hazy orangy-yellow line going down the left side. I went to the MS Store and examined the ones on display and they didn't seem to have the issue. However, I then took out my Surface Pro 3 in the store and it also didn't appear to have the issue. I concluded that it's hard to see in very bright lighting like they have in the MS Store. As soon as I get home in dim lighting I can see it again, on both my units.

I am returning both and have ordered the i7 256GB. We'll see if that also has the issue. I hope not, but if so I think I can live with it, but will monitor the situation in case this is just an issue with early production units. Maybe I just have bad luck in going 0-2, but if it's 0-3 that would be a huge coincidence.

So if you change your desktop background to solid blue or create a doc that solid blue and view it full screen does it appear to go all the way around the screen? edge lighting.

 

[wynand32]

So if you change your desktop background to solid blue or create a doc that solid blue and view it full screen does it appear to go all the way around the screen? edge lighting.

Nope, it's just on the left-hand side and as @supervelous notes there's a small gap between the yellow line and the edge of the screen. As I note there's the screen distortion in the same line when pressure is applied, and so I'm thinking it's something structural.

I've run into some other folks who have the problem, and so I don't think it's terribly isolated. I'd love to know if it's possible to get a machine without it, and without the yellow tint I mention above. Really, it's the only problem I have with mine. Overall I love the SP3 enough to deal with these sorts of issues.

 

[wynand32]

So, I decided to go ahead and process an advanced exchange of this unit given the issue in this thread (along with some yellow tint that's developed on the left half of the screen), and I'll report back on whether the replacement has the issue as well.

As an aside, the process was easy and painless, and Microsoft covers express shipping in both direction (as they should). I'm not sure if I'll get a new unit or a refurb, but I'm not too concerned so long as everything is in good shape. And, given how this thing is built, I'm fully expecting a new unit; I really wonder if Microsoft will even bother trying to refurb these things.

 

[Kif]

I've gone down this road into the past and it's not pretty. I don't remember the specifics but there is a known issue with thin high-res LCD screens that can causes a yellow tint. I think it's pretty common and I've noticed it on several iPad's and an iMac I've owned. My experience is that you can swap devices and you might see a slight improvement but it never fully goes away. My currently strategy is to not look of it and I usually quickly forget about it. I've listed below multiple macrumor threads where yellow fever went rampant.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1660649

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1660649

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1665350

 

[Ph33zy]

This just happened to my SP3 i5 8GB 256GB. Bought one on launch day and I just noticed it today. I really want to return it, but am worried that it will just come back on the replacement.

This should be covered under the 1 year limited warranty right? I didn't buy Complete since I'm usually good at babying my toys. I'm thinking of waiting towards the end of the year to exchange it and hoping MFST perfects their assembly/QA.

 

[i3po]

This scares me honestly. I had a huge battle with apple after I got a ipad mini retina last december. I noticed a yellow screen tint on the lower 4th of the display. I called apple, and they told me to send it in for a repair, but the person on the other side also sent a replacement. I was told "no it will fall off and you won't get the replacement if you send back the repair. I asked if they were sure because I could see on my account that it was shipped. They said yes (although they couldn't actually see what I was seeing because some other service handles shipping or something ridiculous.)

Sure enough they sent me the replacement (which had a WORSE yellow screen) while the other ipad was being repaired. I called again, had to explain the whole situation again and no one could see or understand what was going on. They said keep that one and you get the repair back...guess what the repair came back and they didn't even fix anything because they didn't see the problem (or saw it and purposely ignored it. So no I have two ipad mini retinas at this point. I contacted with a manager who literally told me, this has been such a bad situation to just keep both. I wasn't sure about this but I believe them for some stupid reason. Couple a weeks later I was being told to either return and ipad or pay 400 dollars. I called the apple again and they said they would "never do that" and basically told me I was lying about the situation even though they decided to give me a 100 dollar gift card which seems like an admission of guilt to me.

Literally the worst customer service experience I have EVER had in my entire life. I have return 100 if not 1000 of dollars of stuff to amazon and it was no problem at all. I will never buy another apple product as long as I live.

Consumer electronics are made like such garbage lately. I'm hesitant to even buy a surface pro 3 after reading this thread.