Does your Microsoft Surface laptop adjust 10% brightness when you switch between light and dark applications on your laptop?

More specifically, it will dim roughly 10% in a dark application (like Photoshop), and increase brightness 10% in a light application (like Facebook on the browser).

It goes by many terms: adaptive brightness, adaptive contrast, light flickering, etc…

I have looked far and wide on how to fix this, because it is extremely noticeable to me.

How I fixed this issue

1. Confirm you have the AMD version of the Surface Laptop 3.

Click on the Windows Search Bar. Type “Settings”. Click on the “System” box. Then click on the “About” tab. You should see here that you have an AMD Ryzen processor. If you have an Intel processor, then this fix may not work for you. I would suggest Googling “Intel Command Center Fix for Surface Laptop adaptive brightness”

2. Download AMD Catalyst Control Center

This program is installed with the AMD Catalyst Drivers. You can find them here on the official AMD Driver page.

Go through the normal installation procedure. Once the drivers are installed you should be able to search for a newly installed program called “AMD Catalyst Control Center” on your Microsoft Surface Laptop.

3. Turn off AMD FreeSync Technology

This is an option in AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Click on the “My Built-In Displays” tab. Then click on the Properties sub tab. You’ll see a checkbox for Enable. You want to uncheck this box, which will disable FreeSync.

That’s it!

The adapter brightness / contrast should no longer be an issue. If it is, keep on your Google searches! Wish you the best in fixing this annoying problem (aka feature).

Hope I could help! Have a wonderful day.