If application switcher is open when a new windows spawns, the screen turns off.

I've come across an amazingly odd issue with 100% reproducibility.
I use application switcher with alt+tab. If the applications switcher dialog is open while a new window is opened, the screen freezes for 3 seconds, and then turns off (this is a laptop).
SSHing into the machine and rebooting it, does *not* solve the issue. A full power-cycle is needed for it to work again.
I checked though /var/log, and found the following which might be useful, in kernel.log (the same text is repeated several dozen times):

Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286311] ------------[ cut here ]------------
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286322] WARNING: at drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c:930 assert_pipe+0x75/0x80 [i915]()
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286325] Hardware name: Compaq Presario C700 Notebook PC
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286327] pipe A assertion failure (expected on, current off)
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286329] Modules linked in: fuse hid_logitech_dj usbhid hid uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core videodev v4l2_compat_ioctl32 media uas ums_realtek usb_storage arc4 joydev ath5k snd_hda_codec_conexant ath snd_hda_intel mac80211 hp_wmi uhci_hcd snd_hda_codec sparse_keymap ehci_hcd usbcore snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_page_alloc snd_timer snd soundcore 8139too cfg80211 8139cp i2c_i801 iTCO_wdt iTCO_vendor_support serio_raw psmouse processor pcspkr sr_mod cdrom wmi usb_common evdev ac mii rfkill thermal battery ext4 crc16 jbd2 mbcache nls_cp437 aes_x86_64 cryptd aes_generic xts gf128mul dm_crypt dm_mod sd_mod ata_piix libata scsi_mod i915 video button i2c_algo_bit intel_agp intel_gtt drm_kms_helper drm i2c_core vfat fat
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286368] Pid: 1021, comm: upowerd Tainted: G W 3.3.1-1-ARCH #1
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286370] Call Trace:
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286374] [<ffffffff81050b3f>] warn_slowpath_common+0x7f/0xc0
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286377] [<ffffffff81050c36>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x46/0x50
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286390] [<ffffffffa00ae205>] assert_pipe+0x75/0x80 [i915]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286400] [<ffffffffa00ae5a1>] intel_enable_plane+0x41/0x90 [i915]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286411] [<ffffffffa00b192e>] i9xx_crtc_enable+0x14e/0x190 [i915]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286421] [<ffffffffa00b197e>] i9xx_crtc_commit+0xe/0x10 [i915]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286428] [<ffffffffa0070135>] drm_crtc_helper_set_mode+0x3e5/0x520 [drm_kms_helper]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286440] [<ffffffffa00b5018>] intel_get_load_detect_pipe+0x268/0x3d0 [i915]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286452] [<ffffffffa00c6b59>] intel_tv_detect+0xb9/0x1b0 [i915]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286462] [<ffffffffa0033278>] status_show+0x48/0x90 [drm]
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286467] [<ffffffff81309da0>] dev_attr_show+0x20/0x60
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286471] [<ffffffff8111051e>] ? __get_free_pages+0xe/0x40
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286474] [<ffffffff811db70a>] sysfs_read_file+0xaa/0x180
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286478] [<ffffffff8116e0fc>] vfs_read+0xac/0x180
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286481] [<ffffffff8116e21a>] sys_read+0x4a/0x90
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286485] [<ffffffff81462d29>] system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b
Apr 5 02:50:49 hermes kernel: [ 4292.286487] ---[ end trace b0e2d0631ab936a4 ]---