One of the biggest downsides of playing video games on a laptop is a relatively small display screen. If you compare laptops to custom-built desktop computers, the latter comes with a dedicated monitor that usually has a large display, offering an excellent gaming experience.
In the case of gaming consoles, you usually connect those to a TV screen, and TVs tend to be larger than computer monitors.
Laptop owners who are unhappy with the setup tend to seek alternatives, and one such alternative is to connect your laptop to an external monitor. But what happens when the laptop’s external monitor goes black when playing video games?
The problem is not that common, but it still occurs now and then. To avoid it or to know how to troubleshoot the issue, you need the necessary information, which will be provided in this article.
Check Driver and Hardware Compatibility
Since you are connecting a third-party peripheral to your laptop, you need to be sure that both devices are compatible. Driver-related issues are one of the most common reasons behind an external monitor going back when you connect it to a laptop.
It is recommended to check the state of the computer drivers. If something is amiss, you should uninstall display drivers from your computer and restart the device. After the reboot, your computer will download and install the missing drivers.
Think of it as giving the laptop drivers a fresh update. It might take a while to download and install the missing drivers, but it should help with the problem.
Install OS Updates
Speaking of updates, you should also not underestimate the fact that your computer might be missing the latest OS version.
Not having an updated operating system can lead to different issues, including compatibility with peripherals or causing problems with an accessory. In this case, it would be an external monitor going black.
Go to the System Settings and manually check whether there is a new update available. If you find one, download and install it.
Tinker With Monitor Setting Preferences
If you connect an external monitor, it is possible that it is a model with some different settings. Or, to be more specific, different modes that you can set depending on what you are doing.
There should be a gaming option that you can set on your monitor. If you have not bothered enabling it, try and see if it helps with the issue.
Identify Which Games Cause the Problem
This one might be a stretch, but it is possible that the issue is related to a specific game rather than the computer or monitor.
Some video games are known to have poor optimization, especially if they are in early access. You can expect patch updates that might fix the issue, but it is often a long shot.
Test different video games and see how the monitor reacts to them. If you notice a pattern with specific video games, the problem could lie with them. On the other hand, if the monitor goes black regardless of the game you play, then it should be pretty clear that the problem is related to the computer or the monitor.
Test the Cables You Use
Connecting an external monitor to a laptop using new cables should lead to an optimal experience. However, if you have not bothered purchasing new cables and decided to use old ones from before, it might not be the most optimal approach, to say the least.
Even if these are one-off occasions, you might find that switching to a new cable is enough to solve the problem of an external monitor going black when you are playing video games on a laptop.
Take Care of Drive Clutter
General laptop optimization is worth a try as well, particularly if you are running out of other options. For instance, you can check the state of the laptop’s drive. The odds are that if you installed too many video games in addition to other data, there might be only a few gigabytes of free disk space left.
From redundant files in system data storage and duplicates to media and video games you no longer play, the more unnecessary junk you remove from the drive, the better your computer should perform.
Of course, you should also not forget about the option to transfer some files to external storage if you do not wish to delete data and would like to keep it around.
Disable Overclocking
As a technique, overclocking is legit if you are looking to boost a computer’s performance. However, there are instances when it causes issues, and one of those issues could be an external monitor going black.
Those laptop users who have overclocking enabled should disable the option and see how the external monitor will perform when gaming.