This kind of states that AMD is aware of this and accepts the solution.
chromium.googlesource.com
Disable NV12 dynamic textures on AMD GPUs in general.
We disabled dynamic textures for a few integrated GPUs, but it
turns out for discrete GPUs we also need to disable them.
Otherwise videos fail to display when HW overlays are enabled.
This has been confirmed locally by xose@google and also AMD
that it is the right fix for the issue.
Probably explains why AMD suggested disabling hardware acceleration as a solution a few months back. It would also explain how non-Navi users may also be affected.
Be interesting to see what combination of overlays would trigger the black screen. Searching other topics on it, this user reports that the issue didn't exist before and assumed an updated in Edge browser triggered the issue.
Interesting to see what is the cause, of at least the black screens.
I could also fathom that the downclocking issue might also be related. If there is an issue with the overlays, running newer games might lead to a crash as most likely the card is being taxed. Older games might just result in lost of focus of the game window, such as when you alt-tab. Would it be possible that an overlay takes focus and thus the GPU downclocks as it believes it has nothing to render? And this appears specific only to Navi from my readings. Wonder what changed between GCN and RDNA regarding the NV12 Dynamic textures processing.
In fact trying to find where AMD stated in their driver updates disabling hardware acceleration is a possible solution, they list some interest known bugs. Such as this one:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-20-1-1 Article Number RN-RAD-WIN-20-1-1 Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.1.1 Highlights Support For Monster Hunter World™: Iceborne Fixed Issues The audible beeps at game startup from Radeon Chill, Radeon Boost, and Radeon...
forums.anandtech.com
The Radeon Software Overlay hotkey notification may sometimes be displayed during video playback in web browsers or launching some video player applications.
That would imply their overlay runs even when you are web browsing.
Then this one directly implies a black screen is caused directly by an AMD overlay and GTAV specifically:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-20-1-3 Article Number RN-RAD-WIN-20-1-3 Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.1.3 Highlights Support For Radeon RX 5600 XT Fixed Issues An intermittent black screen or loss of display may occur when performing parallel actions...
forums.anandtech.com
Grand Theft Auto™ 5 may experience a system hang or black screen at launch, when opening Radeon Overlay while in game, or after performing a task switch while in game.
'
And in that same update they list to disable hardware acceleration as a possible fix:
Some Radeon RX 5700 series graphics users may intermittently experience a black screen while gaming or on desktop. A potential temporary workaround is disabling hardware acceleration in applications running in the background such as web browsers or Discord.
Any thoughts or is it all just coincidental?
EDIT: Is it possible that the new AMD software is running one giant overlay over the screen at all times? This would explain some of the issues they've listed in previous driver updates such as scaling issues with the overlay.
If this is true, this could tie directly back to the black screens on videos playing on web browsers. If they is an overlay and it borks is it possibly just showing a giant black rectangle? Explains why some users report black screens but are able to alt+tab out or still hear the game sound?
And hard crashes could be tied to hooks from other third party softwares hanging possibly if the overlay fails?
Okay, I'm done tin-hatting for the evening
EDIT #2:
Okay, and here is now support for my downclocking theory. AMD documents there being a combination of options that may cause the game to lose focus.
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-19-12-2 Article Number RN-RAD-WIN-19-12-2 Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 19.12.2 Highlights Support For Detroit: Become Human™ Performance Improvements An Average of 12% performance uplift in select titles with Radeon™...
forums.anandtech.com
Invoking Radeon Overlay may cause games to lose focus or become minimized when HDR is enabled within Windows®.
This would directly cause clock drops. This example is tied to HDR, but chances are the downlock issue might also be relayed. And it's tied to overlays again.
For real, going to go play a game now