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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
    2023-03-14T15:47:53+00:00

    I have the same problem and it's unique to Windows 10 and Windows 11, but not unique to any specific item of hardware. That is to say, it's not a single bad video cable or a single bad video card. On the same hardware with the same monitor, computer, cables and video card, but without windows (using linux) the problem is gone.

    The factors at play seem to be:

    1. It's not the monitor (I have tried four different ones).
    2. It's not the cables (I keep buying new ones just in case, up to 10 cables now, no difference).
    3. It's not the video card.
    4. It's not the computer.
    5. It's either windows 11 and the video card maker's drivers or management software hating each other and fighting each other or it's a bug in video card drivers or a bug in windows 11.

    There may be a configuration solution but it probably comes down to nVidia engineers and Microsoft engineers getting together to make their stuff work together.

    Windows 11 has a new multi-monitor auto-desktop-re-arrangement system (I don't know the official name of the feature) and it is triggered off the DPMI signals coming in from monitors when video cards are plugged into HDMI and DP equipped ports.

    If you are having this problem on Windows 10, my best advise is to change your refresh rate down as low as you can live with, perhaps 30 hz.

    100+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2023-06-02T14:18:33+00:00

    I have a similar problem on my desktop PC.

    My configuration is:
    Main display: 1080p 165Hz
    Secondary: 1080p 60Hz

    Windows and graphics drivers are all up to date.
    Already tried DDU, reinstalled drivers.
    Tested all hardware and cables working properly.

    When secondary monitor is connected, main display turns on and off repeatedly.
    I tried lowering my main display to 144Hz, 120Hz, 100Hz, 85Hz. and the problem only disappeared when set to 60Hz,

    which is the same refresh rate as the secondary display.

    Disconnecting the secondary display also eliminates the problem and allows me to set the refresh rate at 165Hz.
    Obviously, this is not a solution.
    I hope Microsoft or Nvidia fixes this soon.

    50+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2023-06-05T02:10:23+00:00

    I have 2 x 1440p monitors - 1 x with 144hz and the other 165hz

    I was having this same issue, this is what worked for me:

    I brought the 165hz monitor down to 144hz. This helped, but was still experiencing the flashing black screen less regularly.

    Next I turned off G-sync for both in the NVIDIA Control Panel. Haven't had the issues since.

    30+ people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2023-04-25T00:29:27+00:00

    I have the same issue, when the computer goes into sleep mode. After resume, the laptop screen works but the secondary don't. If I press win + P and then Extend or Duplicate, the secondary screen is turned on and then it returns to black again.

    30+ people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2023-05-05T01:54:20+00:00

    [Updated Below] I have an MSI laptop running Win 11 and I have the same or at least a very similar issue.

    I've tried multiple extended monitors and different cables. I have updated all drivers. I've reinstalled the drivers. The only thing I noticed is that today I started getting a pop-up about already having a hidden taskbar. In fact, I can usually go several minutes before my screen resets but today it was doing it every 15 seconds or so. I finally removed the hide feature on my taskbar and it got better but did not go away. Now I'm back to every few minutes.

    Update - I use 50" 4k TV as my main displays with my laptop acting as the secondary. I have one at home (Samsung), shop (Amazon firetv), and in my RV (TCL). All had the same issue to one degree or another. Changing the refresh on my laptop for all displays, including on the laptop, to 60Hz resolved all issues. Not a great solution but it works.

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
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