Win8 Lenovo X1 Carbon with USB 3 Dock: Display Artifacts

jaredmny · 02-27-2013, 11:05 PM

Hello all. Just received a new Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch running Windows 8. The internal display works great standalone, however when I add their "USB 3 Dock" with external monitors, the monitors have an annoying artifact; It is most noticeable as a subtle flicker in any white portion of a window that seems to occur any time the window is updated or there is CPU activity. It seems to be worst when scrolling black text on a white background. Also very noticeable in any vertical lines in a window, as they will seem to "jump" back and forth horizontally as you scroll. The effect is very distracting. I've tried replacing the USB 3 Dock, but didn't make a difference. I've tried multiple resolutions with both dual and single monitors, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference, either. I've tried the latest drivers from both the Lenovo and the DisplayLink website, no change. I've tried forcing the USB 3 drivers to an Intel version instead of the Microsoft version as I had read that their might be a problem with the bandwidth available when using the stock version... No change.

I've also had times where a portion of the monitor will get blurry/pixelated for a second, then resolve. The cursor for my wireless mouse (receiver is connected via the dock's USB hub) will occasionally pause and not respond for a couple of seconds.

I've read a comment in another forum from someone experiencing similar symptoms, but the response they got from another use was that this is normal compression artifacts for DisplayLink adapters running over the bandwidth-constrained USB3 interface. However, I find this hard to believe as these artifacts are very visible and I can't imagine most users would find them acceptable.

Further, upon working through Lenovo technical support, they told me that they don't think that the graphics adapter in this laptop is going to be compatible with the USB 3 Dock. Now, this seems like a load of crap, but it was repeated by at least two different technicians. They have advised me to return the laptop and dock and purchase a different product.

I've read through the forum and it seems like other users are occasionally seeing similar behavior, though it is tricky to tell if the symptoms are an exact match.

Any thoughts on whether this is expected behavior or how to resolve?

Thanks!

02-27-2013, 11:05 PM	#1
jaredmny Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 10	Win8 Lenovo X1 Carbon with USB 3 Dock: Display Artifacts Hello all. Just received a new Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch running Windows 8. The internal display works great standalone, however when I add their "USB 3 Dock" with external monitors, the monitors have an annoying artifact; It is most noticeable as a subtle flicker in any white portion of a window that seems to occur any time the window is updated or there is CPU activity. It seems to be worst when scrolling black text on a white background. Also very noticeable in any vertical lines in a window, as they will seem to "jump" back and forth horizontally as you scroll. The effect is very distracting. I've tried replacing the USB 3 Dock, but didn't make a difference. I've tried multiple resolutions with both dual and single monitors, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference, either. I've tried the latest drivers from both the Lenovo and the DisplayLink website, no change. I've tried forcing the USB 3 drivers to an Intel version instead of the Microsoft version as I had read that their might be a problem with the bandwidth available when using the stock version... No change. I've also had times where a portion of the monitor will get blurry/pixelated for a second, then resolve. The cursor for my wireless mouse (receiver is connected via the dock's USB hub) will occasionally pause and not respond for a couple of seconds. I've read a comment in another forum from someone experiencing similar symptoms, but the response they got from another use was that this is normal compression artifacts for DisplayLink adapters running over the bandwidth-constrained USB3 interface. However, I find this hard to believe as these artifacts are very visible and I can't imagine most users would find them acceptable. Further, upon working through Lenovo technical support, they told me that they don't think that the graphics adapter in this laptop is going to be compatible with the USB 3 Dock. Now, this seems like a load of crap, but it was repeated by at least two different technicians. They have advised me to return the laptop and dock and purchase a different product. I've read through the forum and it seems like other users are occasionally seeing similar behavior, though it is tricky to tell if the symptoms are an exact match. Any thoughts on whether this is expected behavior or how to resolve? Thanks!