Black screen with YouTube videos

[leshay]

Hi
Not at all sure that my issue is Surface Pro 7 related but it is a possibility.
Received the latest OS update - now on
Version 10.0.22621 Build 22621 and using Firefox (latest version fully updated)

The issue: this started happening after the update to that version. Sometimes, when watching videos (only YouTube), I get a sudden black screen, sometimes an obvious shearing/flickering screen.
One of the 'fixes# found on a Google search - WinKey+Ctrl+Shift+B (if I remember the correct keys) to reset the graphics driver does momentorily bring back a picture, but just a very brief 'flash' before going back to black screen. If I am lucky, an Escape (to get out of full screen) followed by mouse pointer to edge of screen (guesswork there) will often get back to normal screen. This whole thing will likely hapen 3 or 4 times and then seem to be normal for a longish period of time before sometimes repeating the whole rigmarole.

I have tried Edge and with limited testing, I don't get the issue (but, as I can't stand Edge, I have not persisted with the testing using it.)

So, I really don't know if the issue is related to Surface Pro, Firefox or YouTube? I have done extensive searches and although lots of references to 'black screen', none have been in the same timeframe as my issue, most being years ago, and none particularly fit my scenario.

It is not long since I did a full system reset (with keep files) so probably not fixable with that option.

Any further suggestions here?

 

[sharpuser]

To help isolate the problem, have you tried using a YouTube capture utility to save the stream? The reason I ask is that I used to have this problem on a SP3 (Windows 10, Firefox) around 2018, and found that I could save YouTube streams to MP4 or AVI with no problem, though I would get a black screen during playback. The saved stream had no problem. That had indicated to me that the video is rendered fine, but not handled by Firefox properly. The problem did not occur with Edge, which was another clue. I was never able to confidently blame the issue on a Windows Update, especially since I am an Insider and get updates every week. But the next Firefox update fixed the problem.

 

[leshay]

To help isolate the problem, have you tried using a YouTube capture utility to save the stream? The reason I ask is that I used to have this problem on a SP3 (Windows 10, Firefox) around 2018, and found that I could save YouTube streams to MP4 or AVI with no problem, though I would get a black screen during playback. The saved stream had no problem. That had indicated to me that the video is rendered fine, but not handled by Firefox properly. The problem did not occur with Edge, which was another clue. I was never able to confidently blame the issue on a Windows Update, especially since I am an Insider and get updates every week. But the next Firefox update fixed the problem.

Hi
Thanks for your reply.
So, it looks more and more that the culprit is most likely Firefox. There have been updates to Firefox recently but the issue so far persists.
I will need to try some of the other browsers Opera, Chrome etc and see if they have these issues. I don't really want to change browser but if this issue continues then I will have to.

 

[leshay]

Hi
Thanks for your reply.
So, it looks more and more that the culprit is most likely Firefox. There have been updates to Firefox recently but the issue so far persists.
I will need to try some of the other browsers Opera, Chrome etc and see if they have these issues. I don't really want to change browser but if this issue continues then I will have to.

Hi
Well, I have reached the point where I must look for an alternative browser as the issues are becoming more frequent (must be something to do with the videos being posted somehow?).

It seems that most of the issues revolve around gaming videos. I regularly watch Ukraine news videos and there are always a number of gaming videos listed among the those I want to see and it may always be those that cause the issues (Some are obvious gaming videos but many need to be opened first - thus the issues cropping up).

I am now using Edge though I hate it so far - at least I have not seen the issues I mention above. I will get rid of Firefox at some point, and probably give some other browsers a go as well.
Thanks for listening ...................