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Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

W530/W540/W541/W550 Series
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Geophyte1
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Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

#1 Post by Geophyte1 » Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:36 pm

I have two identical monitors, only use one at a time, and both of them are acting the same so I'm thinking it is the computer which is my W541. I have been using these monitors off and on for over a year on the W541 but just in the last month I see the screen go black for just a very brief time and then return. Nothing else seems to be affected. I've never had a video problem of this nature before so I'm wondering if this is a symptom of the video card having a problem?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Regards,

Geophyte1
Thinkpad W700ds 2757-CTO, T-400 2767AT6, W541 20EFCTO1WW

rkawakami
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Re: Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

#2 Post by rkawakami » Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:16 pm

Are the external monitors connected directly to the laptop, or are they going through a KVM switch? I ask, as for me, I have an old 16" Sharp (SXGA) that's hooked up to a NTI ST-2U KVM and ever since, it flashes off and on for a second at what seems like totally random times.

If no on the KVM and you're plugging in the monitor into the laptop, what port (VGA or DisplayPort) are you using?
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RRHODY
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Re: Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

#3 Post by RRHODY » Thu Oct 13, 2016 11:12 am

I had a similar problem with a new monitor and called the monitor's tech support. The answer they gave me was "that behavior usually means the cable." After using three different cables with no change, I changed the DP to HDMI adapter that I was using to to connect the monitor; and the problem went away.

Geophyte1
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Location: Rockdale, Texas

Re: Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

#4 Post by Geophyte1 » Thu Oct 13, 2016 7:48 pm

rkawakami

I plug a monitor directly into the VGA port. There are two monitors but I only use one at a time and the second monitor just sits completely separated from the computing environment.

Thanks.


RRHODY

Interesting. Both monitors are 6 year old 26.5" Samsung:)

I'll try another cable. Good thought.

No HDMI on my W541 but I'll look at using the mini port.

thanks
Regards,

Geophyte1
Thinkpad W700ds 2757-CTO, T-400 2767AT6, W541 20EFCTO1WW

i2000s
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Re: Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

#5 Post by i2000s » Tue Oct 25, 2016 4:02 pm

RRHODY wrote:I had a similar problem with a new monitor and called the monitor's tech support. The answer they gave me was "that behavior usually means the cable." After using three different cables with no change, I changed the DP to HDMI adapter that I was using to to connect the monitor; and the problem went away.
To me, this is a cable problem on my monitor...
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Geophyte1
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Location: Rockdale, Texas

Re: Monitor Seemingly Randomly Going Black for a Second or Two

#6 Post by Geophyte1 » Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:56 pm

FYI. I did change the cable and the problem went away:)
Regards,

Geophyte1
Thinkpad W700ds 2757-CTO, T-400 2767AT6, W541 20EFCTO1WW

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