Backlight Freaking Out on System Start

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Karnaj
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Location: MD, USA

Backlight Freaking Out on System Start

Post by Karnaj » 25 Jan 2014, 10:41

This issue happened for the first time today on my VG248QE, which I've modified using the G-Sync Upgrade Kit. I left ULMB on last night as I shut down my PC. G-Sync had been enabled globally, if that matters. This morning, I turned on my PC first and then my monitor. At the Windows login screen, the display started flickering fast between lit and unlit. I noticed a rectangular patch of thin, gray lines near the middle of the screen whenever the display was lit. The issue persisted after logging in, flickering slower and slower over time until the display became pitch black like it was off. Pressing the ULMB button made the monitor OSD report the following: ULMB possible for 85/100/120Hz only. I checked my Nvidia control panel before the monitor stayed unlit and my refresh rate was already set to 120 Hz as normal.

I'm not sure what fixed this, but I remember turning my monitor off and on manually, which didn't help early on as the monitor flickered fast. I made changes to the refresh rate and the "Adjust Desktop Size and Position" settings, and I was able to finally toggle UMLB, which was when the issue stopped and the monitor started behaving normally.

I've tried to reproduce this issue by restarting my PC with ULMB on, but the backlight insists on behaving now. Perhaps I can reproduce it if I leave my monitor and PC off overnight again. I honestly hope that it doesn't happen again since I can't pinpoint the reason for it. It did not happen yesterday even after several hours of gaming with ULMB on. Has anyone else had this backlight issue happen with the G-Sync module installed?

P.S. My Nvidia driver version is 331.82.
ASUS VG248QE | ASUS P8Z77-V | Intel i5-3570k @ 4.5 GHz | EVGA GTX 780 Classified ACX | Razer Deathadder 2013 | CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Red Switches | Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM | Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Advanced | Antec HCG-750

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RealNC
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Re: Backlight Freaking Out on System Start

Post by RealNC » 25 Jan 2014, 11:41

Since you mentioned that you turned on the monitor only after Windows had already started booting, try this:

Shut down the PC, and turn off the monitor. Start the PC but leave the monitor off. Wait until Windows has booted up completely, then turn the monitor on. Does that reproduce the issue?
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Karnaj
Posts: 27
Joined: 18 Dec 2013, 13:40
Location: MD, USA

Re: Backlight Freaking Out on System Start

Post by Karnaj » 25 Jan 2014, 14:21

RealNC wrote:Since you mentioned that you turned on the monitor only after Windows had already started booting, try this:

Shut down the PC, and turn off the monitor. Start the PC but leave the monitor off. Wait until Windows has booted up completely, then turn the monitor on. Does that reproduce the issue?
I've already tried following the same steps that I took this morning (turn on PC first and the monitor afterwards once the Windows login screen appears), but I haven't been able to reproduce the issue. Just tried again a moment ago and no issue. Good riddance, I guess, but I'll try turning the monitor and PC off overnight in order to make sure.

I'm guessing the order of turning devices on doesn't matter much. I think it's more related to the monitor refresh rate somehow changing itself within the G-Sync module or Nvidia control panel, so having ULMB turned on while turning on the monitor made the backlight freak out. The strange thing is that I had the refresh rate set to 120 Hz when I turned the PC and monitor off last night.
ASUS VG248QE | ASUS P8Z77-V | Intel i5-3570k @ 4.5 GHz | EVGA GTX 780 Classified ACX | Razer Deathadder 2013 | CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Red Switches | Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM | Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Advanced | Antec HCG-750

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