The vivid kernel did not help. In fact, under normal operation there are many weird visual artifacts (eg, blocks of lines).
$ cat /proc/version_signature 
Ubuntu 3.18.0-9.10-generic 3.18.2

[15809.934345] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[15809.934379] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 1872 at /build/buildd/linux-3.18.0/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c:3479 intel_crtc_wait_for_pending_flips+0x1d1/0x1e0 [i915]()
[15809.934382] Removing stuck page flip
[15809.934383] Modules linked in: uas usb_storage hid_generic xt_CHECKSUM iptable_mangle ipt_MASQUERADE nf_nat_masquerade_ipv4 bridge stp llc aufs bnep bluetooth ctr ccm nfsd auth_rpcgss nfs_acl nfs lockd grace binfmt_misc sunrpc fscache xt_nat iptable_nat nf_nat_ipv4 ip6t_REJECT nf_reject_ipv6 nf_log_ipv6 xt_hl ip6t_rt nf_conntrack_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv6 dm_crypt xt_comment ipt_REJECT nf_reject_ipv4 nf_log_ipv4 nf_log_common xt_LOG xt_recent xt_limit xt_tcpudp snd_hda_codec_hdmi snd_hda_codec_conexant snd_hda_codec_generic xt_addrtype intel_powerclamp coretemp snd_hda_intel snd_hda_controller snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep kvm_intel kvm snd_pcm dm_multipath crct10dif_pclmul scsi_dh crc32_pclmul nf_conntrack_ipv4 nf_defrag_ipv4 ghash_clmulni_intel xt_conntrack arc4 aesni_intel ip6table_filter aes_x86_64 lrw gf128mul
[15809.934441]  ip6_tables glue_helper ablk_helper cryptd nf_conntrack_netbios_ns iwldvm nf_conntrack_broadcast nf_nat_ftp nf_nat nf_conntrack_ftp snd_seq_midi mac80211 snd_seq_midi_event nf_conntrack snd_rawmidi iptable_filter joydev ip_tables x_tables iwlwifi serio_raw thinkpad_acpi snd_seq cfg80211 nvram snd_seq_device lpc_ich shpchp snd_timer snd mei_me soundcore mei mac_hid parport_pc ppdev lp parport nbd hid_logitech_dj usbhid hid i915 i2c_algo_bit drm_kms_helper drm e1000e psmouse ptp ahci pps_core libahci wmi video [last unloaded: rfcomm]
[15809.934487] CPU: 2 PID: 1872 Comm: Xorg Tainted: G        W      3.18.0-9-generic #10-Ubuntu
[15809.934490] Hardware name: LENOVO 5129CTO/5129CTO, BIOS 6QET64WW (1.34 ) 02/24/2011
[15809.934491]  0000000000000009 ffff8800b561fad8 ffffffff817ad5ac 0000000000000007
[15809.934496]  ffff8800b561fb28 ffff8800b561fb18 ffffffff81074c01 ffff8800b561fb08
[15809.934500]  ffff88022c09f1a8 0000000000000292 ffff8802303a1000 ffff88022c09f000
[15809.934504] Call Trace:
[15809.934509]  [<ffffffff817ad5ac>] dump_stack+0x46/0x58
[15809.934513]  [<ffffffff81074c01>] warn_slowpath_common+0x81/0xa0
[15809.934517]  [<ffffffff81074c66>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x46/0x50
[15809.934556]  [<ffffffffc02f3b31>] intel_crtc_wait_for_pending_flips+0x1d1/0x1e0 [i915]
[15809.934560]  [<ffffffff810b63c0>] ? __wake_up_sync+0x20/0x20
[15809.934597]  [<ffffffffc02fb613>] intel_crtc_disable_planes+0x33/0x150 [i915]
[15809.934602]  [<ffffffff8109ef19>] ? check_preempt_curr+0x89/0xa0
[15809.934639]  [<ffffffffc02fbe70>] ironlake_crtc_disable+0x50/0x7b0 [i915]
[15809.934643]  [<ffffffff817b24cb>] ? __ww_mutex_lock+0x1b/0xb0
[15809.934679]  [<ffffffffc02f55e9>] intel_crtc_control+0x59/0x120 [i915]
[15809.934715]  [<ffffffffc02f5717>] intel_crtc_update_dpms+0x67/0x80 [i915]
[15809.934752]  [<ffffffffc02fee91>] intel_connector_dpms+0x61/0x70 [i915]
[15809.934778]  [<ffffffffc01b5599>] drm_mode_obj_set_property_ioctl+0x369/0x370 [drm]
[15809.934803]  [<ffffffffc01b55d0>] drm_mode_connector_property_set_ioctl+0x30/0x40 [drm]
[15809.934822]  [<ffffffffc01a5aef>] drm_ioctl+0x1df/0x680 [drm]
[15809.934830]  [<ffffffff810a6a48>] ? __enqueue_entity+0x78/0x80
[15809.934834]  [<ffffffff8101f2cf>] ? __switch_to_xtra+0x13f/0x170
[15809.934839]  [<ffffffff810a8aed>] ? set_next_entity+0x9d/0xb0
[15809.934844]  [<ffffffff8101291f>] ? __switch_to+0x44f/0x5f0
[15809.934848]  [<ffffffff81207ec8>] do_vfs_ioctl+0x2c8/0x4a0
[15809.934853]  [<ffffffff817afb86>] ? __schedule+0x3b6/0x8f0
[15809.934857]  [<ffffffff81208121>] SyS_ioctl+0x81/0xa0
[15809.934862]  [<ffffffff817b526d>] system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b
[15809.934865] ---[ end trace 5cfeebe7a2c1df85 ]---