HP ProBook 440 G5 black/flashing screen during Teams video conference

[kimar1017]

Hi,

We've started seeing a strange issue among some of our users using HP ProBook 440 G5 notebooks. The  problem has already been reported on Microsoft forums by someone else who had the exact same problem with some of his users with the same model of notebook. I can provide the link to the topic if needed. 

Some of our users have started reporting their screen going black (in some rare cases their screen flickering/flashing) mostly while video conferencing on Microsoft Teams. They would use the notebook normally and the screen would usually go completely dark after a while. Everything else would keep working normally, the person could still talk and be seen by the other users in the Teams meeting, but left with no other choice but to manually reset the notebook by pressing the power button. Some users have also reported the same problem (screen going black) occurring while not in MS Teams.

The notebooks have all been imaged the same and users have been experimenting the issue on different versions of Windows 10 Education (1809, 1903, 1909). 

We are still waiting on feedback from some of our users, but here's a few things we tried without any real luck so far :
- Reinstalling Teams
- Updating the graphics card driver (DXDiag shows no error)

- Updating all drivers
- Reinstalling and updating Windows
- It doesn't seem to be related to the user profiles, Group Policies, network, etc.

- We've also tried messing around with brightness, power management and battery saving settings.
- Disabling GPU hardware acceleration in MS Teams parameters (we've just started suggesting that to some users)

EDIT: - A user just told me that her screen always turns black when videoconferencing in Teams if her notebook is plugged in.

I'm mostly wondering if this could be hardware related (whether it's related to the Intel HD Graphics 620 chip itself or to the computer overheating) as we are now considering repairing the computers through warranty.

I'm wondering if there has been any previous report of a similar issue (if a solution has been suggested somewhere else) or if anyone else is facing the same problem.

Thank you!

[kimar1017]

Hi,

I think I have found a solution to the problem,

MS Teams isn't the culprit, it's most likely related to the notebook itself (more precisely the CPU/integrated graphics).

I replaced one of our users faulty notebook and used it for testing.

I noticed that, when plugged in, the CPU/integrated graphics chipset temp would sometimes rise up to 80 degrees celcius (176 degrees Fahrenheit) while in a Teams video conference call and two YouTube videos in Chrome running in the background. The screen would usually start flashing at this point until it would just turn black, requiring to manually restart the laptop.

I also noticed that the CPU would be under heavy load at this point (100% CPU usage).

I directly went to the BIOS and deactivated Turbo Boost. 

Well, guess what, it fixed the display/crashing issue instantly. The temperature as well as the CPU usage went back to normal (50 degrees celcius and around 40% usage). Seems like Turbo Boost was the culprit.