Unable to view movies without moving mouse constantly

I have the same problem, on a new Mac mini. Movies will play full screen if I put the cursor at the top (so the menu bar is visible) but not if it's anywhere else. They play fine while the controls are visible and then go blank (black screen) when the controls hide. This is in QuickTime and BBC iPlayer Downloads, but not in VLC.

Have rebooted, deleted QT preferences, changed display settings to scaled at different resolutions, etc.

If I access the machine remotely via Share Screen it doesn't happen – it plays 'full screen' fine in the window on the remote computer.

This seems to be the same as reported on another thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250376886

Anyone else getting this?

I have the exact same issue on a Mac mini 2018 running Mojave 10.14.5 (which includes iTunes 12.9.5.5): when trying to play movies full screen in iTunes, the screen will go black - unless I keep the on-screen control bar in the bottom visible or move the mouse (which amounts to the same).

I had no problem on Mojave 10.14.4 - this is a bug that was introduced in 10.14.5.

See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250382242

My Mac mini 2012, also on Mojave 10.14.5, does not have this problem.

There are several others with the same problem, where Mojave 10.14.5 and Mac mini are the common factors.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250376886

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250379316

I tried contacting Apple Support. You can apparently not email them, but you can request them to call you via the support pages. That is what I did. I got an email from them confirming they got my support request (with ticket number). But even though their support pages state that they will call you back within 2 minutes, I am still waiting for their call now 3 hours later...

Relieved to see it's not just me having this issue. I had no issues watching iTunes content until I updated this past weekend to Mojave 10.14.5/iTunes 12.9.5.5. Also, I have zero issues watching full screen content via browser streaming. Also running a new mac mini. Scared me for a minute, but it has to be a bug with the new update. Hoping to see results soon!

I have the same problem, and also on a new Mac Mini, which seems common to the other reports. It only began after the recent macOS and iTunes upgrade. I noticed after a complete shutdown and unplugging of the Mini that it seemed to be operating normally - but it lasted less than a minute, and then back to every few seconds. Some kind of caching issue?

I am having the same exact issue. Rebooting and NVRAM reset has done nothing. I am using an HP Pavilion 32" monitor that is brand new. What monitors are you all using? I will say that this issue is only occurring on my newest monitor. It is not occurring on older monitors. Apple Support, looks like you have a bug to fix!!!

I just chatted with support and here's the latest update:

"this issue is being investigated by our engineers. Their notes for this issue was to make sure and keep your Mac updated as the fix for this issue will come in an update, and the best work around for this issue at this time would be to watch the movies in non-full screen."

So it looks like in the next MacOS update (hopefully soon) the issue will be resolved :)

I was onto Apple Support for this very problem with a new Mac Mini. It had an OS update and won't play full screen video in QuickTime. When I shared my screen with the Apple Tech Support the problem mysteriously vanished. I thought I had found a solution, as in the meantime, waiting for Apple Support, I installed VLC. Now I now that the shared screen feature stops QucikTime from going black. It's July now, I was thinking a simple fix like this would have been pushed along a bit faster... I will be back onto Apple Support again and give them this URL. I was really hoping Apple would be more responsive to such a serious flaw in its own application!

Hello landscape_artist

Thank you for your post. But I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean the problem with QuickTime disappears while using screen sharing? As was reported in this thread by _Alex_Dennis_? But that is obviously not a fix.

Or do you mean that activating the Screen Sharing option under "Sharing" in System Preferences solves your problem?

Because the latter does definitely not solve my iTunes/QuickTime problem...

Still waiting for a fix...

Cheers

AstroWout

I have been in contact with Apple Support and they have no record of this problem... I sent them this webpage and a video of the movie and the fading UI and then the blank screen, wiggle mouse, screen back etc Apple Support also took a system dump at the same time. Apple Support said they will get back to me in two business days with a resolution. FingersX that it'll get fixed :-)

I'll add a weird observation - I had a reminder alert on my screen while watching a YouTube video full-screen. No issue! On my phone, I cleared the reminder. As soon as the reminder was cleared on the Mac Mini (and thus disappeared from the screen), the YouTube video went to black while still playing the audio.

Yup. It's included as part of a 3.5GB system update to MacOS 10.14.6

Although this bug is fixed, it has created a new bug... when the UI is visible in full screen mode, the colours of the display change to be whiter and when the UI fades the colours go back to normal. Having full screen playback is still nice to have :D

There is also a workaround solution.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250421147

The issue is now fully escalated to the engineers and they're working on it. Hopefully resolved soon!

You're welcome, just trying to do my part :)