Depending on your source of information, you might believe this is a catastrophe of cataclysmic proportions that affects each and every Surface Pro Microsoft shipped. Or you may think it's just, well, par for the course.
What is light bleed? Our Executive Editor Daniel Rubino tackled the Surface Pro light bleed reports yesterday and summed it up thusly:
A common side effect of modern LCDs is light bleed. The issue is caused by the backlight behind the screen not being completely blocked by the other components on top of it. The problem is compounded by touch displays that have an additional digitizer layer that can cause more spacing and issues with bonding … The light bleed effects range … the type of bleed is also variable with 'hot spots' in corners that are dramatic and more subtle edge bleeding that is very hard to discern.
In general, light bleed results in a less-than-ideal amount of light "leaking" through random parts of the display, so that the light looks uneven. And it's fairly common.
But how big of an issue is it really? And how many Surface Pro users are experiencing problems? Windows Central forums member Stevie04 created a thread on this very subject asks:
Hey guys, I recently got the new Surface Pro and I read that MS solved the backlight bleeding issue (which occured in Surface Pro 4) with the new Surface. When I ran a display test I still noticed some minor backlight bleeding... so I just wanna know, do you guys have some backlight bleeding as well? Or did I get a bad Surface? I'm probably not gonna return my Surface because of that, but I...
Stevie04
I've been using my new Surface Pro for about a month, and I never once thought about light bleed. But I also wasn't looking for it. And I still haven't gone hunting for an issue that I don't have, just for the sake of finding one. But that's just me.
Do you have a new Surface Pro that's experiencing significant light bleed? Do you plan to return it in hopes of getting a device with less of an issue? Even if you don't own a Surface Pro but have experience with light bleed on other devices, is it really a big deal? We want to hear from you, so jump on over to our forums and sound off.
Al Sacco is content director of Future PLC's Mobile Technology Vertical, which includes AndroidCentral.com, iMore.com and WindowsCentral.com. He is a veteran reporter, writer, reviewer and editor who has professionally covered and evaluated IT and mobile technology, and countless associated gadgets and accessories, for more than a decade. You can keep up with Al on Twitter and Instagram.
