Report displayed on TV with Direct Query stops refreshing after a while

[zenisekd]

Hi, 
I have mede a 5 simple reports (all with simple queries, quering  for my customer, used direct query with change detection and each display on one screens (via PC with chromium web browser engine).
Unfortunately after some time (say 30 minutes) the reports stops refreshing, despite changes in the DB being made. 

Chat GPT told me that there are multiple possible reasons, most likely it is caused by the web browser. 

For this reason I wanted to ask you, if anyone has an experience with this and knows some fix.

NOTE: initially I have used direct query with 5s refres, unfortunately the report is displayed on 5TVs and after a while it threw an error saying that too many queries were issued. (If anyone knew, what are the limits for the queries, I would appreciate the knowledge in this field as well). 

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

Hi @zenisekd,

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you'd like to discuss this further. If this answers your question, kindly "Accept  as  Solution" and give it a 'Kudos' so others can find it easily.

Thank you,
Pavan.

[Anonymous]

Hi @zenisekd,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please "Accept  as  Solution" and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you,
Pavan.

[Anonymous]

Hi @zenisekd,

Thank you for reaching out in Microsoft Community Forum.

Thank you @tharunkumarRTK , @rohit1991  for the helpful response.

As suggested by tharunkumarRTK, rohit1991.,  I hope this information was helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or you'd like to discuss this further. If this answers your question, please "Accept as Solution" and give it a 'Kudos' so others can find it easily.

Please continue using Microsoft community forum.

Regards,
Pavan.

[zenisekd]

@rohit1991 Thanks for engaging.
So I just got more info, actually there are 9 TVs, each has its own refresh, with a change detection set for 5 seconds.
each has 7 simple card visuals. Any recommendations for settings?
The capacity is PPU. There are 9 reports, each having its own semantic model. But I am not sure, if the limitation is per semantic model or the data source?

[tharunkumarRTK]

@zenisekd 

Is there any on prem data gateway involved in between the datasource and Power BI? if yes then please check if you are hitting any limit from the gateway front.

there are different limits that you can tweak in order to get better results, 

Max connections per datasource at semantic model level

https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2024/01/21/new-limits-for-the-maximum-connections-per-data-source-prope...

Query parallelism 

https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2023/03/19/directquery-parallelisation-in-power-bi-some-examples/

see if you can tweak them for better results. Also, I would also suggest you to look for possibilities to reduce the queries if possible one option that I can suggest is enabling auto aggregations 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/aggregations-auto

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[zenisekd]

@tharunkumarRTK thanks for your helpful response. 
This was the direction, that I needed. I managed to find, that ATM these are the current limits for PPU:

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/hu-hu/blog/power-bi-february-2024-feature-summary/
Also, since part of the visual was made in Deneb, we reworked the whole report there, so now there is just one query, which is sent to the source per report. The query is very simple, returning only small table with 16 rows. 

We had some issues with the change detection, so we switched to automatic refresh every 5 seconds.  Seems to be working fine now, with 9 reports (each on one screen), each having its own dataset (but a single source). 

We will be probably adding more reports, so I will let you know if it works fine. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @zenisekd,

Thank you for reaching out in Microsoft Community Forum.

Please follow below steps to resolve the error;

1.Switched from Change Detection to Automatic Page Refresh (every 5 seconds).

2.Rebuilt visuals using Deneb to minimize queries — now each report issues just one simple query (~16 rows).

3.Each report uses its own semantic model but connects to a common data source.

4.Confirmed PPU capacity limits, and optimized setup to stay within those thresholds.

Please continue using Microsoft community forum.

If you found this post helpful, please consider marking it as "Accept as Solution" and give it a 'Kudos'. if it was helpful. help other members find it more easily.

Regards,
Pavan.

[rohit1991]

Hi @zenisekd ,
It sounds like you're encountering common limitations when using DirectQuery in Power BI for real-time dashboard displays. When reports are shown on TVs via a Chromium-based browser, they may stop refreshing due to browser session timeouts, power-saving settings, or lack of user interaction.

While using change detection with DirectQuery can help reduce query load, Power BI still enforces limits to prevent overloading the data source—typically around 10 queries per second per dataset, though this can vary depending on your capacity (Pro vs. Premium). Since you're displaying the same report on five screens, those queries add up quickly. A potential workaround is to increase the refresh interval slightly or consolidate reports if possible.

Also, consider running the reports in kiosk mode with the browser set to prevent sleep and keep the session alive. For persistent displays, tools like Power BI Embedded with more granular control over refreshes or using push datasets might provide better long-term stability.