Has anyone had a case where the LCD screen on the remote controller just malfunctions during the flight? It may seem like a trivial matter on the overall experience in J, but I do appreciate the smallest details on the hard product where the controller tells you the local time @ destination, how much time is left during the flight etc. Comes in really handy when you want to check how many hours of sleep you have accomplished after waking up.

I know one can easily figure out the time by checking my phone, but being a victim of first world problems I would much rather be able to do that by only taking a quick peak on the screen while laying in bed instead of having to reach over for my phone. The screen conked out on me shortly after takeoff last night on a YYZ-HKG flight. They tried to reset my IFE system but the screen remained black. The ISM then offered to move me to another window seat after dinner is wrapped up, which I accepted. Too bad the screen at my new seat also conked out on me 4 hours before landing. During the flight I noticed that several other seats had the screen on their controllers blank too.

Is this fairly common with CX these days? Or did I just get a bad 777 last night?

I don't know the answer to your question but I would find moving seats more inconvenient than having to check my phone / turning on the flight map.

But yes, if something is onboard, it should be working.

I was on CX 870 HKG-SFO which was a 747 and I was seated in Y. The IFE failed to turn on in the first place. I spoke to FA who offered to move me to an other Y seat - surprisingly there were many empty on that flight. If the flight was indeed full - I wonder what they would have done. It would be extremely boring on a 13-14 hrs flight without IFE..

Well, I did notice that every time after I turn the main screen off manually, the detail information on the small LCD screen will disappear, even after I turned the main screen back on, the details won't come back.

Did you plug anything into the USB slot?

I've consistently found that plugging in my iPhone to charge via the USB socket causes the screen to blank out on the remote. However, if I plug my wall charger into the power socket and phone into that, nil issues. I believe it may be a power draw issue when charging devices via USB that causes the remote to load shed the screen so it will still function.

Maybe, but maybe not. I took out the USB charger of my Samsung S4 from the socket to tidy up the seat for the arrival, and still the screen remained blank. The screen only illuminated while we were on the ground taxiing to the gate.

I can't recall a recent flight where it hasn't happened to me at some point during a flight. I agree it's annoying.

v interesting, as I v often experience this issue and v often have something plugged into the USB port for charging..

You would've probably been offered points or vouchers of some sort after contacting CX about the issue