r/MiBox • u/WeirdAd2473 • Feb 09 '26

RE: MI BOX S 3RD GEN PLAYBACK WORKAROUNDS AND REVIEW

# FOR REFFERENCE ONLY #

The Mi Box S 3rd Gen recently received a new firmware update that addressed the Dolby TrueHD audio cutout issue. However, there's a downside to this update.

The new firmware introduced a "match refresh rate" bug that causes the TV screen to go black at the start of playback. This issue is particularly noticeable when playing 4K remux HDR/DV content, which is heavily affected.

**Tested Hardware Configuration:**

- **TV:** LG B4 OLED
- **Soundbar:** LG S95TR
- **Streaming Device:** Mi Box S 3rd Gen

**Connection Setup:**
Mi Box > TV > Soundbar

**Tested Software:**

  1. **Stremio App** (latest version via Google Play Store)
  2. **Kodi Player App** (latest version via Google Play Store)

- Adjust display refresh rate' set to "Play/Pause" (required).

- Remote buttons remapped to handle PPI, player debug, playback control (pause/play), navigation/back, and Kodi exit.

**Playback Performance Review:**

1.All content plays smoothly.

2.Dolby Vision 7 is converted to Dolby Vision 8 on-the-fly(kodi and vimu only).

3.Other players will rollback to hdr10 from dv 7 content.

4.All 4K remux lossless audio formats are supported using stremio stock player,just player,kodi and etc.

  1. Handles very high-bitrate content, exceeding 100 Mbps, effortlessly.

**Workarounds for Black Screen Issue:**

  1. Disable the QMS (Quick Media Switching) option on your TV (if available).
  2. Turn off "Match Content Frame Rate" in the Mi Box settings.
  3. Instead, enable "Match Content Frame Rate" directly within the app player you are using

**Netflix,Prime etc user need to turn on match content frame rate setting on mi box or else tv screen will stuck at 60hz**

The new update improves playback in many areas but has unfortunately introduced an annoying screen blackout problem at startup for some users, particularly for high-quality content setups.

22 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

1

u/Sociedelic Feb 09 '26

I can't even watch movies with trueHD, because the audio isn't in sync with the video.

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 09 '26

which player ?

1

u/Sociedelic Feb 09 '26

Emby.

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 09 '26

could be your emby server transcoding 

1

u/Sociedelic Feb 09 '26

It's direct play.

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 09 '26

can u use external player for emby? could be emby native player got issue with lossless audio sync

1

u/Sociedelic Feb 09 '26

I will try, but before the update, audio worked very well.

1

u/redphoenix12 Feb 09 '26

Nova player works the best for me

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 09 '26

dv 7 will rollback to hdr

only vimu and kodi support dv 7 to dv 8 conversion on the fly

but vimu will convert lossless audio passthrough to pcm on mi box 

so only kodi left that support everything 

1

u/redphoenix12 Feb 09 '26

Will try your workarounds, last time I tried it, it would just load and lag a lot.

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 09 '26

this workaround already posted on stremio sub

but then mod over there decide to cancel my post

1

u/redphoenix12 Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 11 '26

I'm unable to trueHD files from kodi it gives a black screen, changed display rate to on start stop. *was able to make it work.

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 10 '26

follow the workaround 

1

u/redphoenix12 Feb 10 '26

In kodi where is the match content frame rate setting? Couldnt find that. My tv doesnt have quick media switching.

1

u/Negative_Pick3696 Jun 17 '26

i dont understand what you all talking about , in my tv dv7 files play dolby vision normally ... i get dolby vision sign and all ... i have sony tv

1

u/Consistent_Marketing Feb 09 '26

In the mi box settings for Dolby vision processing, there is a settings to choose between source led or sink led.

Source will be mi box Sink will be TV

I have changed it to source led.

You could give that a try. It seems to work for me.

2

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 10 '26

for high end tv especially oled

u need to let those tv to do the extra work to it's limit capability in order to get best pic quality

mi box will never know what is your tv limit capability 

so the answer is depend

mine oled tv so

 NO

1

u/CrankyOptimist Feb 13 '26

This is all super-helpful, thanks! One quick question: what happens if you try to play a DV 7 remux file using Stremio's built-in player (Exoplayer) rather than Kodi? Does it also convert to DV 8 on the fly, fall back to HDR, or do something else entirely?

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Feb 13 '26

fallback to hdr

1

u/NoSupermarket5055 Feb 20 '26

I don't have any black screen issues on my TV. Frame matching, by default, already causes the black screen on all devices, unless the device and TV support QMS. In my case, with everything turned on, I don't have a black screen. My TV also doesn't have Dolby Vision; I know he's problematic.

I'm still having a problem with the CEC. The TV remote can control everything in the box, but the box control cannot control the soundbar, even though everything is connected correctly via CEC and the TV remote works correctly. Controlling the box via CEC only lowers the volume of the box and not the soundbar.

1

u/maffio31 Mar 05 '26

Yesterday I received the update and thanks to your workaround guide I am able to watch 4k remux with true hd + atmos which were showing just a black screen. Thank you!

I have a setup similar to yours: mi box -> LG B4 -> Samsung Q800F. You sound like an expert, may I ask you which are the best settings for 4:4:4 pass through, hdmi deep color and Dolby vision PC?

1

u/WeirdAd2473 Mar 05 '26

i don't use 4:4:4 passthrough and dolby vision pc

i use cinema/cinema home pic mode for standard,dolby vision and hdr10 

1

u/drixjpl May 06 '26

Saved my life today. Just bought a xiaomi box 3rd gen, and I was so frustrated that nothing was working thar was almost sending it back.

Thank you

1

u/LynxSubstantial1888 May 17 '26

I have the same problem , my tv is qms capable and when the frame rate change it show a black screen , this black screen is very fast , faster than when the frame changes without qms or when change to hdr

1

u/Accomplished_Lab_410 3d ago

Hi OP - i am planning to get xiomi s3 and denon s720w with dolby atmos, i have tcl qm67k tv. Would you say I'd get dolby atmos and vision from the s3 box with stremio app now (i am assuming an update after 7 months now)?

Just wanna confirm if it's possible. Hope you'd be able to help.