[SOLVED] Desktop background becomes darker for few seconds ?

[brunovnik]

So, i never had this issue, and now it really freaks me out. So i was surfing on internet, but not in maximized window, in smaller window so i can see desktop aswell, and what happened is, my desktop became darker for 1-2 second. Now when i say desktop i mean only the background, not the opened window, and that same thing happened more times. I even restarted pc, and saw that again. So now i dont know what that could be. I never had that issue, this is first time, should i be concerned? Please help, how can i know what causes that, and how to fix it?

 

[gardenman]

Hi, what GPU do you have?

This sounds like something that monitor software or GPU software would do. Maybe to keep your eyes "safe" or focused on the foreground task. First look in the tray (near clock on taskbar) to see if there's any software running that might have such a function. If so, close it out and see if the issue stops. Laptops often comes with such bundled software but it's not uncommon for desktops to have such software too.

If you have an Intel GPU, here's an idea: Open the Intel Graphics Command Center, go to the System tab, Power tab, turn off Display Power Savings.
Source: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...s/c0429bd9-f5e0-43fc-bdbe-6bb6be03dff4?auth=1
Additional ideas are also on that page.

 

[brunovnik]

Hi, i have rtx 2070 super msi gaming x trio version. But i have that pc for a year and half and i never saw that, and now all of a sudden i saw that, thats why thats weird for me.

 

[brunovnik]

Oh and speaking of that tray and prorgramms running, programms that run are, msi afterburner, riva tuner, but i doubt they are causing that. Maybe in the nvidia control panel. I donno.

 

[gardenman]

Try closing them out and see if it still happens.

If it does, try a clean boot.
Warning: Be sure to check the box to Hide all Microsoft Services when setting up for the clean boot. Full instructions can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

If the issue goes away while doing the clean boot, then it was one of the programs/services that you disabled that is causing the issue. Re-enable them a few at a time, and boot up and test for a few hours. This will take a few days. You should be able to eventually narrow it down to a single service/program that is causing the issue.

 

[FX.]

So, i never had this issue, and now it really freaks me out. So i was surfing on internet, but not in maximized window, in smaller window so i can see desktop aswell, and what happened is, my desktop became darker for 1-2 second. Now when i say desktop i mean only the background, not the opened window, and that same thing happened more times. I even restarted pc, and saw that again. So now i dont know what that could be. I never had that issue, this is first time, should i be concerned? Please help, how can i know what causes that, and how to fix it?

I'm having the exact same issue recently, I'm thinking it may relate to a GPU driver (I will do a roll back shortly to verify) using an Nvidia RTX 3090.

I use chrome mainly and every now and then, randomly I will add, I can be doing something on the web or watching a youtube vid etc and the desktop and all other apps darken, but colour intensity changes quite drastically too, as in orange becomes deep red, greys become black etc, but only in apps in the background, the foreground window remains perfect, if I move the mouse, it instantly corrects it but on its own, the effect only usually lasts for a few seconds if nothing is touched.

I took a photo of the screen when it happened, just bizarre

There have been two changes on my system recently.

1. I upgraded to Win 11 (eeek)
2. I updated Nvidia drivers

All other software and other apps / drivers are the same they have always been, so it has to relate to one of the above, with the Nvidia driver being the easiest to eliminate by rolling back (which I will do soon).

 

[brunovnik]

I'm having the exact same issue recently, I'm thinking it may relate to a GPU driver (I will do a roll back shortly to verify) using an Nvidia RTX 3090.

I use chrome mainly and every now and then, randomly I will add, I can be doing something on the web or watching a youtube vid etc and the desktop and all other apps darken, but colour intensity changes quite drastically too, as in orange becomes deep red, greys become black etc, but only in apps in the background, the foreground window remains perfect, if I move the mouse, it instantly corrects it but on its own, the effect only usually lasts for a few seconds if nothing is touched.

There have been two changes on my system recently.

1. I upgraded to Win 11 (eeek)
2. I updated Nvidia drivers

All other software and other apps / drivers are the same they have always been, so it has to relate to one of the above, with the Nvidia driver being the easiest to eliminate by rolling back (which I will do soon).

Hi, i was recently checking the windows updates, and what i noticed is available nvidia update, and then i updated display driver, and when i updated display driver i havent seen that problem anymore, hope it stays so, and i think that will also work for you too.

 

[FX.]

Hi, i was recently checking the windows updates, and what i noticed is available nvidia update, and then i updated display driver, and when i updated display driver i havent seen that problem anymore, hope it stays so, and i think that will also work for you too.

I'm on the latest nvidia driver (and it just happened to me again), its really random too, lol.
I'm going to try rolling back the driver.

What version of the driver do you use? Also, do you use W11 & Chrome?

 

[brunovnik]

I saw your pic, yep thats the same problem i had, and it really pissed me off, btw im using win10, and most probably wont upgrade it, and chrome version i donno which one it is, but i dont think it matters, now 1. thing make sure u have all important drivers up to date, nvidia geforce driver, chipset driver etc. also make sure to keep windows up to date, and as i said in windows updates, there should be an option to download “optional” drivers, and that should be nvidia DISPLAY driver, so not the gpu driver that u download from nvidia website, but driver that shows up in windows updates. And thats what (i hope) fixed my problem.

 

[FX.]

Ok, so that kinda rules out Win 11 being the cause, I downloaded the latest Nvidia driver direct, so will DDU that and see how it is with the Windows update provided driver.
I'm pretty tech savvy in general, but this one has been driving me nuts for about a week now mainly because reproducing it reliably seems impossible, its just a waiting game for it to happen. I'm thinking the last two nvidia drivers may be at fault, because I have done 2 updates recently (one for 11 and one after : 496.49) but I haven't yet taken the time to roll back (tonight I will).