Causes
- The 165Hz overclock pushing a weak DisplayPort 1.2 link past its stable bandwidth — the VG27AQ is a native 144Hz panel whose 165Hz mode is an OSD overclock. Sustaining 2560x1440 beyond 144Hz (especially at 8-bit color) pushes the DisplayPort 1.2 link near its ceiling; when the GPU momentarily needs extra bandwidth the signal drops for a second or two, then returns. If the screen blanks during intense, high-frame-rate scenes and comes back, this unstable overclock is the usual culprit.
- A non-certified, long, or damaged DisplayPort cable — the VG27AQ is known to blank out intermittently over a poor-quality, very long, or loose DisplayPort cable. Many owners connect it with a 10-meter or cheap unbranded cable, and the marginal signal quietly drops and re-syncs, producing a black screen that lasts 1-3 seconds before the desktop or game reappears. A half-seated connector or a DP-to-something adapter chain makes it worse.
- A GPU driver timeout (TDR) silently resetting the display — when the graphics driver hits a timeout recovery (Windows restarts the driver after the GPU hangs), the monitor briefly goes black. This is common during loading screens, shader compilation stutter, or alt-tabbing in games, especially with an outdated driver. The black screen is accompanied by a possible driver-reset notification and the mouse cursor reappearing after a couple of seconds.
- ELMB Sync / adaptive-sync conflicts — running ELMB Sync at the same time as G-Sync/FreeSync while also at a boosted refresh can make the panel lose sync and blank momentarily. The monitor is designed to use ELMB and variable refresh in specific combinations; mixing them with the 165Hz overclock increases the chance of a signal drop.
- Aggressive ECO or power-saving modes in the OSD — if the VG27AQ is set to a strong ECO mode or has aggressive power-saving/standby behavior, it can drop to standby during brief gaps in signal (such as a game minimizing) and take a moment to wake, reading as a black screen. This is often mistaken for a hardware failure when the panel then turns back on.
How to Fix
- Swap to a certified, shorter DisplayPort cable and reseat it — replace any long (over ~3 m) or unbranded cable with a VESA-certified DP 1.2 or DP 1.4 cable and seat the connector fully until it clicks. Rule out adapters by plugging the monitor directly into a DisplayPort output on the GPU. If the black screens only happened on the old cable, this alone usually resolves them. If you must run a long run, use a quality active DP cable rather than a passive one.
- Disable the 165Hz overclock and test at 144Hz, then 120Hz — open the OSD, turn off the 165Hz overclock, and set the monitor to 144Hz in Windows (Settings → System → Display → Advanced display). Play to see if the black screens stop. If they persist, step down to 120Hz. A stable 144Hz with no blanks confirms the 165Hz OC or cable bandwidth was the cause; you can keep 144Hz or upgrade the DP cable to reclaim 165Hz.
- Set the GPU to maximum performance and cap in-game frame rates — in the NVIDIA control panel set the VG27AQ profile and Global power-management mode to Prefer Maximum Performance so the GPU does not downclock and drop the link under load. In games, cap the frame rate to just under the refresh (140 FPS at 144Hz) to stop the driver from briefly spiking past link bandwidth. If you play with G-Sync on, keep the in-game FPS within the VRR range.
- Update or cleanly reinstall the graphics driver — update to the latest stable driver. If black screens persist, use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) in Safe Mode and reinstall fresh. Watch for a "display driver stopped responding and recovered" balloon in Windows, which confirms the black screen was a GPU-TDR reset rather than the monitor — in that case the fix is driver/firmware-side, not the panel.
- Turn off ELMB Sync and strong power-saving in the OSD — open the OSD Gaming menu and set ELMB Sync Off, and in the System menu set the ECO mode to Standard/Off and disable aggressive power-saving/auto-standby. This stops the panel from blanking during brief signal gaps or when both ELMB and VRR are active at the boosted refresh.
- Test on another port and another GPU/PC — connect the monitor to the GPU's second DisplayPort, and if it still blanks, try a different computer or console. A monitor firmware update is available from ASUS on some firmware revisions; if black screens happen on every port, every cable, and a second device at 120-144Hz, the scaler board or panel is faulty and the unit should go back under warranty.