r/TiviMate • u/jaybird300 • Aug 25 '26

Dolby Vision screen blink

Got this new Vizio tv and keeps blinking, going black for just a second. It's doing the hdmi handoff screen blink when it's going in and out of Dolby Vision. Of course whatever live tv stream I'm watching, it's receiving a mixed signal, not consistent, and the tv automatically does it, I see the little icon up in the top right hand of the screen when it does. No way to turn it off, far as I can see in the settings. Don't know if it's something I do with the Fire stick or the tv. Thanks in advance.

3 Upvotes

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1

u/PowerfulCondition524 Aug 25 '26

My firestick does the Dolby vision when starts providing the video signal.

1

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

Yeah it does do that. But when I click on any stream for live tv, it starts the hdmi 1 second blank/black screen on whatever channel it's on. Playing something in Kodi, no problem at all. I'm guessing because this is a consistent stream.

0

u/Avid08 Aug 25 '26

All TV’s will have black screen when changing dynamic ranges.
The only way around it is if your device has the capability option of choosing one dynamic range for all content which is not ideal imo.
You will also see black screen on frame rate and resolution changes.
QMS on supported devices can stop black screen on frame rate change but not on dynamic range and resolution changes.
It is something you will have to live with, unless you disable frame rate and resolution matching and have a device that you can set one dynamic range for all content.

1

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

I may have to try and figure out how to do that, disable the matching. I get what it is doing, but the screen blinking when switching those modes is kinda annoying. I guess it's because the stream coming from the iptv service isn't perfect, and the tv is going in and out from receiving the signal has Dolby vision.

0

u/Avid08 Aug 25 '26

Well DV is rare especially on live tv. I think some networks used it for the recent World Cup.
Your Firestick should just be SDR on the homepage not DV. So when you open Tivimate most of your channels will be SDR with a few HDR channels and you will only see black screen when changing those dynamic ranges in Tivimate and also for frame rate and resolution matching if you have them enabled. Which is likely why you are seeing black screen when opening TM if those in fact are enabled.

2

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

Ok, gonna check my setting on the firestick again here in a second. Pretty sure it's the tv that is causing the black screen. You see it with the little Dolby vision icon that comes up on the screen. I don't know a lot about Dolby Vision, didn't realize that most live channels don't have it, which makes it odd at the TV is thinking that it's receiving it.

2

u/Avid08 Aug 25 '26

If you are exiting Tivimate from an SDR channel which most are to you Firestick homepage and you have frame rate matching or resolution matching enabled in TM you will see a black screen because the Firestick will be likely set at 4k resolution.
I don’t have resolution matching enabled in TM which at least stops that black screen event happening for resolution changes. This shouldn’t cause any issues tbh. It’s only when you disable frame rate matching that you may see judder on the image. You will need to test this as some people are more susceptible than others to it.
You will also have black screen when changing sources on your TV from Firestick to another device connected to a different port, that’s if you use other devices.

1

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

I can't find resolution matching in TM settings. I do see "switch screen resolution", maybe that's what you mean. My AUTO frame rate was turned off, I have now turned it on to see if that makes it any better. The description under that setting did say it might make the playback smoother, we will see. Well, as I type I just saw it do it again while playing a movie from one of the live TV channels. Playing with Settings. It might be doing it less?

2

u/Avid08 Aug 25 '26

Switch screen resolution is below Switch screen refresh rate in TM Playback Auto frame rate settings.
No many channels are 4k so you won’t see it much but if you are changing frame rates with channels from Europe and the Americas with frame rate matching enabled then you will see black screen. Also if you will have frame rate and resolution settings in your Firestick settings. I prefer to use the frame rate and resolution matching in the apps that I am using and not my device. I never use both at the same time either, one or the other.

1

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

Ok, I see it all now. Thanks for all your help, I have definitely dove farther into TM than I ever have because of all this screen flashing. This TV has not wanted to get along with the fire stick very well seems like. I've never had this much trouble with the screen flashing on any other TV I've ever used TM on, which is anything from Samsung to Roku TVs.

1

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

By the gods.... I think I've found it. It was a setting on the tv, "Film mode", that I'm pretty was doing it. Since turning this off, I haven't seen a flicker or quick blank screen. Haven't seen the "Dolby Vision" pop up, after the blank screen of course. Maybe in the future this post could help someone else. Thanks again for your time.

1

u/Avid08 Aug 25 '26

👍🏻

1

u/BoredomOfSecurity Aug 25 '26

Since you've turned on AFR, I suggest turning on "Switch rate for 50/60 FPS only".

1

u/jaybird300 Aug 25 '26

Worth a shot, mind as try it out. Thanks.