Whenever I boot up TF2, I get a black screen but can hear the audio. I am using a Benq external monitor. If I unplug the monitor and use my laptop screen and reboot TF2, it loads fine. I can, however, get windowed mode to work on my external monitor. I have tried reinstalling TF2, and it hasn't helped. Also, other Steam games work, so that's not an issue. Any ideas on what's happening?
32 Answers
According to this page, disabling Multicore Rendering in TF2 video options stops black outs.
Otherwise, like you said, this workaround works:
- Rightclick the game in your Steam library.
- Click "Properties"
- Click "Set Launch Options..." in the "General" tab.
Use these launch options, where 1920 and 1080 are your gaming display resolution:
-w 1920 -h 1080 -windowed -noborder
If that doesn't work, try -dx98, -dx95, or even -dx80 to use less advanced GPU features. -condebug might provide hints in Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\console.log
Up- or downgrading your video drivers might also help.
If you're still having display issues in other programs as well, check the video card for insufficient cooling and clean/replace if needed.
1Open TF2 on your benq monitor.
Change the resolution to the lowest that there is.
Restart Tf2 on your laptop with no external monitors.
