Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Performa640

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2020
16
14
New Jersey
So I have a Samsung Odyssey high resolution, high refresh rate monitor which works beautifully with my new M4 Pro Mac Mini - but there's one weird reoccurring problem that I just can't figure out. Every now and then, the monitor will just go black for, like, 3 or 4 seconds, and then the picture comes back. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen every single day, multiple times a day. It's not a huge problem, but it *is* annoying, especially when I'm watching videos or movies. I have no idea what could be causing this. I'm wondering if maybe it's the HDMI cable that's at fault, or if it's the monitor itself...? *shrug*

Should I purchase another HDMI cable, or could there be something else that's causing the problem?
 
Mains power interference?
Something on your local power circuit with a high 'inrush current' being switched on, and causing low voltage moment...
This can cause some monitors to go into their power-on cycle and blank the screen until this is completed?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Performa640
If you're using HDMI try using DisplayPort instead. If you're using DisplayPort try HDMI. I've found that generally solves my issues.
I'll try using DisplayPort via one of the Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back of the Mac Mini and see how that goes.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: rezwits
Sounds like a momentary "loss of sync" between the display and Mac
or
Perhaps some kind of "sleep issue"? (either with Mac or with display).

Changing to USBc (Mini) to Displayport (display) might be "the key".
 
On my M2 Pro MM, I had similar issues. About a year ago, I got a Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 and loved it, but had two weird issues.

The first was it didn't want to sleep. When the MM went to sleep, the Neo G7 would look like it was about to sleep and then come back on for a few seconds only to attempt to sleep again. Over and over. It looked like a it flashing on and off.

The first was annoying, but the second was a lot worse, Kernel Panics. Shortly after getting the Neo G7, I kept getting Kernel Panics, and my MM was shutting down. It was happening almost every day. I updated the firmware, talked to Samsung, nothing helped. I was thinking of taking it to Apple, but dealing with them is always a hassle in my experience, and they would probably blame it on the Samsung anyways, so I ended up returning the Neo G7 while still in the return period and got a INNOCN 32M2V 32"" 4K Mini LED IPS monitor.

I liked the Neo G7 in almost every way, but it did seem that the INNOCN did HDR a lot better than the Neo G7. Best part is, the almost daily Kernel Panics went away, although I still get them about once a month or two. Overall, I am happy with the INNOCN.

But, I started having weird issues that are very similar to what you are having with your Odyssey. It was like the monitor would randomly turn off for a few seconds, then come back on like nothing happened.

It started after adjusting the monitor's sleep settings, because I wanted the monitor to come on when a source was turned on rather than manually turning on the monitor and changing the source. I got that to work, but the random black outs were happening often, sometimes several times a day, and sometimes not for a days, completely random.

It was annoying, so I turned off the settings that I turned on previously and the black outs went away. The settings that seem to cause the problems were "Auto Power" and "Input Signal". I cannot remember if it is one or both that would cause the issue, but one weird thing about Auto Power is that turning it "Off" seemed to turn it on and vice versa. I currently have it set to "On" and it doesn't automatically turn on.

Not sure if any of that will help you, but it might be worth look at your settings and see if there is anything you can adjust like what I mentioned. Maybe changing some of the settings will stop the black outs for you.
 
Thank you so much for the long and very helpful reply! I'll look into the settings and see if I can find anything similar to what you've mentioned here.
 
It’s a longstanding issue.


A supposed cause and solution:


It’s not dire but definitely annoying. Coincidentally, I recently decided to order a more “premium” cable:


The cable is scheduled to arrive later today.

P.S. I know there are far more hyped variants, such as:


I’m not comfortable spending $200+ USD on a (short) cable and have no justification there is reasonable value.
 
Well, I attempted to switch from HDMI to DisplayPort, but... it didn't work. So I'm back to HDMI with the same cable I was using, hoping that maybe the magical "unplug it and plug it back in" approach will be successful in eliminating the problem. Fingers and toes crossed!
 
I don’t want to speak too soon, the problem is sporadic after all, or give a false solution. However, since swapping to the Rocketfish HDMI cable, I haven’t seen the display drop out.
 
I can confirm that the same happens to my Mac Mini m4, connected to a quite old 4k asus monitor. Sometimes it just loses the video signal for a bunch of seconds.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sergioandr.es
I don’t want to speak too soon, the problem is sporadic after all, or give a false solution. However, since swapping to the Rocketfish HDMI cable, I haven’t seen the display drop out.
Still fixed? I have the same problem on a base model M4 Mini and also an M4 Pro. As far as cables I have tried 3 basic ones I had laying around.
 
Still fixed? I have the same problem on a base model M4 Mini and also an M4 Pro. As far as cables I have tried 3 basic ones I had laying around.
I vaguely remember two sparse instances between then and now. Thus far, at the very least, I would describe it as a substantial improvement.

P.S. Those instances, which were still less frequent, probably occurred while I was trying 120Hz. I’ve since switched back to 60Hz as there’s not a huge difference unless you’re (super) fast scrolling Web pages or documents, and it’s more compatible with video watching and capturing (e.g., screen recording) -- that is, less or no interpolation.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: sergioandr.es
Do you have a Power On light on the monitor? Is it going off when the problem occurs? If so may be a Monitor "Heat Problem" a component failing because it is getting Hot. Also check your AC connections for loos plugs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Performa640
Do you have a Power On light on the monitor? Is it going off when the problem occurs? If so may be a Monitor "Heat Problem" a component failing because it is getting Hot. Also check your AC connections for loos plugs.
Hmmm...I don't see a "Power On" light anywhere on the monitor. I have checked the plugs and they're all good. Thank you for the reply!
 
This problem continues to baffle me. I haven't ordered another HDMI cable yet, but I think I'm going to pull the trigger on that. If that doesn't work, then I might just have to abandon this Samsung display (which wasn't cheap) altogether and get a different one. I've got my eye on a couple of different BenQ models that seem to be quite excellent...
 
This problem continues to baffle me. I haven't ordered another HDMI cable yet, but I think I'm going to pull the trigger on that. If that doesn't work, then I might just have to abandon this Samsung display (which wasn't cheap) altogether and get a different one. I've got my eye on a couple of different BenQ models that seem to be quite excellent...
I finally fixed it by switching to an old cheaply made HDMI cable, so the problem does seems to be cable dependent, but the fix not necessarily a new high quality cable.
 
Well, I bought a new HDMI cable (for only about $18 or so), and I'm happy to report that it did indeed fix the problem. I want to thank everybody who responded in this thread. You were all very helpful. Cheers!
 
So I have a Samsung Odyssey high resolution, high refresh rate monitor which works beautifully with my new M4 Pro Mac Mini - but there's one weird reoccurring problem that I just can't figure out. Every now and then, the monitor will just go black for, like, 3 or 4 seconds, and then the picture comes back. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen every single day, multiple times a day. It's not a huge problem, but it *is* annoying, especially when I'm watching videos or movies. I have no idea what could be causing this. I'm wondering if maybe it's the HDMI cable that's at fault, or if it's the monitor itself...? *shrug*

Should I purchase another HDMI cable, or could there be something else that's causing the problem?
I'm beginning to think that this is just a general issue with Samsung ultra wides. I've had three now and they've all done it. One was particularly bad that I got rid of. It wouldn't do it for ages and then suddenly it would do it constantly. There was no rhyme or reason to it. I tried display port, HDMI, different cables - everything. The one I have now does it on occasion but it's nowhere near as bad as the previous ones. So I've just put it down to Samsung monitors aren't great.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.