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The Alienware 15 R4 is a 15-inch gaming laptop released an an update to the previous Alienware 15 R3. The new model was released in 2018 with an 8th-generation Intel processor inside.

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Random Screen Dimming and Flickering

My computer is an Alienware 15 R4. The screen randomly starts flickering and dimming. When I connect it to power the flickering decreases a bit and the brightness increases but the screen is still very dim even with brightness at 100%. I’ve had this computer for over two years and still haven’t found the solution. Sometimes it doesn’t happen for weeks and sometimes I can’t get rid of it.

I don’t know if it’s hardware or software problem. This doesn’t happen when connected to an external display. I’ve tried everything I’ve found online

What I’ve tried

deleting screen drivers and reinstalling , reinstalling windows, changing power settings to high performance, changing nvdia control panel settings to high performance, changing refresh rate, etc.

Maybe it’s a hardware problem but i find it strange due to the problem decreasing once I connect it to power. Don’t know what else to try

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Hi,

Create a Win 10 battery report to check the status of the battery. Compare design capacity versus full charge capacity to see if it is OK. It may be that the screen is dimming due to the power management in the laptop trying to maintain the system operating with reduced power due to the battery not managing whereas with the external source it is OK

If the battery appears to be OK then it seems like it is either a backlight power supply problem or more likely at faulty video cable connection, a damaged video cable where it passes through the hinge to get to the LCD unit or a faulty LCD display unit.

Here’s the service manual for the laptop. Go to p.69 to view the necessary pre-requisite steps and then the procedure to remove the display unit.

This will allow you to inspect the video cable connection for starters and if it appears to be OK then after that you may have to remove the display panel so that you can check the video cable connection at the panel (I’m not sure if it is the plug in type or whether it may be hard wired into the panel).

Once you have accessed the panel on the back, usually there is the make and model number of the panel itself. Search online for (insert make and model number) datasheet. If you find it then this gives the pinout of the wires in the video cable which will allow you to check if the backlight power supply voltage which is also fed through the same cable is stable or varying at the motherboard video cable connector.

With most laptops there are 3 backlight power wires and 3 earth return wires for the backlights. This doesn’t mean that there are 3 separate power supplies. It is the one supply spread over 3 wires because of the amount of current that each wire has to carry. One wire is not big enough to carry it all alone as they are only thin wires.

It may turn out that it is a faulty display panel in which case it will have to be replaced as it cannot be repaired.

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