Black background randomly after sleep

i have had the same issue. Had my Apple TV 4 replaced due to another issue but the problem did not disappear with new box. I link the HDMI to Apple TV through my AV receiver so a HDMI related bug could make sense.

Same exact problem for me too. Sony XBR-65X900C. I can restart the AppleTV 4th Gen and issue goes away. After it's been on for some time however (and probably entered sleep), the background is completely dark and text is hidden/illegible.

Hi Everyone,

I still face this issue, but i found a workaround that has worked and kept this issue away for some time now.

My setup is the following:

- Samsung Smart TV

- Kinivo HDMI switch

- Harmony Home hub

- Apple TV 4

I use the Harmony home hub to control all my devices, and i believe the issue was happening because when i would turn off my apple TV activity it would turn off my TV and leave the apple TV on (this happened even if i said to put the ATV4 to sleep after a certain while). This has led me to believe that when the Apple TV is connected to the switch or an AV receiver and it is left on when the TV turns off i believe something in the HDMI causes the black background to appear.

I have since created a macro when i turn off my apple tv activity using the harmony remote that basically navigates to the settings and manually places the ATV 4 to sleep then the activity will continue to turn off the TV and thats it.

I would recommend you guys try to manually put the ATV to sleep and then turn off your TV and see if the problem presents itself. This is how i came to my workaround.

Thanks

Miguel

Awesome info Miguel. I too have a Harmony remote, the Ultimate One, and have noticed when I power down my "Watch AppleTV" activity, that the AppleTV remains on. Can you provide any more detail on the Macro you put into your power down routine for the ATV activity? Is that something you set up through the MyHarmony software? Thanks for any extra information.

Hey,

Thanks again for the compliment. So the macro is really easy, i simply inputted the steps in the end sequence to navigate to the settings and click on "sleep now".

My insider info that i learned is that if you click home twice in a row you will notice that the first time the app you are on will take you to the TV app (this is due to the tvOS update) then when you click home again it will take you to the apps. After you should click menu and you will notice it takes you to the top left app. What i did from here is place the settings app below that first row of apps to make the steps shorter.

After you should be able to add a select and then a few direction down entries (9 to be exact) then a select once more.

This should work regardless of what app you are using. Also you don't have to worry about closing the settings app all the time since the next time that you use the apple tv and close it again when the settings app opens and you notice that the sleep now button is already selected the 9 direction downs will not go round robin they will simply stay on the "sleep now" button. So this should work always.

Thanks

Miguel

I too have this issue with a Vizio TV. I had previously assumed it was because I used it for development and had something crashing in the background, but it finally got to the point that I felt compelled to research it. Glad to see I'm not the only one, but sad to see it doesn't appear to be resolved.

You know it might just be a coincidence. But I have a Sony TV and also have been experiencing this problem as well. Although in fairness my Apple TV is running through a receiver but ironically it's also a Sony, LOL. Anyway, I haven't figured out any fix for this yet but am still trying to narrow it down. Sometimes for me a simple reset will work. However there have been times when the reset will not fix the problem as well.

I believe that the issue is actually having to do an AV receiver or input switch. I notice that every time i switch from one device back to the ATV4 i see the screen. Now i just put it into sleep mode and wake it up each time i will use it and put it back to sleep when i don't. The one thing i wish would work would be if i could use the automatic sleep mode option, but when i turn off my TV and the apple TV has not gone to sleep yet then when it eventually does and i turn the apple TV back on i notice the black background again

Just to add some more data, I also have this problem, with a Samsung TV, Denon receiver and a Harmony remote. Like everyone else, rebooting fixes it temporarily, but it returns usually within a week.

I'll chime in with my setup, and also agree that the issue started with the big ATV update that introduced the "TV hub" icon/app (sorry I don't know what it's called). I was hopeful that this would be addressed with the minor update that was available in early February, but no. Since it seems like it popped up after a software update and is prevalent with those using a HDMI switch or AV receiver to connect to their TV for viewing, you would think (hope) a software fix would address the issue.

ATV4

Yamaha RX-V677 receiver

Samsung TV (non-smart TV)

Connection: ATV4 > HDMI > Yamaha receiver > HDMI > Samsung TV

I have two issues -

1) the "ultra dark" problem after turning the TV off and the ATV goes into sleep mode (some menu items are unreadable) 2) apps will download but not open

A restart of the ATV temporarily fixes these issues, but they reappear after the ATV goes to sleep and the TV is turned off.

I too have the same issue ever since the introduction of dark mode.

Sonny receiver

Samsung TV

Many different post on many different sites are claiming it is some sort of setting or issue with components connected. The fact is that it all worked fine before the introduction of dark mode. I have no problems when I leave it in dark mode. Only the light mode. There for, there is a bug. I prefer the light mode, but can't use it because I don't want to restart it every other day when I sit down to watch. sad that it has been going on without a fix this long.

Here's an update that was mentioned as a workaround in a previous post. I have been able to avoid the "ultra dark" mode by finishing every session on the ATV4 by going to Settings> Sleep Now and then turning off the TV.

Also, if there are any moderators reading this thread, the status indicates "Solved" if you reset or restore the ATV4, but that is certainly not the case. The issue reappears no matter how many restores or restarts you do. If a workaround via menu steps is successful, as I have confirmed, then it certainly seems to be a software issue that can be fixed if some attention was paid to it.

Ive also had this issue and the conclusion on my end is the network interface chosen.

Are you all on wired connection to the atv?

I decided to try switching from wired to wireless connection and I haven't had the issue since I switched. But still, it's not something apple should get away with.

Try the following steps for the Apple TV 4, check whether things are working after each step where appropriate, before trying the next.

1. Restart the Apple TV (Settings > System > Restart).
2. Restart the Apple TV by removing ALL the cables for 30 seconds.
3. Restart your router. (Also try removing it’s power cord for at least 30 seconds)
4. Reset the Apple TV (Settings > System > Reset > Reset all settings)
5. Restore the Apple TV (Settings > System > Reset > Restore)