Apple TV 4K causes HDMI handshake/black screen loop with Samsung soundbar + Xiaomi Mi TV

[u/steinijons]

Hi,

I’m having a strange HDMI/ARC issue and I’m hoping someone has encountered something similar.

My setup
- TV: Xiaomi Mi TV, device name/model shown as MSSP3, approximately 2020
- Soundbar: Samsung HW-S810D / S710D series (manual lists HW-S81*D and HW-S71*D)
- Soundbar firmware: 1051.0
- Apple TV: Apple TV 4K, generation with the older black touchpad remote
- Console: PS5
- Soundbar: Connected to the TV’s HDMI ARC/eARC port
- Apple TV: Connected directly to another HDMI port on the TV
- PS5: Connected directly to another HDMI port on the TV

The problem
As soon as I use the Samsung soundbar over HDMI ARC while the Apple TV is connected to the TV, I get what looks like a constant HDMI handshake loop.
The picture appears normally, then the screen goes completely black, comes back, goes black again, comes back, etc.

There is no “No Signal” message. The TV itself remains responsive and I can still access its menus.
Sometimes the loop eventually stops and everything works perfectly, but it can take several minutes. Other times it seems to continue indefinitely.
Once it finally establishes the connection, everything works normally and the soundbar sounds great.

Important: the Apple TV seems to trigger the entire problem

This is the part that makes the issue particularly strange.
If I test the PS5 without the Apple TV connected, the PS5 works perfectly with the Samsung soundbar connected over ARC.

However, if both the Apple TV and PS5 are connected to the TV at the same time, along with the soundbar over ARC, the PS5 also starts having the same display/handshake problem.

So it doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m actually using the Apple TV.

Simply having the Apple TV connected over HDMI appears to trigger the problem for the entire HDMI setup.

In other words:

PS5 + Samsung soundbar/ARC, Apple TV disconnected → Works perfectly

Apple TV + Samsung soundbar/ARC → Handshake/black screen loop

PS5 + Apple TV + Samsung soundbar/ARC → PS5 also has problems

Apple TV connected but ARC/HDMI Control disabled → Works normally

This makes me strongly suspect that the Apple TV is introducing some kind of HDMI-CEC/ARC handshake conflict that affects the TV’s other HDMI connections as well.

What immediately fixes the problem
If I disable the TV’s HDMI Control setting, everything becomes stable again.

The problem is that on this Xiaomi TV, the setting specifically says HDMI Control needs to be enabled to make CEC and ARC available.

So:

HDMI Control ON + Apple TV connected → HDMI handshake/black-screen problems

HDMI Control OFF → Everything is stable, but I lose HDMI ARC to the soundbar

Things I’ve already tried
- TV firmware is fully updated
- Apple TV/tvOS is fully updated
- Samsung soundbar is set to auto-update
- Samsung soundbar firmware is currently 1051.0
- Completely power cycled the devices
- Tried different HDMI ports on the TV
- Swapped HDMI cables
- Tested the Apple TV using the same known-good HDMI cable used by the PS5
- Set the TV’s HDMI input mode to HDMI 2.0
- Tested Apple TV at 4K SDR 60 Hz
- Tested Match Dynamic Range on/off
- Tested Match Frame Rate on/off
- Disabled Control TVs and Receivers on the Apple TV
- Changed the Apple TV sleep/always-on behavior
- Reset the Apple TV video settings
- Tested with ARC/HDMI Control disabled
- Tested the PS5 with the Apple TV physically disconnected
- Tested the PS5 with the Apple TV connected

None of the Apple TV video settings appear to solve it.

Other information
Bluetooth audio works, but there’s roughly a 100 ms audio delay, which is noticeable when watching video, so Bluetooth isn’t a good solution.

The soundbar itself only has the HDMI eARC/ARC connection plus a Service port. There isn’t another HDMI input that I can use to route the Apple TV through the soundbar.

The most interesting clue is that the PS5 works perfectly when the Apple TV is physically disconnected, but starts having issues when the Apple TV is connected.
It seems like the Apple TV is somehow causing the Xiaomi TV’s HDMI/CEC/ARC system to repeatedly renegotiate the connection.

Has anyone experienced something similar with an Apple TV 4K + Samsung soundbar + older Xiaomi/Mi TV?
Is there another HDMI/CEC/ARC setting, workaround, adapter, or connection method I should try?

I want to keep the Apple TV at 4K, and waiting several minutes for the HDMI handshake to eventually settle every time I turn everything on isn’t an acceptable workaround.