A black screen with the words "No Signal" is about the most frustrating thing a display can do, especially when you were expecting a quick plug-and-play setup. The good news is that a blank screen is almost always something small, and it's something you can find with a checklist like this. Work through it from top to bottom — these are ordered from most to least likely.
1. Check power
First, make sure the display is actually getting power.
- Is the USB-C cable fully inserted at both ends? A half-seated plug is the classic cause of "no signal" — it looks connected, but it isn't making solid contact.
- Is the hub fully seated on the back of the display? The cable plugs into the hub, so if the hub isn't snapped on properly, nothing gets through. Press it gently to make sure it clicks into place.
- Can you see the standby clock? When the display is on but getting no signal, it shows a digital clock. If you can see it, the display is powered — the problem is upstream.
Then check whether your laptop even sees the display. On a Mac, look in System Settings → Displays. On Windows, open Settings → System → Display. If the Catsights shows up there, the connection is working and the issue is elsewhere (like the display not waking). If it doesn't show up at all, move to the next step.
2. Try a different port
Here's the thing about USB-C: not all ports are equal. Some carry video, and some are data-only. A port that charges your phone happily might not output video at all. So when there's no signal, unplug the cable and try every USB-C port on your laptop, one at a time. Most laptops have at least one video-capable port, and it's usually marked — but testing is faster than reading the manual.
3. Test the cable
The cable matters just as much. A USB-C cable needs to support DisplayPort Alt Mode to carry video, and not all of them do — plenty of "USB-C" cables on the market are fine for charging and useless for video. That's exactly why your Catsights ships with a cable that's verified for it. If you've swapped in a different cable, go back to the included one and see what happens.
4. Try a different device
If the ports and the cable check out, it's time to narrow down where the problem lives. Plug the display into another computer. If it lights up there, your display is fine — the issue is on your laptop, likely a port or a cable compatibility thing. If it stays blank on the second device too, then it's the display or the cable, and support will want to know which.
5. A note on phones and tablets
The Catsights is designed to connect to a laptop with a single cable. Phones and tablets are a different story. Some can drive an external display over USB-C, but many need an external adapter to output video at all. So if you're testing with a phone and getting nothing, that doesn't mean the display is broken — it just means the phone isn't outputting video. Try a laptop, and you'll get a much clearer answer.
6. Still blank?
If the display stays dark after all of this, email catsights@catsights.com. Tell us your laptop model, your OS version, and the cable you're using — that's enough to point us in the right direction, and we'll help you get it sorted.