Samsung Odyssey G8 G80SD 32 inch Intermittent Black Screen

[NealMcDeal]

Hi Everyone

update.

For months I have been chasing Samsung re: firmware updates, eventually I got hold of 2nd level support and a technician that actually knew something instead of giving me standard pre-canned responses.

I was using 1004 firmware and then upgraded to 1005, unfortunately there was not any improvement.

However, Samsung support gave me access to v1301...a big jump in version numbers and now this is on the support websites to download as a USB update. (I am not sure if it is available via auto updates as I had upgraded them all manually as at the time, the auto update process didn't have the new firmware).

I can say that this version 1301 has "improved" but unfortunately not eliminated the screen blanking issue. This is very disappointing, but that being said it is happening a lot less these days once I have upgraded to this firmware.

So if you are running on anything less than 1301 and have this issue, I suggest you upgrade to the new version. You won't regret it. I have contacted support again, to find out if they are still going to continue looking into this problem. [I have also indicated that I have another problem with the Settings - Number - Color button on the remote, and that my remote eventually stops responding to my monitor - oh well will have to wait for that to be fixed.]

Anyway back to the monitor problem. I only seem to have the problem with Display Port. (Don't matter what frequency as it still occurs - FYI I operate the monitor at 120Hz. But tried 60Hz and 240Hz and still same issues. However, if I use HDMI I don't have any issues at all. I am using a NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super; using G-Sync Compatible/Adaptive Sync.

I have this monitor (as well as a G6) connected to my main PC using Display Port and then a work PC connected via HDMI. I am mainly on HDMI during the day and have NEVER had the issue with HDMI on the G8. However, when using Display Port, the problem still exists. (BTW the G6 has never missed a beat - so if you only use one computer connected to the monitor I will suggest you change your cable to HDMI. But if you are like me that use two computers connected up, the one using Display Port will probably still have an issue.

Do other people still have this issue with the screen going randomly black for about 1-2 sec from time to time? What Frequency (Refresh Rate) are you using?

Thanks

Neal

[Yaari]

Another update today,  I doubt it is anything of value. 

[Xbob42]

Wow, what a tremendous coincidence. I was searching up this issue and came across this thread, saw that Samsung were saying it was on nvidia's end, and went to update my GPU driver which I haven't done in a couple of weeks. What should be in the patch notes but the thing I literally just searched for seconds ago... on a driver that came out today! Lucky me!

https://i.imgur.com/kQmvyrE.png 

Update those drivers, fellas!

[LG_Bullet]

Hi everyone!
I’m happy to report that with the new Nvidia driver (576.80), the red/green/color flickering and black screen flashes have now completely disappeared for me (tested for 3 hours).
The red/green/color flickering mostly occurred on the Windows 11 desktop—either in idle mode or while browsing—which I personally found more annoying.
In my case, the black screen issue only appeared once a few minutes after the system booted up, but it seems that with my setup, they’ve finally managed to fix it.
Please share your experiences when you have time!
Thanks in advance!

[Katsuno221]

Hey, thank you ^^ 

My monitor is coming today and I was just looking for a solution to this problem 😄 that's perfect timing.

I use a RTX4090 and now i upgrade my driver 🙂

[NealMcDeal]

I have just downloaded the new driver 576.80 and so far no flicker for me; since my last update my flicker had reduced to a very brief black screen upto 1hr after turning on PC. So far so good, I will wait for a few more days before declaring this a win, as we have been in this position before where things improve, but it comes back. 

But one thing that got me questioning was the readme - "Certain DisplayPort 1.4 monitors may display random black screen flicker when connected to DisplayPort 2.1 graphics card [5277453]" (I don't know how to access the KB article 5277453...does anyone?) 

Anyway, I thought does the G8 have a Display Port 1.4 (that seems old as DP1.4 was released back in 2016 and DP2.1 in 2022, yet this is a new monitor in 2024. When I look at the specs https://www.samsung.com/au/monitors/gaming/odyssey-oled-g8-g80sd-32-inch-240hz-oled-uhd-ls32dg802sex... it does say 1.4; yet when I read about 1.4 they say it can't support 4K above 120Hz, yet this is a 240Hz monitor?? Confused? Then I found that the only way is that if the monitor supports HBR 3 compression, but I can't find any details on the G8 OLED supports HBR3? So I am totally confused about that as I have used 240Hz at 4K with windows (although currently I used 120Hz as I kept losing my mouse cursor it was too quick!).

So I assume, that our G80sd-32" OLED monitors do in fact use DP1.4 standard; but possibly with HBR3 to support faster refresh rates at 4K. Then this all makes sense from Nvidia driver fix now potentially working for this monitor!

Again, will keep testing on my end this weekend, but signs are positive so far..... 

This would be good news, as I have found it a bit difficult to get a response from my contact in Samsung...I am getting radio silence atm.....and I don't want to constantly hassle him. Last report from him was that they were going to escalate again with Nvidia. That was about 2 months ago, so who knows.... 

Fingers' crossed everyone.

So much for changing monitors, you can read on reddit, that a few people (with non Samsung monitors also have had issues) ! So much for the theory that the monitor is the cause of the problem. Some vindication there for Samsung I guess. Thanks for the update

[NealMcDeal]

It was looking hopeful. After installing the new 576.80 drivers I had a few days with no black screens. I was jumping for joy at the possibility that this had finally solved the problem. But alas, today the black screen re-appeared! So I can confirm that this these drivers have not solved the problem for me.

Now, I have a G8 as a main monitor (#1 in windows) and G6 (in Vertical orientation) as a second monitor (#2 in windows) so it may be fine for people that just have a single G8 monitor and no dual-monitor setup. So it would be good to know if anyone else has better results than me in a single monitor setup.

Previously I used the older 566.36 drivers and these were very stable, but still got the black screen from time to time. Any drivers above 566.36 were rubbish and had various other issues so I stayed clear of them. I have a Nvidia 4080 Super so from that perspective I didn't need the any more recent drivers as I don't have a RTX 5xxx card. 

Now, given that fact that 576.80 driver supports 'path tracing' in Doom The Dark Ages, and that these seem just as stable as the 566.36 drivers. I will now use these as my new baseline. I will still monitor the occurrences of the black screen I get. Given this I will now reach out to my contact in Samsung to let them know it is still not working. I wonder, given that it is an issue between DP 1.4 and DP2.1 cards that Samsung may be able to do something about it. God only knows!

Anyway... fingers crossed that Nvidia still make improvements to address this issue!

[NealMcDeal]

A further update to this. I have not had the black screen appear for the last few days! Not sure why, nothing has changed for me. So far for me, it would seem that the occurrence of the black screen is becoming less frequent. Is anyone else noticing a decrease in the number of occurrences of the black screen or do people get it without fail each time after powering on their monitor?

I also seem to only get the black screen when on my desktop, watching a movie on windows, etc, but not when playing a game....maybe something in that or maybe not??

[Yaari]

Oh, wow, so it might have actually gotten fixed? **bleep**. That is more than I expected.
Hope that someday we can turn off the pop-ups too, but for now this is a big win. Please share your experiences on that new nvidia driver. 

[NealMcDeal]

Only way I know to get rid of pop-ups is to use the service remote to change the settings (but I am not going to do that until my warranty expires and this monitor is stable) - just in case I need to bring it in to Samsung for repair. (As if you use the Service Remote, there is a log file in the monitor that records that you have access the service screen/interface). 

The only workaround I am aware of and I am okay with is to press the back arrow on the remote as soon as the pop-up appears and it goes away instantly. A bit inconvenient but better than voiding warranty. I will still ask the guy I know about new feature requests.

[Yaari]

Thanks for asking that. Yeah, I dont know if it will ever happen but I honestly feel like it should. But we've been over that, just wanted to say appreciate you doing that.