Black screen issues when G sync enabled

[Firebolt059]

I have the same issues as this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcmonito ... /?sort=new

I have a 4090 and My monitor is an Acer x28 that is true g sync and has a g sync hardware processor within the monitor. I followed the blurbusters guide and made sure full screen g sync is enabled with v sync enabled in the control panel.

When playing games, my predator X28 monitor goes black for about 1-2 seconds randomly during games. This has happened on a variety of games like final fantasy 7, battlefield, baldurs gate 3 etc.

Things I have tried to fix:

-capped to 144hz
-Disabled gpu overclock
-Ddu uninstall with fresh drivers
-Swapped ports in GPU, make sure plugs are firm with quality cables. swapped to new cables as well
-Applied Acer driver and color profile downloaded from Acer site

I am using a certified 2.1 display port cable as well.

I still occasionally get black screens. I have a second monitor also with the g sync module in the monitor, the Asus pg279q. I don't know if it's causing issues to have a 4k and a 1440p dual g sync monitor setup, but I don't know how to fix the black screen issue.

Has anyone seen this or have more information? The reddit post detailed setting Nvidia control panel to maximum performance but I still got a black screen.

[jorimt]

First off, you didn't mention your driver version, but there's a known issue in the latest Nvidia drivers:

Some monitors may display random black screen flicker when in Display Stream Compression mode when using R530 drivers [4034096]

And your Acer x28 appears to utilize DSC to achieve its max refresh rate at 4k.

I was experiencing random black screens on my PG27AQN (1440p 360Hz G-SYNC native display with DSC) until I lowered my output color depth to 8-bit from 12-bit in the NVCP under "Change resolution" with the latest driver (even in single monitor mode).

Assuming you've ruled that out, multi-monitor configurations can cause issues like this, especially with G-SYNC and/or DSC. I've experienced similar recently with a PG279QM (1440p 240Hz native G-SYNC without DSC) paired with the PG27AQN.

You can try to disable DSC on the monitor (if available, which would obviously lower the max usable Hz) and/or temporarily unplug the secondary to see if it resolves the black screens.

Black screens during alt-tab can also be caused by how a particular monitor handles resolution/Hz switches between the desktop and running apps in certain scenarios, but, again, the current black screen driver issue with DSC monitors would be the first thing to rule out.

[Firebolt059]

Thanks for your response. I'm on the latest Nvidia driver version 537.13 that came out on 8/22.

I'll turn on the setting for the 8bit color depth in nvidia control panel, mine was set to use default settings.

It's just weird because my current second monitor that has a g sync module (the Asus pg279q) is now my second monitor. When it was my primary monitor on my previous build, I never had this issue... but I was running that at 1440p 165hz with another basic 1080p monitor that was my second at the time. So I'm not sure if this black screen issue has to do with my current x28 being 4k 144hz and me having another g sync monitor, etc.

I found a theory on reddit that the rtx 4090 card needs to be in maximum performance in nvidia control panel settings as well as GPU scaling to be set instead of display under adjust desktop size and position. apparently when you alt tab or the game isn't active (aka loading screen, in menu, etc) the gpu can downclock itself to save power, however when it needs to kick back on it can cause the black screen. I will test over the next few days and report back.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comme ... gsync_bug/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comment ... &context=3

I'm not sure if this is a G-Sync issue still but just throwing out ideas. My friends also have X28 monitors and are having similar issues.

[jorimt]

Thanks for your response. I'm on the latest Nvidia driver version 537.13 that came out on 8/22.

You can first try rolling back to a pre-R530 driver temporarily to see if it resolves the black screens.

I'll turn on the setting for the 8bit color depth in nvidia control panel, mine was set to use default settings.

Depends on what bit depth your particular monitor defaults to. May or may not help like it did on mine, since I had purposefully set mine from its default 8-bit to 12-bit for slightly better dithering performance for colors gradients in certain apps, and again, this was only in single monitor mode (I gave up on using a multi-monitor config with this model; I didn't really need/want a secondary anyway though).

It's just weird because my current second monitor that has a g sync module (the Asus pg279q) is now my second monitor. When it was my primary monitor on my previous build, I never had this issue... but I was running that at 1440p 165hz with another basic 1080p monitor that was my second at the time. So I'm not sure if this black screen issue has to do with my current x28 being 4k 144hz and me having another g sync monitor, etc.

It's not weird at all; the PG279Q doesn't use DSC (display stream compression) and the Acer x28 does, and DSC can cause resolution and bandwidth limitations, especially in multi-monitor configurations, and one of those symptoms can be black screens.

For instance, my PG27AQN doesn't support custom resolution creation, including Nvidia DSR/DLDSR when DSC is enabled, and when I paired it with my PG279QM (which doesn't have DSC), I was experiencing similar symptoms to you.

I found a theory on reddit that the rtx 4090 card needs to be in maximum performance in nvidia control panel settings as well as GPU scaling to be set instead of display under adjust desktop size and position. apparently when you alt tab or the game isn't active (aka loading screen, in menu, etc) the gpu can downclock itself to save power, however when it needs to kick back on it can cause the black screen. I will test over the next few days and report back.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comme ... gsync_bug/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comment ... &context=3

I'm not sure if this is a G-Sync issue still but just throwing out ideas. My friends also have X28 monitors and are having similar issues.

There can be multiple causes for black screen issues, and they can stack simultaneously, which is why it is important to isolate and rule each out. But again, DSC usage results in limitations that are expected and typically undefeatable with that technology.

Bottom-line is, whatever your black screen issue ends up being caused by, using a DSC monitor in a multi-monitor configuration is typically problematic, and ultimately impractical in most cases.

[Firebolt059]

The default color is 8bit for my monitor so I guess I'll leave it at color defaults.

How would I find out if my monitor uses DSC? You said that yours does not but I don't see that information about the x28.

And when you say pre-R530 driver, would that just be a driver version before it was a known issue?

I appreciate your responses.

[jorimt]

How would I find out if my monitor uses DSC? You said that yours does not but I don't see that information about the x28.

There is indeed very little technical information available for the x28. There have also been no mainstream reviews for it on sites like TFT Central or RTINGS, so it's difficult to confirm.

All I know is that 4k 120Hz+ with DisplayPort 1.4 requires DSC for 4:4:4 chroma.

You can get away with 4k 120Hz+ without DSC using 4:2:2 or 4:2:0, so the question is, what "Output color format" options are available under the NVCP "Change resolution" section on your x28, and what is it set to at default?

If it's set to YCBCR444 or RGB at 120Hz and up, it's currently using DSC. If, however, its using YCBCR422, it's not using DSC, but chroma subsampling to stay within the max supported bandwidth of DP 1.4, and your black screen issues are potentially caused by something else (monitor EDID choices, mixed refresh multi-monitor with G-SYNC, MPO, etc).

And when you say pre-R530 driver, would that just be a driver version before it was a known issue?

Any driver version that is titled 52x.xx shouldn't have the issue.

[Firebolt059]

photo 1 is the options under output color format when I am at 144hz 4k. My output color depth options are 8,10 and 12 with a default of 8.

4.png (58.04 KiB) Viewed 10382 times

photo 2 are the options I get under output color format when my monitor Overclock is on to 152hz. I only have two options here and the output color depth says the same with 8, 10, 12.

2.png (56.4 KiB) Viewed 10383 times

[jorimt]

photo 1 is the options under output color format when I am at 144hz 4k. My output color depth options are 8,10 and 12 with a default of 8.

[...]

photo 2 are the options I get under output color format when my monitor Overclock is on to 152hz. I only have two options here and the output color depth says the same with 8, 10, 12.

Okay, then both scenarios appear to be using DSC.

To fully confirm, view this image at 100% size (don't scale it, or it won't work). If the lower text is perfectly clear and there's no artifacts as seen in the examples on the below page, then it's using DSC to achieve 4:4:4 chroma:
https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/chroma-subsampling

If so, lower your refresh rate to 144Hz and your color format to YCbCr422. If you still get the black screen issues, then it's probably not related to DSC, and you can continue to troubleshoot other causes.

[Firebolt059]

That is an awesome find!!!!

Yes if I use RGB or YCbCr444 in either 144hz or 152hz it looks fine and it must be using DSC like you said.

Swapping to YCbCr422 gives artefacts and the picture is not as clear, which I assume it's not using DSC also like you said.

I'll keep on YCbCr422 to see if it helps.

You are awesome!!!!!

[jorimt]

I'll keep on YCbCr422 to see if it helps.

Sure, feel free to update here after you've had some time to test using (what should be) the non-DSC mode on that model.