Second monitor keeps on temporarily going black at random

hi,

Here are 7 ways to solve your problem,

I must say if you follow the steps shown on the website you will find %100 solution,

I would be so glad hearing from you after you solve your issue,

https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/windows-11-screen-goes-black-randomly.html

Always welcome for new questions,

Have a great day,

Regards

Tamsa13

I can confirm that I have done all of those 7 things since the problem first started occurring last year, and I still have the problem.

We all have to get to the bottom of this.

I started to have the same issues as everyone else, and I feel we should all start pinpointing to the cause of the issue. If Microsoft can't, then we will.

*A quick description of my issue:*Issue: External Screen Flickers ON an OFF randomly.
Specs: **** - **** Dell XPS15 9570

• Windows 11 Pro 10.0.22621 Build 22621
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8750H
• Two iGPU (Intel and NVIDIA).
  [Intel's GPU is the one that is hardwired to the HDMI port, NDVIDIA's is only a 'logical GPU']
• Drivers:
  * Intel UHD Graphics 630 - Driver version 27.20.100.96.64
  * NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with Max-Q Design - Driver version 30.0.14.9649

Key Notes (No Solution as of yet):

1. No hardware problem, I tried booting up from a LIVE USB with ubuntu and no flickering.
2. Connected 5 individual external monitors, all showing the same issue.
3. Max refresh rate supported on laptop is 60hz. Changed external monitor's refresh rate to equal laptop's. Tried other refresh rate values.
4. Changed HDMI port 3 times, no physical cable problem.
5. Uninstalled fully all GPU drivers (Using the DDU utility). Installed latest versions of the drivers. Downgraded GPU drivers and BIOS firmware.
6. Can't disable or enable G-Sync on my monitor/laptop given NVIDIA is not the main IGPU (NVIDIA does not allow me to change the setting)
7. Attempted disabling bluethooth drivers (as stated by a community user)
8. Attempted changing power settings to 'never' when plugged in.
9. Tried disabling Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling under system > Display > Graphics > Graphic Settings
10. Fully reset Windows 11 [keep files] for a 'fresh' install.

My analysis (Based on previous analysis done):
First of all, before start breaking down why the issue is happening on the first place, we need to work together and start sharing the specs of your current PC. If this issue is happening to some but not all, then what do we all have in common? Is it a Windows version? I don't think so as I've seen people with Windows 10 facing the same problem. Is it same processor? Same GPU? Same Driver version? BIOS version?

Some have stated that the issue is the power strip\power brick. For some it may, perhaps the desk PC's HDMI port is withdrawing more power and its making something happen that resets the handshake. However, I have a laptop, and the issue persist, so perhaps that not the main cause. Some also are facing the issue with dual monitors, I have only tried with one monitor at a time, basically telling us that the issue is not unique on dual monitor setups.

I have not seen any event logs happening for when the issue is happening. I've also found that some monitors do depicts the issue in faster intervals than others. In my troubleshooting steps, I found that one monitor could take minutes until it flickers, other won't even display any image. Other would flicker constantly.

I have tried (As mentioned before) running a LIVE USB flash drive with Ubuntu on it to determine if the issue is hardware or software. Lo-and-behold the issue was gone when I booted out of the USB flash drive. No flickering on any of the monitors. Okay, so this tells us that Windows is the issue. I have a feeling that we all experience the same issue with Windows, so we are getting closer.

Now that we may have something in common 'Windows' in this case, then what is making us fall apart from other people? That what we need to start working on. As a user mentioned, perhaps the issue is with the KERNEL itself. Question is, what is the culprit? Is it a bug, is it a configuration we all have?

I can tell something for sure, and perhaps most people will agree with me. The issue seems to be based on the refresh rate. I feel that playing around with the refresh rate of the external monitor does something on how the issue acts upon (ie flickers more ofter, screen goes black completely). While writing this, I have my 5th external monitor (Asus) plugged to my laptop, both set to 60hz. On the 5th monitor, I waited around 10 minutes until the first flicker happened, thereafter the intervals are really spacious, yet the issue is there. So it may depend what monitor brand we are using. Unfortuntately, for me, changing the refresh rate doesn't fixt it fully.

I have yet to try with a USB-C to HDMI or DisplayPort. It seems that the issue is only with HDMI. Again, we need to find the trigger? Is is a handshake related issue? If so, how can we know? Is there anyone here who has the expertise in check this handshake? Unfortunately, for some even downgrading didn't do the trick, so it seems that is not a driver issue. If it was to be a Driver issue, then the problem would have been solved already.

How can we raise this issue to Microsoft? I feel that before doing that, we need to find what is causing the flickering on our monitors so that Microsoft can simply fix it (I have doubts do).

Please if you are reading this, help us pinpoint the issue. We have to combine forces to find out the why is this occurring to us! I know that if we all work together, we should be able to find the culprit. Or at least find a solutions to this.

I have had the same problem described in this thread and the same degree of frustration as other people. I've tried a lot of the things suggested and not had any luck. I agree with what you said in a previous post, Bill, that based on the number of variables involved, and their variance across cases, it might seem to be a Microsoft issue. I am running Windows 11.

You mention event logs. One thing that stood out to me was when the problem first began occurring I noticed an unusual occurrence in the events log of the external monitor affected by the issue.

(The log in question is located here:

Settings > System > Display > Advanced Display > Display Adaptor Properties [for the external monitor] > Monitor > Properties > Events)

On the exact same day the problem began occuring, there was an instance of the device being 'configured', and then a separate instance of it being 'started'. About a month and a half prior to that, the device had been 'deleted'.

It won't let me take a screenshot to illustrate this, but I wonder if anyone else had noticed any kind of similar pattern? I'm not technical enough to appreciate exactly what the information in the events log means - but it seems to be relating to uninstalling/reinstalling drivers for the monitor, perhaps as a result of an update? It's not something I knowingly initiated, anyway.

In my case the change is from a driver version 10.0.22621.2506 to a version 10.0.22621.3235, and the driver provider in both cases is Microsoft.

Perhaps it is not the cause, or perhaps so only in a limited number of cases, but it certainly seemed a correlation worth remarking on.

I haven't found a definitive solution. But there is something that may help to live with it.

When the issue starts happening, press Win+Ctrl+Shift+B to force the GPU driver to reset. It may crash some of your open apps so save your work before doing this.

It will stop the issue for a while, until it happens again... But to me it will hardly happen again in the same day if I don't restart the system.

Thanks for this. I tried it yes only stopped for awhile, maybe 3-4 mins.

Another temporary solution, seems to last for hour or so, is disconnecting HDMI plug from laptop and reconnecting. Not sure what this does exactly & how to understand this, but it seems to work for awhile.

Does anyone know why this works and if there's a longer solution to this?

I'm actually beginning to wonder whether it's a power-related HDMI/HDCP issue. AFAIK I have only had this problem with monitors connected via HDMI (not DisplayPort). Has anyone had the problem with a monitor connected via DP?

My theory is: a temporary fluctuation in the power supply may prompt the HDCP "handshake" (between the display adapter and the monitor) to be repeated, causing the display to go blank until the handshake is completed. This usually takes a few seconds. I used to have a Humax PVR which did something similar - my TV would go blank for a few seconds while the HDCP handshake repeated itself.

????