Not all flickering is the same
Before diving into fixes, identify what kind of flickering you are seeing. This tells you where the problem is:
Full screen flickering: The entire display goes dark and back. Often a cable, driver or refresh rate issue.
Flickering in specific areas: Part of the screen flickers or flashes. Could be backlight, panel fault or brightness sensor.
Rapid low-level flicker you feel more than see: Often PWM backlight dimming. More visible when moving your eyes.
Flickering only in certain apps or games: Usually a GPU driver, HDR or color depth compatibility issue.
Step 1: Check the cable
Loose or damaged HDMI and DisplayPort cables are a very common cause of flickering. The connectors move slightly in daily use and a pin that is slightly out of contact causes intermittent signal drops that look like flickering.
Step 2: Check the refresh rate
The monitor refresh rate and GPU output frequency must match. A mismatch can cause a regular pulsing or flickering effect.
On Windows: Display Settings, then Advanced Display Settings. Verify the refresh rate matches your monitor spec.
If you recently updated drivers, the display settings sometimes reset to 60Hz even on a 144Hz monitor. Set it back to the rated frequency.
Step 3: Update or roll back graphics drivers
GPU driver bugs cause flickering in some monitor and game combinations. This is especially common after major driver updates.
Try rolling back to a previous driver using DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) in safe mode for a clean slate. Then install a driver from 1-2 versions back and test.
Step 4: Disable hardware acceleration in specific apps
Some browser and application flickering is caused by GPU hardware acceleration conflicting with the display driver. Try disabling hardware acceleration in Chrome, Firefox or your problem application and see if the flickering stops.
In Chrome: Settings, System, then turn off Use hardware acceleration when available.
Step 5: Check HDR settings
Windows HDR can cause flickering or brightness oscillation on monitors that technically support HDR but have poor implementation. If you have HDR enabled in Windows Display Settings, try disabling it and see if flickering stops.
Some monitors flicker when transitioning between HDR and SDR content. This is normal behavior for those panels and is not a fault.
Step 6: Test with a different input source
Connect a laptop, game console or another computer to the monitor using the same cable and input port. If the flickering disappears, the issue is with the original computer or GPU, not the monitor itself.
If flickering continues on a different source, it confirms the monitor or cable is the problem.
Step 7: PWM sensitivity
If you have ruled out cables, drivers and settings, and still experience what feels like flickering at lower brightness levels, you may be sensitive to PWM backlight dimming.
Our PWM Flicker Test tool can give an indication of whether your monitor uses PWM. The camera test is more reliable: point a phone camera at the screen and move it while watching the preview. Visible dark bands in the camera preview confirm PWM.
The fix for PWM sensitivity is keeping brightness above 60-70% or switching to a DC dimming monitor.
Step 8: Panel fault
If all other causes are eliminated, the flickering is likely a physical panel or backlight fault. A flickering area in one corner of the screen or a pulsing that happens regardless of input source points to a panel issue.
If the monitor is under warranty, contact the manufacturer. If not, document the fault with a video recording to support a potential repair or return claim.