How to prevent the PC connecting to the TV if the monitor is turned off

[pauloforte]

My PC sits in the living room and it's connected to a 1080p monitor (my main display, the one I use most often) by DisplayPort, and to my 4k TV by HDMI 2.1.

I've recently discovered that, if I turn off my monitor, the PC will automatically switch to the TV, even though the TV is turned off/on another input and even though Windows (10) is set to show image through PC screen only (and not the secondary display, the TV).

 

How can I make sure that this doesn't happen, without touching any cables?

 

This is pretty annoying when I'm running some application (game, etc), and I'm doing something else for a bit: the PC switches to 4K and the whole thing goes into overdrive, fans spinning like it's about to take off, because it's needlessly rendering at that resolution.

 

Thanks,

Cheers.

[Budget DIY]

Can't share screenshots due to my language settings/screenshots will be pointless. But if you rightclick your desktop, you've got the option to go to display, and select the type of output. Then set it to display only on screen 1 (or 2, i dunno your setup). And only select screen 2, when you actually want to use your TV as a monitor. This "should" fix your issues I suppose.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Are you turning off your monitor while running a 3D application, causing your PC to switch to the TV and start rendering at 4K?

 

How are your displays set up in Windows?

If the displays are set to mirror(where each display shows the same thing), then turning off one of them will automatically revert the other to your primary display(there is no way around this that I'm aware of).

 

By default, Windows will switch to another connected display if display signal is lost. In this case, your TV.

[Budget DIY]

4 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Are you turning off your monitor while running a 3D application, causing your PC to switch to the TV and start rendering at 4K?

 

How are your displays set up in Windows?

If the displays are set to mirror(where each display shows the same thing), then turning off one of them will automatically revert the other to your primary display(there is no way around this that I'm aware of).

 

By default, Windows will switch to another connected display if display signal is lost. In this case, your TV.

IIRC, mirror/clone screen doesn't play all that nice, when the resolutions don't match. 1080p monitor, 4k tv... Have things changed? Back when I had a 1920x1080 and a 1280x1024 monitor, I wasn't able to clone/mirror the screen without other issues.

[Crunchy Dragon]

3 minutes ago, Budget DIY said:

IIRC, mirror/clone screen doesn't play all that nice, when the resolutions don't match. 1080p monitor, 4k tv... Have things changed? Back when I had a 1920x1080 and a 1280x1024 monitor, I wasn't able to clone/mirror the screen without other issues.

I could see it working way better with 4K/1080p than 1080p/1280x1024.

 

4K is just 4x the pixels of 1080p(3840x2160 vs 1920x1080), without any weird things like aspect ratio or strange pixel conversions to deal with. Ergo, scaling is gonna look really wild but it should work without too many issues.

[pauloforte]

59 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Are you turning off your monitor while running a 3D application, causing your PC to switch to the TV and start rendering at 4K?

In a game, for example. If I pause and turn off the screen, the game will switch to the TV, at 4k.

 

59 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

If the displays are set to mirror(where each display shows the same thing), then turning off one of them will automatically revert the other to your primary display(there is no way around this that I'm aware of).

1 hour ago, Budget DIY said:

Can't share screenshots due to my language settings/screenshots will be pointless. But if you rightclick your desktop, you've got the option to go to display, and select the type of output. Then set it to display only on screen 1 (or 2, i dunno your setup). And only select screen 2, when you actually want to use your TV as a monitor. This "should" fix your issues I suppose.

They're not mirrored: No signal is going to my TV if the monitor is on. When I turn it off, then the signal goes to my TV

Of course both displays show up Display Settings, but Windows is set to display only on Display 1.

 

59 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

By default, Windows will switch to another connected display if display signal is lost. In this case, your TV.

Yes this is an accurate description of the problem I'm experiencing. My questions is precisely how to change this behaviour.

 

Thanks again in advance for any suggestions. I'll be back a bit later.

[BuzzingBee]

Most likely it's the fault of DisplayPort connection in the first place. When switching off monitor with DP it would be as if you physically unplug the cable, and Windows would rearrange display based on 'different' setup. On the other hand HDMI is unaffected so your TV remains detected even when it's switched off. 

 

Because of it I personally skip switching off altogether, and use Turn Off Monitor software when I need to black screen all my displays within a touch of a hotkey (instead of waiting for x minutes). 

[pauloforte]

19 hours ago, BuzzingBee said:

Most likely it's the fault of DisplayPort connection in the first place. When switching off monitor with DP it would be as if you physically unplug the cable, and Windows would rearrange display based on 'different' setup. On the other hand HDMI is unaffected so your TV remains detected even when it's switched off. 

 

Because of it I personally skip switching off altogether, and use Turn Off Monitor software when I need to black screen all my displays within a touch of a hotkey (instead of waiting for x minutes). 

So I suppose that connecting via HDMI instead of DP would do the trick just as well? Without having to use yet another roundabout solution for a problem which shouldn't exist.

[BuzzingBee]

6 hours ago, pauloforte said:

So I suppose that connecting via HDMI instead of DP would do the trick just as well? Without having to use yet another roundabout solution for a problem which shouldn't exist.

Yeah that can work too, just keep in mind with monitor's HDMI version and refresh rate support. 

[Mihle]

On 4/15/2023 at 4:51 PM, pauloforte said:

In a game, for example. If I pause and turn off the screen, the game will switch to the TV, at 4k.

Why do you turn off the screen? Just let it be on and you wouldn't have that problem.

 

If you somehow don't want it to display static when afk for long time, just set windows to turn off the screen after a little while. Most screens will then go to sleep (rather than completely off).

[pauloforte]

1 hour ago, Mihle said:

Why do you turn off the screen? Just let it be on and you wouldn't have that problem.

 

If you somehow don't want it to display static when afk for long time, just set windows to turn off the screen after a little while. Most screens will then go to sleep (rather than completely off).

Thanks but,...

You're offering a solution to my issue by telling me I shouldn't do the thing I already said I want to do. That's like telling someone to stop gaming at all, if they complain of back ache from sitting in a crappy chair.

I want to be able to turn off my monitor. Doesn't matter why, really.

I think there should be a way to turn off your monitor without coming across that issue.

Don't get me wrong: I means this in a purely constructive way. I see that you're a rather productive member of the community and I hope my feedback will help you provide more meaningful and relevant solutions in the future.

Cheers.

 

[Mihle]

4 hours ago, pauloforte said:

Thanks but,...

You're offering a solution to my issue by telling me I shouldn't do the thing I already said I want to do. That's like telling someone to stop gaming at all, if they complain of back ache from sitting in a crappy chair.

I want to be able to turn off my monitor. Doesn't matter why, really.

I think there should be a way to turn off your monitor without coming across that issue.

Don't get me wrong: I means this in a purely constructive way. I see that you're a rather productive member of the community and I hope my feedback will help you provide more meaningful and relevant solutions in the future.

Cheers.

 

Sorry if it came out wrong, I think my brain works differently than some other peoples.
I dont think your comparisons are similar at all tho.
What of what I said wrong? Was it in general that my suggestion was little less direct possible solution, was it the question, or was just in general *how* I wrote it?

[pauloforte]

13 hours ago, Mihle said:

Sorry if it came out wrong, I think my brain works differently than some other peoples.
I dont think your comparisons are similar at all tho.
What of what I said wrong? Was it in general that my suggestion was little less direct possible solution, was it the question, or was just in general *how* I wrote it?

So, I gotta preface this by saying: this is not at all meant to create drama. I really mean this in a constructive manner.

It wasn't your tone, and in fact this is something a lot of people do: I don't think this has to do with your brain working differently than other people.

It's very common, especially in forums, for someone to offer something like that as an advice.

You see it mostly in troubleshooting questions: someone has an issue when performing an action, and there is often someone who says "well don't do that anymore and you won't have that issue". Thanks but the fact I went to the trouble of posting a question on a forum, should already tell you that I don't want to stop performing the action. Nor should I have to stop. Especially when the action does not imply you should have to deal with the issue.

 

My comparison was spot on, if I may say so myself:

Perform an action -> experience issue -> your solution: stop performing action -> the actual solution: something else

Gaming -> suffer back pain -> your solution: stop gaming -> the actual solution: get a better chair

Turn off monitor -> signal goes to TV -> your solution: stop turning off monitor -> the actual solution: connect using another cable, for example