When a live channel plays smoothly in the small preview but cuts, blanks or flickers in full screen, the cause is almost always the TV's display, not the stream: in full screen the set may switch its refresh rate, or the video may move to a separate video layer the firmware handles badly. Turn off the TV's frame-rate matching first; from version 2.2.7, set Video output to Texture in the player.
How do I know it is this problem?
All of these are true:
- the same channel plays without cuts in the preview on the home or Live TV screen;
- the cuts start when you go to full screen, and stop when you leave it;
- Diagnostics does not show stalls or reconnects at the moments of the cuts.
If the preview cuts too, or Diagnostics shows reconnects, see the article on buffering instead.
What causes it?
1. Refresh-rate switching. Many broadcast channels run at 50 frames per second, and TV menus at 60 Hz. With frame-rate matching on, the set switches to 50 Hz in full screen. Each switch is a short blank, and some sets switch back and forth or fail to settle.
2. The video layer. In full screen, Android usually hands the video to a dedicated hardware layer, called Surface in the player's settings. It saves power, but on some firmware, often on sets without Google Play and on cheap boxes, this layer flickers, blanks or drops frames.
3. Interlaced channels. Channels in 1080i at 50 fields per second need deinterlacing. Some chips do it well only on one of the two paths, so the same channel can look fine in the preview and break up in full screen.
Which TV settings should I try?
Change one at a time and test the same channel in full screen:
- Turn off frame-rate matching. It is usually under Settings → Display & Sound → Advanced display settings on Android TV, Settings → Display & Sounds → Display on Fire TV, or Settings → Display on sets without Google Play. Names vary by firmware version; look for Match content frame rate, Match original frame rate, Auto frame rate or HDMI self-adaption.
- Turn off motion processing (Motion smoothing, MEMC or the brand's own name for it).
- Set the output resolution to a fixed value your TV supports, rather than Auto, on boxes that offer it.
- Restart the TV or box.
Which player settings help?
From version 2.2.7, Settings → Player has two settings for this:
- Video output: Automatic (the default) lets the app choose; Surface forces the hardware video layer; Texture draws the video like the rest of the screen. Choose Texture if full screen cuts. If playback becomes less smooth on a weak box, go back to Automatic.
- Match TV refresh rate: off by default. Leave it off while you fix this problem. Turn it on later only if motion judders and the TV switches cleanly.
Two existing settings are worth a check too:
- Buffer size: Automatic by default since 2.2.5. It does not cause full-screen cuts, but Large rules out short network gaps.
- Live stream format: some providers send a different encoding over HLS than over MPEG-TS. Switching can change the frame rate the TV sees.
How do I use Diagnostics to tell the causes apart?
- Play the channel in full screen until it cuts.
- Open Settings → About → Diagnostics.
- Look at the last play: if it lists stalls or reconnects at that time, the network or the provider is involved. If it shows none, the cut came from the display path.
Copy the text and send it, with the TV brand and model, to whoever manages your account. It contains no passwords or full addresses.
What if nothing helps?
A few sets cannot show some interlaced or 50 Hz streams cleanly in full screen whatever the settings. In that case a Fire TV Stick or an Android TV device plugged into the TV usually solves it, because its own chip and firmware do the work.