# why does the full screen view on youtube go black? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902 "2011-10-07T15:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/1 "2011-10-07T15:31:18Z")
For about a couple of months now, when I’m viewing something on YouTube and I switch to the full screen view, I get no video. The sound keeps coming, but the screen is black. Is there some sort of YouTube setting that directs this? It’s not a pop-up issue, as I’ve checked and unchecked those controls and that hasn’t affected it. Any clues, Dopers? xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/2 "2011-10-07T16:32:47Z")
I’ve had this happen too. In my case, it seems to be a memory issue with my computer, which is getting quite elderly and the memory is probably pretty well loaded up. ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/3 "2011-10-07T18:06:16Z")
It happens to me in Firefox, but not in IE. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/4 "2011-10-07T19:22:19Z")
Is your Flash player software up to date? If it is, it may be borked. You can test it at Adobe’s [website](http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/). It may also be that the browser plug-in is damaged. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/5 "2011-10-07T19:29:06Z")
Also take a look at your video card. If you have onboard integrated video this could be your problem. Most of the newer graphics cards can handle full screen video, but this was a problem years ago. Also, you might want to go to your video card makers website and download the latest drivers. In addition to the suggestions above. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/6 "2011-10-07T20:37:12Z")
It happens in IE but only on that website. I can get full screen views on all sorts of other sites. > [@obbn](#): > > Also take a look at your video card. If you have onboard integrated video this could be your problem. Most of the newer graphics cards can handle full screen video, but this was a problem years ago. Also, you might want to go to your video card makers website and download the latest drivers. In addition to the suggestions above. Heh heh “…take a look at your video card…” I’m lucky I can find the on/off switch on this thing. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/7 "2011-10-07T23:23:06Z")
> [@CC](#): > > It happens in IE but only on that website. I can get full screen views on all sorts of other sites. > > Heh heh “…take a look at your video card…” I’m lucky I can find the on/off switch on this thing. Well, I didn’t mean literally look at the card. You need to know what kind of card you have in order to get the proper updated drivers. In Windows go to Control Panel and then to Device Manager. From there go to Display Adapters in the list and click it. It should expand and give you the name of the video card that your computer is using. In the case of the laptop I am using now the video card is given as an ATI Radeon 3200 Series. In my case I would Google ATI, then go to their website and look for the most recent drivers for the 3200 series. Download and install. (You might want to create a “restore point” prior to the installation in case you have problems). I can’t tell you that this will definitely fix your problem, but I can tell you in the past I have had a similar issue and the updated drivers took care of the problem. Good luck to you. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-full-screen-view-on-youtube-go-black/598902/8 "2011-10-08T00:56:40Z")
Happens in FF but not Iron (Chrome). My vote’s for Flash continuing to be a steaming pile of shit