Why does the screen go blank for a second or two?

Help and Support
1

Hi,

I have OSMC installations on a Raspberry Pi and Vero 4K+

When playing video (YouTube, iPlayer) the video will be playing fine when suddenly the screen goes blank for a second or two before it comes back. Why does this happen? It happens on the Pi and the Vero.

Thanks

2

Before or during a video?

If it’s when you start playing the video it’s because your display is adjusted to the resolution and refresh rate of the video. If it’s during playback I’d check if the hdmi cable is properly plugged in and if that doesn’t fix it try a new cable

3

It’s during playback but it’s not my hdmi cable as it happens on multiple systems.

4

Well, if the resolution changes while a video is playing (say, beacuse it’s detected your interweb isn’t fast enough) and you have Adjust refresh rate set to Always, it will switch and this does take a couple of seconds.

Try a different Adjust refresh rate setting.

5

That sounds like it could be the answer as it is a little like how it behaves when I change from one input to another. How do I change that and what should I set it to?

6

Settings->Player->Videos->Adjust display refresh rate->On start/stop

7

both my vero4k+'s go blank for a second on practically everything i play - all local files no internet streaming involved, not the hdmi cables, in the middle of movies not at the beginning or after pausing…

8

You should provide logs so we can scrutinize your config and see the issue if you really want to have any chance at finding a resolution to the problem.

9

Does anyone have a solution to this? This happens on both my Raspberry Pi and my Vero 4K. It doesn’t appear to be anything to do with my configuration or my cables. It happens regardless of what I am playing.

10

Have you tried this?

11

Yes. It made no difference.

12

Please upload some logs via My OSMC.
I assume the screen only goes black for a second or two when starting playback. This is expected when Adjust Refresh Rate is enabled. You can disable this but the playback experience will not be as smooth.

13

Hi Sam,

It happens all the time, not just when starting playback. Every 10 minutes or so. But, yes, it only lasts a second or two. I can live with it but it would be nice if it didn’t happen.

Can you also tell me if there is a way of disabling the onscreen display on pause? When I am watching something with subtitles I often cannot read the subtitles quickly enough. But if I hit pause Kodi/OSMC displays controls right over where the subtitles are. It would be okay if the display was only there for a second but it stays there.

14

You should post some logs as this is not expected

I would try another HDMI cable

This depends on the skin but is configurable under the OSMC skin settings if you are using the OSMC skin.