Flickering screens with Dell D3100 dock
 

Since a couple of months we are using multiple of the following setups:

- Dell Inspiron 15 (5567)

- Dell USB 3.0 dock D3100

- 2x Dell 24" screen S2415Hb

Some of my colleagues are using an Apple laptop. In all cases the same dock and screens are used.

On multiple (maybe all) setups screens flicker to black multiple times a day. This usually occurs when the desk is slightly touched. For example when someone stands up from his chair.

I am using the latest drivers. Have tried the Dell drivers (8.3.2010.0 ,A00-00 from 26 sep 2017) and now I am using the DisplayLink drivers (8.4 M0 from 11 dec 2017).

The problems still exist. I have tried changing cables (HDMI-cables). All plugs are grounded, so that can not be the cause.

Hello,
Is it a single blink or really flickering?
Is the content staying on that screen or is it moved to another display?

The trigger mechanism you describe is typical from ESD coming from gas lift chairs.
Do your HDMI cables have ferrite beads to eliminate transient spikes?
Do you also have the issue on DisplayPort or is that an HDMI only reproduction?

We have seen that HDMI is more sensitive to these spikes and the monitor would lose synchronisation. It takes about 1 second for the total occurrence... which is far too quick for Windows or a driver to do anything. I mean the OS takes more than a second to be able to show files on a simple flash drive.

That behaviour has been well known since 1993 when a white paper was written on that subject by Doug Smith.
Could you check the quality of your HDMI cable, if that's only taking place on HDMI?

Kind regards,
Alban