Laptop Screen flickers when HDMI cable is plugged in

Hello,

I have an HDMI cord connected from my laptop to my TV so I can watch netflix at night. When I connect the HDMI cable my computer screen starts to flicker from time to time. The flicker kinda looks like an old VHS tape playing. The display and sound on the TV is fine so it is just my laptop.

I did some messing around and I think it only flickers when the display changes quickly. For instance my laptop screen flickers while watching netflix or even minimizing/maximizing my browser window. However, it is not flickering while I'm typing this post right now.

It has never flickered like this before. I've watched netflix on my laptop without a problem and have even played some graphics intensive games without it flickering. It just seems to be when I have my HDMI cable plugged in.

Also, another odd note is right now, I have the multiple displays set on duplicate. When I use this setting the display on my TV does not flicker. However, if I change the multiple displays to extend my desktop, the the display on my TV starts to flicker. I don't know how that would change anything.

I guess my only question, besides how to fix it permanently, is will the flickering hurt my laptop? If I can't figure out how to stop the flickering on my laptop it isn't that big of deal. My TV display is fine. It is just a little distracting seeing my laptop flicker out of the corner of my eye. However, if this is somehow hurting or destroying my display in the long run I certainly don't want to continue using watching netflix on my TV while streaming from my laptop.