Topic: Docked - intermittent HDMI dropout / black screen / signal loss

Hi All,

Switch 2, docked, and intermittent HDMI dropout / black screen / disconnection issues. ie a brief black screen, as signal is lost, then back on again a second later. Games I have played eg MK world or Zelda TOTK.

My TV is an LG C2 OLED, firmware up to date, using the included Nintendo HDMI into TV, regardless of which port. I'm exceedingly careful with connections, so no damaged ports, stressed or kinked cables etc. I also have a PS5 and PC with zero issues like this. PS5 shows full compatibility with all display modes you can think of, and has never done this.

I had a good few hours of the issue not happening after powering down everything (unplugging tv etc, powering off switch properly (hold down its power button and switch it off). But it reoccured.

Update - after reading more and more about HDMI, CEC and 120hz bugs (EG https://youtu.be/2y-LJOKGGY4 and https://youtu.be/Cpo3VpZ2BwI ) I disabled 120hz in the switch 2 display settings. The issue hasn't happened again to me yet. TBC!

Update 2 - Issue hasn't repeated itself with 120hz switched off. I called Nintendo call centre, who / still / have zero awareness / not admitting anything / just saying return or repair it.

Update 3 - I re-enabled 120hz in the switch 2 display settings, and DISABLED, in my TV's "game optimiser" settings, g-sync and freesync (seeing as VRR isn't supported anyway). A couple of days later, the issue hasn't happened again.

Update 4 - I'm still flicker free, but lots are still suffering across a range of TVs and setups. Some resolving disabling HDMI CEC, some switching off 120hz, etc. Perhaps we have slightly faulty docks, perhaps poor HDMI cable shielding, perhaps power supply issues (our homes or nintendo power supply) we just don't know. Please tell Nintendo about your issue if you have one, and this thread!

There's already a thread about this issue:
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch-2/occasio...

What should I do? delete this one?

I got rid of it by switching to the primary HDMI, which made me mad ... And removing. Match power state which got rid of a nice feature. I am very unhappy with that. It has not happened in about 8 hours of play which isn't enough to say the issue is gone, but it might be. I want a new dock.

@Polvasti Ki do think this is a better version of that thread, and it was my thread. Please let this one continue as it helps me out.

This is happening to me too, very infrequently but obviously it's still annoying. I've tried all the recommended settings changes, but it still happens occasionally. I'm waiting to hear back from Nintendo about it.

This has happened to me a couple of times with the Switch 2, but the same thing also happened occasionally with the original Switch and the OLED Switch while docked. It's never been frequent enough that it would really bother me though. I guess it has something to with how the Switch docks are built? I've never had the same issue with my tabletop PC, which connects directly to the TV via HDMI with no dock in between.

Do those of you who get this issue have the charging limitation to 90% enabled ?
Maybe the dock sometimes fails at powering the Switch 2 without charging it, and so sort of under-power the Switch 2 during 1-3s ?

Just to add onto this:

I have the exact same issue on my LG OLED C9.

I have 2 issues: HDMI Dropout + having to undock/redock the Switch 2 again to get a display on the TV. On Launch day, it would happen EVERY time I had to wake up the Switch from sleep.
Then I received my secondary Dock kit, replaced the dock with the new one without changing the AC adapter and HDMI cable. The issues were gone. I have since sent my OG Dock to Nintendo for repair. They received it yesterday. I'll update on that.

For the HDMI dropout issue, it stopped as well when changing to the new Dock, but I had changed some setting before switching. I disabled the Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM), since I already have this option enabled on my TV (instant game response, automatically enabled by HDMI Deep color setting on the Switch 2 HDMI port).

I also changed the Resolution setting that I forced on 4K, back to Automatic.

I was clear for about 2 weeks. And then BOTH issue happened yesterday. HDMI dropout + needing to redock the switch after a wake up. I did a Dock reset, hasn't happened again yet.

So, I will remove the 120hz output for now, as it seems to have resolved your issue. I will let you know if it works as well.

@Its-my-right Yes I have it set to 90%.

I will try with the 120hz setting OFF first. It the issue comes back, I will reenable it and give the 90% battery setting a go.

Update:
Since I have disabled 120 hz, on June. 27th 2025, I didn't get any HDMI dropout or no signal when waking up. I'm keeping track of its behavior for a couple more weeks and will report anything here.

Nintendo has shipped my repaired/replaced OG Switch 2 Dock. I don't know yet if they came to a conclusion of the problem, if they repaired it or simply replaced it.

Good luck doomgc! thanks for the updates, Make sure Nintendo know all about this

I got my OG dock back from Nintendo. The note in the box says it was replaced. The replacement dock feels brand new, although, the USB-C port at the bottom looks used/Scuffed. Still, the switch and my DBrand Killswitch adapter works fine in it.

I tested it for about 30 minutes this morning with the same setting in my Switch 2: HDR on, for all software, TV Resolution set to Automatic, RGB Range at Full Range, Match TV Power State on, 120 hz OFF, ALLM on.

After around 10 minutes, it did an HDMI dropout, for around 2-3 seconds. First time it happens since my last post when I disabled the 120hz option, but on the replaced dock. I will go back on my second dock and see if this is a random problem from the Switch 2 or from the Dock. A bit confused on what's happening here.

So you're saying same behaviour with the "new" / replacement one? News just emerging today about HDMI being deliberately difficult so 3rd party docks don't work. Maybe something to do with all the non standard handshaking https://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/thirdparty-docking-...

https://nsaneforums.com/news/technology-news/how-nintendo-loc...

So I can confirm I managed to get rid of the blackouts completely by doing a lot of things in combination.

First, HDMI 1 is critical without any splitters. TV's apparently often cheap out on secondary HDMI ports. Second, match power state needs to be turned off. That's a nice feature to lose but I can confirm it's the one setting that reliably triggers the blackouts. The dock, cord, AC adapters, or ports see a power drop somehow and that causes the handshake to think the Switch is turning off the TV. But then the dip goes away and it turns it back on. I am 95% sure that's what is happening.

Now I do have HDR and 120hz also turned off. But that's because I don't like HDR and I don't have a TV that does 120hz.

It's that the dock is super picky anD hates slight variations. So unless they do something about it, match power state is a no go for those having drop outs.

@Misima Thanks a lot for the troubleshooting steps. I will keep that in mind during my process. Next time it happens, I will turn off the match power state. It stings a little bit to lose that. It is a feature I got extremely accustomed to with the Switch 1.
But hey, we lived without it during our CRT times. We can do it again.

@doomgc I love the minimalist Yoshi logo!

Oh I forgot to write you also have to turn off the game mode on the TV because it makes everything worse. I have my TV on filmmaker mode. The game mode caused a lot of issues.

I have gotten the black out bug a few times. Once in the middle of a boss fight in Metroid Fusion.

I've done nothing about it yet. Just hasn't happened that often for me to care enough yet and I hoping Nintendo will fix it before I have to do anything about it.