This post is more than 5 years old
5 Posts
2
26230
XPS 9370 13" HD screen colour tone problem
Hi all,
I'm having a problem with the screen on my brand new XPS 9370 13" (HD model, not 4K) which I'll do my best to try and describe. The tone of the screen changes depending on what's being displayed on the screen.
As an example, I'm currently typing this post on a page which is mainly white and gray. If I open my Start menu which is blue, the whites and grays go darker. As another example, if I'm scrolling through a web page with a solid background colour, the tone of the screen will constantly shift as I scroll through the different images and/or font colours.
To test this and make sure I wasn't just seeing things, I did a test in Paint. I started a new document, and drew a line down the middle of the page. I left the right side white and filled the left side with a different colour, one after the other. The tone of the white on the other side changed each time I changed the solid colour.
I find it quite jarring when I'm scrolling through pages and the colour tone of the screen is constantly changing. It's the same when switching between applications and windows as well. If I connect an external screen to the laptop, I can't replicate the problem so it is to do with the laptop screen.
So I just wanted to post on here and get some feedback. Has anyone else seen this problem? Is it 'normal' for an XPS display to do this? This is the first device I've had this happen on so I'm a bit concerned. I'll speak with Support on Monday but if anyone has any input, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks very much :)
Andrew.
Tobias0815
12 Posts
5
March 11th, 2018 12:00
I have not yet bought an XPS 9370 for me, since I'm still observing bug reports, to be finally sure to buy the right device for me.
Anyhow, I read some reports, which might describe and mention how to solve your issue. There is a "feature" which dynamically adjusts the screen brightness, depending on the content. In previous models, there was no option to deactivate that, but the 9370 should have that option within Bios. Check for something like deactivate CABC (Content Aware Brightness Control).
If your observed behavoir is related to that, can be checked here:
http://tylerwatt12.com/dc/
Best regards, Tobias
andrewsmith86
5 Posts
0
March 10th, 2018 16:00
Hi Perpetoom,
Thanks for the reply. I did do a factory restore which didn't resolve the problem. Night mode in Windows did cross my mind too but even with it disabled, the problem still exists.
I've checked my Intel GFX drivers and they are up to date as well.
Andrew.
perpetoom
81 Posts
0
March 10th, 2018 16:00
Is this happening on "fresh system state" or become visible after you updated everything and installed some apps? Can you revert back to factory defaults using notebook restore feature to try it out? Maybe you got enabled "night mode" in Windows and it's causing some unexpected issues?
Try to reset system and install latest graphics drivers from Intel website.
NOTE: Got FHD version and didn't encounter (at least yet) such issue, and did not came across thread mentioning about it in context XPS 9370 here, at dell-community-forums.
perpetoom
81 Posts
0
March 10th, 2018 17:00
I guess this is hardware issue, but you can:
All those things might help when contacting with Support and eventually finding the source of problem but unfortunately will not solve this issue.
andrewsmith86
5 Posts
0
March 11th, 2018 11:00
Thanks for the reply again.
Out of those recommendations, I have connected an external display and can't replicate the problem on it. The problem would seem to be with the laptop's display.
I've recorded a video of this using my phone's camera. It isn't the clearest but in the video, I use a blank Paint document and fill the left side of the screen black and leave the right side white. I then toggle the right side between solid black and white. You can just about see the rest of the screen changing tone when I shift between the two colours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4rm38TOpI
andrewsmith86
5 Posts
2
March 12th, 2018 11:00
Well Tobias, I think you've done it! I found an option under my 9370's BIOS called "Dynamic Backlight Control" under the "Video" section. Disabling this option has so far resolved the problem.
Before doing this, I tested the page you gave me with Night Light in Windows switched on. What I thought was really odd was that when going to the white page with the Dell logo on, for a moment the page would first be white and then seem to quickly change to the orange hue that Night Light applies to the screen. None the less, with the immediate change from the first black page to the second white page, I could see the Dell logo okay, although it seemed to fade in ever so slightly.
Then I disabled Night Light and tested my display using that page. When I changed from the black page to the white page, it was first solid white and then the Dell logo slowly appeared over 5 or so seconds, confirming your suspicions.
Having disabled Dynamic Backlight Control, my problem seems to have been resolved. I've just switched Night Light back on and that looks a lot better too.
I say "seems to have been resolved" because after I did my most recent factory restore, the problem went away but yet, Dynamic Brightness Control was not disabled in the BIOS yet. I immediately put this down to some sort of odd software problem. Then when I started to reinstall all my apps, the problem returned so I thought it must be software related even more. Maybe something was being communicated back to the UEFI, I don't know.
But yes, your suggestion has resolved my problem. Thanks very much Tobias!
Andrew.
Akungta
1 Message
0
June 28th, 2018 14:00
Thanks a lot! @andrewsmith86 I was planning to return the system with the assumption that something is wrong with the display. This fixed the issue for me too. I don't know why they will enable such an annoying feature.
bh13
1 Message
0
February 8th, 2019 10:00
Just wanted to add my thanks for this solution as well - was on the verge of returning an otherwise impressive machine (XPS 9380), but glad it didn't come to that! I thought it may be something specific to Ubuntu or the "Night Light" feature, never thought to look for a setting in the BIOS.
AlexConst
1 Message
0
January 9th, 2020 10:00
Thanks a lot, never thought about looking it up in the Bios. I wouldn't have spotted it in the Bios even if trying to troubleshoot the problem. On my XPS 13 7390 the entry is under Video disguised as "Eco Display". Who would have guessed??