Second monitor keeps on temporarily going black at random

Anonymous
2023-01-08T02:47:33+00:00

I am working off of a laptop and have a second monitor to extend my displays. I have been using this set up for two years now and have not had a problem until last night. It seems that my attached monitor only (main monitor on laptop is not affected) will go black for a few seconds before turning back on and showing my screen. It should be noted that my laptop does not reset the display to place the windows back onto the main screen when this happens but the extended monitor goes black at random. Note that I am running Windows 10 and unable to upgrade to Windows 11 as of now.

So far, I have tried the following solutions but still cannot figure this out.

  1. Bought brand new chords (HDMI + Adapter)
  2. Bought a brand new second monitor (issues happening with both old and new monitor)
  3. Checked for updates on all drivers
  4. Reinstalled both graphics drivers
  5. Rolled back graphics drivers
  6. Checked basic settings (sleep/power/screen saver settings)
  7. Disabled all services in background apps in "System Configuration"
  8. Restarted Windows explorer

This means I have spent time replacing and even buying new equipment to get around this issue but cannot seem to figure it out! This is very important since I work at home as well. Please let me know if there is anything else I can possibly do outside of hard resetting the computer (which I cannot do for a few reasons). Thank you!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-27T17:06:52+00:00

    I'm wondering whether there is more than one issue being discussed here. For the last few years I ONLY experienced the problem when I turned my desk fan on or off - the 2nd monitor would go blank for 3-5 seconds (not a "flicker", per se, but several seconds of darkness before turning on again).

    Since upgrading to Windows 11, and replacing both monitors and both cables, the problem happens less frequently, but almost always occurs when I plug a small device into a gang socket on my desk. It has occasionally happened while doing nothing in particular - e.g. just two web browsers open, no video or gaming. But that hasn't happened for a few weeks.

    So I'm pretty convinced that, in my case at least, power fluctuations are playing some part in this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-02-27T17:20:36+00:00

    Fair enough.

    I'd come to the same conclusion in your case.

    For me, I either get the issue or not when I turn the second monitor on. Or it'll be triggered by launching certain applications that trigger G-sync. But nothing I do power wise ever triggers it when it's working correctly.

    The GPU can be running at max and I might have zero problems or i can be idling with low power consumption and the screen flickers constantly.

    I'll know immediately if I'm gonna have issues when I turn the second screen on.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-12T00:10:27+00:00

    In my case I'm using two 4k Dell monitors both plugged to a desktop with a RTX 3090 via DisplayPort (very thick cables that came with the monitors). I get the issue in one of them as well. Always the main screen in Extend mode. Neither of the displays have G-Sync support.

    What I notice is that the issue is not totally random. When it starts happening, the screen goes black mostly when I trigger any sort of UI animation such as hovering the mouse over windows buttons, taskbar preview popups, etc. Even if the animations happens in the secondary screen (not the one that blinks). If I keep everything static, the issue won't happen. It does look a lot like OS/driver issues to me.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-16T02:48:46+00:00

    Yes but i deleted the hard wear and now it wont turn on anymore and im freaking out

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-03-19T21:03:29+00:00

    Is there a solution to this?

    I have the same issue with my 2nd & 3rd screens. My Dell laptop screen is fine, just my extended screens.
    This issue happened around 6 months ago, was only doing it intermittently so added new hdmi cords and a new expander with no result.

    Now it does it many times in any day and seems like the time its blacked out for is getting longer, up to 5-6 seconds now.

    Oddly it's rare that both the 2nd & 3rd screens do it together, just singular and can be one screen one day and the other screen the next.

    I have lowered screens resolution to their lowest hz, matched them & no result so have gone back to 60hz on each.

    I have Intel Iris R xe graphics card.

    Is it an update with Windows 11? If so is it possibly to revert back? I didnt create a restore point when i bought it unfortunately.

    I work from home so this is setup as my work station, no gaming.

    I can get a temporary solution by disconnecting the hdmi cord for the 3rd screen, which is plugged directly into my laptop, and then plugging straight back in. This might last for an hour or so only.

    Thanks for any help

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