Turning DisplayPort monitor off disables monitor completely

Question

I have 2 monitors connected to a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660:

• Left is 1920x1080 via DVI (Samsung SyncMaster 2443BW)
• Right is 2560x1440 via DisplayPort and is set to Primary (Samsung SyncMaster SA850)

I often leave my computer running overnight (working on long render job, doing backups, etc) so I only power off my monitors manually. However, if I power off the primary monitor, it is disabled completely as if it were unplugged from the graphics card (i.e. icons are moved, open apps are moved and resized to fit on the new primary monitor). If I switch from DP to a DVI cable, this does not occur. It seems to be an issue when using DisplayPort.

Is there a way to disable the monitor from being disabled completely in Windows when I power it off physically?

I have found no relevant settings in either Windows Display settings, nor the NVIDIA control panel software.

Edit #1: I'm using an Oehlbach Transdata DP 510 cable.

Edit #2: Here is a screenshot of my NVIDIA Control Panel v7.2.710.0:

Edit #3: Here are screenshots of my Monitor configuration:

Clicking on Advanced settings reveals a Generic PnP monitor running at 59 Hz? 60 Hz is the only other option available.

Here is my secondary monitor which is connected via DVI:

Edit #4: If I open the "Screen Resolution" configuration panel and power the monitor off (via the power switch), this is what is shown:

It looks like I disconnected the monitor from the video card.

Answer 1

DisplayPort acts as a PNP device, so turning off the monitor disconnects it from the computer as if it was removed and windows are moved out because Windows forgets this device, until it is turned on again and is "discovered".

One solution is to just let the screen go into sleep instead of turning it off. There are ways of programmatically forcing that, for example by using the monoff command in the free Wizmo utility to turn off all monitors.

Another solution for NVIDIA Quadro cards (but not GeForce cards) is detailed in DisplayPort Blanking / Screen Autodetect Problems by setting the monitor to use EDID information from a file instead of from the monitor, so auto-detect is not required.

This is done in NVIDIA Control Panel -> Workstation -> View system topology -> EDID source (for the monitor) -> Monitor... -> Export EDID.

Repeat this for each monitor. The topology should list the display as either EDID 'forced' or 'file'. See the linked article for more detail.

Answer 2

Disable the "DisplayData Channel Command Interface" (DDC/CI) in your monitor settings.
As a result Windows will not recognize if you turn off your monitor and your desktop icons stay as they should. I successfully tested this on a Dell monitor!

Wikipedia descripes DDC/CI as follows. I'll just leave it at that. There isn't much about it on the net.

[...] DDC/CI specifies a means for a computer to send commands to the monitor, as well as receive sensor data from the monitor, over a bidirectional link. [...] Some tilting DDC/CI monitors support an auto-pivot function, where a rotation sensor in the monitor enables the operating system to keep the display upright as the monitor is moved between its portrait and landscape positions.

Most DDC/CI monitors support only a small subset of MCCS commands and some have undocumented commands. Many manufacturers did not pay attention to DDC/CI in the past, but now almost all monitors support such general MCCS commands as brightness and contrast management.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_Data_Channel#DDC.2FCI

(or)

Switch from DisplayPort to HDMI and block pin #19 with electrical tape.
Unfortunately this is only possible if monitor and graphics card have additional HDMI ports.

Female end (monitor)                 Male end (Cable)

• Pin 19: Hot Plug detect (all versions) and HEC Data+ (optional, HDMI 1.4+ with Ethernet)

DisplayPort also has a Hot Plug pin (pin #18), but I doubt someone is able to tape this specific pin since DP connectors are just too small.

Answer 3

I've run into this issue as well and I've decided to write a little utility to restore the position and sizes of the windows on each of the screens. I unfortunately have an AMD card so the Nvidia solutions don't work for me.

http://www.ninjacrab.com/persistent-windows/

Answer 4

This doesn't apply to all Samsung monitors but on my SyncMaster BX2031, I found that if I go to the monitor's built-in menu, go to Setup & Reset and set Magic Return to OFF, I don't have the issue. I think this is Samsung's attempt at saving on system performance by disabling an unused screen. However, I'm not entirely sure if this is the only function of the feature so be safe about it.

To clarify, on Samsung monitors go to [Menu -> Setup & Reset -> Magic Return -> off]

Answer 5

A "simple" registry change, taken from here. It works for me mostly. Programs snapped to the lower right corner are moved ~300px closer to the center on my 4k screen, but I can deal with it, especially since it means I won't have to install a 3rd party app:

Using Sysinternals ProcessMonitor I found that Windows was accessing the following Registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration

My system had three entries:

DELF003YY7707BR0MUL_30_07D7_6A^9A3774EB79DEE3E3E38496CC7DF4D936
QHD32000001_31_07D6_D5^63E1ABDD175E7871DCAEB710418A0F75
SIMULATED_8086_2A42_00000000_00020000_1010100^CDE365D1B3F0942F0CF38BFB8E127AB4

Under each is a tree called "00", two of the keys are PrimSurfSize.cx PrimSurfSize.cy

Under "00" was another branch also called "00", two of the keys are ActiveSize.cx ActiveSize.cy

The first two of the configs (ie DELF00... & QHD3...) the above keys were 1440x900, so they were not involved.

The third (SIMULATED...) were set to 1024x768.

I changed these to 1600x900 and the problem was solved.

Further I changed resolution (via control panel) to 1920x1080, the moving/resize issue returned, but the lower right corner was set to 1600x900, i.e. the SIMULATED... settings." Use MichealAtOz's advice but within all the folders that are labeled "00" or "01", (etc, I had 00 and 01) look for any settings that contain 1024, 768, or I 4096 in the data values at the end in parenthesis. Change the 1024 to the x resolution of your desktop (the first number in resolutions) and the 768 to the y resolution of your desktop. Change the 4096 number of "Stride" to whatever number there already is in a "00" or similar titled folder that already has (without you changing them) the desired desktop resolution numbers in primsurfsize.cx and ...y. Right click the name and choose modify, then select binary as the base to enter correct resolution values.

Answer 6

Guys - This was my entire solution. I had to do all 3 of these things to get it to work.

1. Update your Nvidia Drivers to the latest version and restart your computer
2. Go into each monitor and turn off the DDC/CI ability (DISABLE IT)
3. Follow these instructions: https://sites.google.com/site/ebobster/stuff/displayportblanking

This will work for you. I had to hack at this a while to figure this out. It's a combination of all of these things to get it to work properly. You might have to reload your EDI files more than once to get it to work but you can succeed. :)

There is no reason to disable pin 19 to get this to work if you follow my instructions.

Answer 7

I have the option to disable DisplayPort 1.2 on my Monitor's OSD. This resolved the issue for me.

Answer 8

For me, I am on Windows 8 and my monitor (connected by DisplayPort) was automatically turning off every time I locked my PC, after a 60 second delay, which produced the issue described in this question. The other suggestions in this Q&A weren't workable for my monitor (Samsung 4K UHD 28” Monitor U28D590D). I was able to successfully work around it by following the instructions here to disable this behavior:

Microsoft Support: KB 2835052: Monitor powers off after 1 minute when PC is locked

In short, I ran this at the command line:

powercfg.exe /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_VIDEO VIDEOCONLOCK 3600
powercfg.exe /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT

This sets it to only turn off after one hour (3600 seconds), so now I can lock my PC when I walk away from it for just a few minutes without my windows getting jumbled. This does not directly address the question's original scenario (which involved manually turning off the monitor) but I thought others may find it helpful.

Answer 9

For those using DisplayPort and has DVI input on monitor there is a hardware solution:
DP to DVI Akasa AK-CBDP15-20BK active adapter

I'm using two of them with my two Dell U2713HM 2560x1440 60Hz and AMD RX 480.

...still I can't believe I'm using new hardware to solve a software issue... shame on you Microsoft/nVidia/AMD!!!

Answer 10

Not a fix, but a workaround. I noticed that if you minimize windows before the display is powered off and do not restore them until the display has returned, then the windows are not rearranged.

I leverage that fact to provide a 'seamless' experience for myself as I have documented here: http://thelamprechts.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-windows-workaround-to-maintain-window.html

Answer 11

Same problem bothered me after I switched to DP monitors. I found a solution that works for me: instead of turning off the monitors by pressing the button on monitor, I turn off screen from windows. I'm using a lenovo PC and its Power Manager software has a feature to put a 'power off monitor' option if i rightclick desktop. I believe for other pc you can download a tool like NirCmd or Monitor Off to do that. When I turn off monitor in this way, my monitors would go to sleep mode but stay connected; And when I wake them up all the windows stay where they were.

Answer 12

I had exactly the same problem with my HP Z24i displays connected to the USB-C dock of my HP ProBook 430 G5. The displays disappeared when turned off. Not only that, but the displays also disappeared whenever I locked the computer and waited for 60 seconds. Also, sometimes the displays went to a permanent "amber" power state where not even pressing the power button of the monitor did anything and I had to manually remove the power cord, wait for 5 seconds for the capacitors to discharge and reconnect the power cord.

The solution is to adjust the settings of the monitor.

1. Press the "Menu" button on the display twice to open the menu.
2. Select Input Control...
3. Select DP Hot-Plug Detection...
4. Change from Low Power to Always Active
5. Select Save and Return
6. Select Save and Return
7. Select Exit

I assume most displays have a similar setting.

Then, after doing these adjustments on all displays, I changed the Windows power plan to never turn off the displays. Whenever I walk away from the computer, I lock the computer and turn off all displays manually from the power button.

This is a hardware issue, not a software issue.

Answer 13

This is technically a software design issue with MS Windows; there's no reason you shouldn't be able to keep the desktop configuration across device configuration changes, and in fact this does work well in other operating systems.

Answer 14

Check the solution in the following post (Friday, September 16, 2011 8:28 PM): http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/8a9b5aa7-fe33-4e6d-b39b-8ac80a21fdc2/disable-monitor-off-detection-how#c6e69e04-c0a5-44e1-a87e-7d83efb38efd

This is a very long thread - if the above way does not work for you, maybe the following solutions there can help you?!

Answer 15

Try this:

1. Go to Control Panel> Power Options.
2. Edit the plan you use by clicking Change Plan Settings.
3. Once here click Change Advanced Power Settings.
4. Once there, go to USB Settings, open the menu by clicking the +, and open the next menu named USB Selective Suspend Setting. Disable it.
5. Once this is disabled, Windows 7 will no longer adjust your display setup when a display is turned off.

I just tested it, and it works for my double screen setup (HP ZDisplay Z23i 23" SCreens) with Win 7 and GeForce GT630.