Second monitor keeps on temporarily going black at random

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 an NVidia 4090 with 3 monitors plugged in. Two are Display Port one is HDMI. They all randomly turn on and off. All have high speed cables.

Problem detected. The monitor has reached the end of its useful life. The tube inside is dead. The tube has been replaced and continues to be used.

I'm having this same issue using two different PCs both with Windows 10.

• Both are iGPU only, so no NVIDIA/AMD graphics card control panel such-and-such to configure.
• One is intel CPU and one is AMD CPU, so it's not a brand specific problem.
• I have a 4k VA monitor (Sceptre) that has never had issues running at 60hz (max 60hz @4k).
• The monitor with issues is a 4k IPS monitor (KTC) that currently is set to 30hz (max 144hz @4k).
• The monitor is compatible with G-Sync but has no way to turn it off from the monitor settings.
• The monitor is the only thing plugged into a power strip other than the other monitor. this power strip previously handled multiple PCs and network devices just fine.
• Power settings for both PCs are set to max performance, and no screen turnoff.
• All drivers are freshly updated on both systems.
• Both PCs are currently using HDMI cable to connect to the monitor.

I suspect it's a compatibility issue between certain monitors or HDMI itself and Windows. My power setup is fine. No reports of faulty power on these models of monitor. Using an expensive high quality surge protector. Many are having this with a multi-monitor setup, and many are having to set their monitor to match the one with minimum refresh rate or minimum G-Sync/FreeSync settings. So it seems that Windows has an issue with using two monitors with different refresh rates and different G-Sync/FreeSync capabilities. People are reporting the problem sometimes goes away when the monitors are set to the same refresh rate, usually the highest rate of the lowest quality monitor, and sometimes it goes away when G-Sync/FreeSync are force-disabled. People also seem to run into this problem when using two different monitors as opposed to exact same model. Some have also fixed the black screen by only using one monitor. This corroborates the possibility that Windows 10/11 are incorrectly handling two monitors with different capabilities unless the settings are forced so that they match one another in terms of performance.

Multiple people have recorded an HDMI event happening in logs around the same time as the black screen. So whatever inside the Windows kernel that communicates with the HDMI firmware is having some kind of glitch and potentially triggering a 'reset' or renegotiating the initial handshake. This is why the problem persists regardless of manufacturer drivers from GPUs, CPUs, or monitors. This could only happen if it was something more integral to how Windows communicates with hardware (ie the kernel). This is probably why Microsoft is reluctant to fix it. The kernel is the main thing they want to touch THE LEAST compared to just pushing a basic security update or fudging up the UI/UX again and again. Linux users also experience this but the problems seem to be less common. I didn't experience this glitch when using both monitors with Debian, but different distros have different modifications that can affect how the basic Linux kernel treats certain hardware.

People with DisplayPort or USB-C have occasionally experienced this, but it seems to be a problem that most people are having when using HDMI (even when replacing cables, and switching to a different port). So based on all of the evidence it looks to me like Windows 10/11 have sporadic issues when communicating a complex monitor setup between multiple HDMI ports.

Please correct me if I'm off-base with any of this analysis!

One thing that I haven't seen people mention is how they have their monitor settings inside the monitor itself configured. I just turned off OverDrive and HDR inside my monitor and I'll report back whether that helps at all.

Ever since I received a new work issued laptop in Feb 2024, all 3 of my monitors, randomly flicker off for roughly 5 seconds. This never happened with the same monitors & cables when I had the old laptop (also work issued). I've spent hours web searching how to fix this and haven't tried much because I don't want to make things worse. I did reduce the refresh rate to 50hz and that didn't work. This is beyond frustrating because it not only interferes with my productivity, but it has happened when I'm presenting my screen to people at work. I absolutely HATE Microsoft products because of the constant OS updates/patches & buggy quirks like this, not to mention all the "feature enhancements" that make me use more keystrokes & time to complete work than before the update was pushed.

New laptop has: Windows 10 Enterprise edition
Old laptop had: Window 7 Enterprise edition

Monitors are: 1 LG & 2 Samsung, all with Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics card