Screen randomly turns black for a few seconds 4K@60 Intel Iris Xe

[magub_]

Hello,

I am writing because I am encountering problems with an external 4K display that I've connected to my MSI Prestige 14 Evo, and I suspect it's related to the GPU.

I'm using an LG 27UL500 monitor. It supports 4K@60 HDR max resolution with DisplayPort.

I am using a Thunderbolt 3 -> DisplayPort cable from CableMatters, that is said to support up to 8k, and HDR.

The screen randomly turns black for a few seconds, whenever a video is on screen. I don't mean when the video is playing. Sometimes it happens even by opening a browser window that has a video "box" on it, even if it's stopped. 

This does not happen EVERY TIME, but let's say at least once a day. It happens even more frequently if I'm playing 4K videos or HDR videos (for this reason I must keep HDR always disabled).

I also notice strange glitches. For example:

• When I'm watching a 4K video on fullscreen, and go back to a window view, the image (paused) is in 4 or 2 different "portions" separated by black lines, and slightly shifted to the right. Usually some seconds later, the screen goes black for random time (I'm not really sure what makes it stop). (On Chromium based browsers and on Microsoft Edge).
• When on Microsoft Edge, for example I hover my mouse on a bing video preview, the small video looks fuzzy, and usually some seconds later, the screen goes black for random time.

When I try taking a screenshot of this, the still of the video goes back to normal!

I'll try to attach a file of task manager GPU while this problem is happening.

I have updated the graphics drivers to the newest version recently. Nothing changed.

Useful info:

• Laptop: Msi Prestige 14 Evo (Intel core i7-1185G7)
• Screen: LG 27UL500
• Cable: Cable Matters 201036-BLK-1.8m

[magub_]

UPDATE:

It seems the problem went away by disabling hardware acceleration in my browsers.

Is it possible to know if there is a fix for this problem of the GPU later this year, so that I can re-enable hardware acceleration? Or is there a way I can try to fix those problems now? Currently I'm reaching temps of 98°C, and videos appear sluggish with hardware acceleration turned off, since the CPU is handling all the work. Thanks!

[Alberto_R_Intel]

magub, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

In order for us to provide the most accurate assistance on this scenario, first, we just wanted to confirm a few details about your system:

Is this a new computer?

When did you purchase it?

Just to confirm, this problem, is it happening on streaming videos only or with videos that are locally stored in your system, or both?

Do you notice the same behavior with the videos while using the built-in laptop monitor?

Were you seeing the random black screens on this specific machine before?

If not, when did the issue start? 

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes that might cause this issue?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[magub_]

Hello,

thanks for the reply,

Yes, this is a new computer that I purchased  in July 2021 for home environment.

The problem happens both on streaming videos and locally stored videos (I use VLC).

When I said: "It seems the problem went away by disabling hardware acceleration in my browsers." I hadn't actually tried watching local videos yet. But still, in browsers, the problem seems more related to hardware acceleration per se, rather than videos only. In fact, the black screen problem happens when video streaming, using Google Earth or Geogebra 3D, that all make use of hardware acceleration. For now it seems disabling Hardware acceleration has in fact stopped these problems too. 

For local videos (not just 4K), the problem only happened while watching a video in fullscreen. (Maybe it has something to do with the resolution of the monitor in the first place, and not the video?).

The black screen problem also happened when playing Rocket League (in 4K). Minecraft runs perfectly.

When streaming, viewing content, playing directly from the laptop, there are not any problems.

The issue started after I managed to make the monitor run at 4K@60 with a direct Thunderbolt cable. Before that, I was using an HDMI cable connected to my laptop through a USB hub, and the refresh rate was limited to 30hz for 4K.

The problems didn't manifest right away anyway. The only "software change" that I remember making was enabling HDR from the Windows 10 settings. I remember the screen flickered, and then when trying to stream a video, the black screen thing started. I turned off HDR for good, but the problem remained.

It might have been a coincidence, since:

1.  changed the refresh rate to 4K@60
2.  watched a video,
3. turned on HDR,
4. tried watching another video.

all in the span of 5 minutes.

I hope the report helps, thank you again

[Alberto_R_Intel]

magub, Thank you very much for providing that information and the SSU report.

Based on the SSU report, the graphics driver currently installed on your computer is 30.0.101.1994, which is provided by Intel®:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19344/intel-graphics-windows-dch-drivers.html?

It is important to mention that the Intel® drivers are generic, meaning they might or might not work as expected with your specific device. For that reason, we always recommend to install the graphics driver provided by the manufacturer of the computer, since that driver was customized by them to work with your specific platform.

Even though you mention you already tried different drivers, I looked on MSI's website and the graphics driver version they have available is 27.20.100.9565. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below and once you get the chance let us know the results:

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/Prestige-14Evo-A11M/support#driver

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057389/graphics.html

We also recommend to get in contact directly with MSI support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed on your machine or, if necessary, to gather the instructions on how to do that:

https://www.msi.com/support

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello magub, I just wanted to check if the information posted previously was useful for you and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello magub, Since we have not heard back from you, we are closing the case, but if you have any additional questions, please post them on a new thread so we can further assist you with this matter.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician