Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max Black Screen

[ebr 16169]

We cannot "fix" this issue as it is a problem with the hardware.  The best we can do is hope to something to try and work around it.

[BalthazarBux 16]

Since the fallback "basic HDR10” is there, I think it should be possible to manually trigger the fallback HDR instead of it being locked to do something that result black screen 

[rbjtech 5284]

Kodi & JF addressed the issue by ignoring the HDR10+ metadata from the stream.  Alternatively, there are free online / command line tools that can simply strip the HDR10+ metadata from the MKV in seconds, leaving the DV and HDR10 intact that plays without any issues.    I've used this solution since the original problem, and have had zero issues.   DV plays on a DV capable device and HDR10 plays on a HDR only device.  The same tools could also be used to simply remove DV, leaving HDR10/HDR10+ but I have not needed (or tested) those.

 

Edited June 5, 2025 by rbjtech

[BalthazarBux 16]

3 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Kodi & JF addressed the issue by ignoring the HDR10+ metadata from the stream.  Alternatively, there are free online / command line tools that can simply strip the HDR10+ metadata from the MKV in seconds, leaving the DV and HDR10 intact that plays without any issues.    I've used this solution since the original problem, and have had zero issues.   DV plays on a DV capable device and HDR10 plays on a HDR only device.  The same tools could also be used to simply remove DV, leaving HDR10/HDR10+ but I have not needed (or tested) those.

 

Yeah, but then we still have to use two copies if we have multiple devices, like my Samsung that can do hdr10+ but not DV,  and my LG that does DV but not HDR10+. 

 

[rbjtech 5284]

4 minutes ago, BalthazarBux said:

Yeah, but then we still have to use two copies if we have multiple devices, like my Samsung that can do hdr10+ but not DV,  and my LG that does DV but not HDR10+. 

 

Format wars .. don't you just love them...

[BalthazarBux 16]

6 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Format wars .. don't you just love them...

Still shouldnt be an issue since all the devices support HDR10, and the files basically contain three formats. 

The option to select which metadata should be available. 

Like I also have a Android TV which support both HDR10+ and DV. I would like to be able to choose which to use.

[horstepipe 422]

As there are prime days I wanted to share that info to my users. 
Unfortunately I do not find any official article about that SoC + HDR10+ problem outside of Emby or Kodi Forums.

Could anybody share one?

BR

[Luke 42077]

Hi, please try 3.4.88+ and let us know how things compare:

We've added automatic fallbacks directly into the player. No server transcoding or operations required. Please try it out and report your experience. Thanks !

[rbjtech 5284]

13 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, please try 3.4.88+ and let us know how things compare:

We've added automatic fallbacks directly into the player. No server transcoding or operations required. Please try it out and report your experience. Thanks !

 

Glad to report that on a Fire TV 4K Max - HDR10/HDR10+/DV8 Hybrid is now working ok with 3.4.88 and is playing back as DV now with no Black Screen.   

Thanks for the update !

 

To add - the following continue to work ok :-

HDR10+ > Plays as HDR10+

HDR10 > Plays as HDR10

DV7 > Plays as HDR10 (as expected)

DV8 > Plays as DV8

DV5 > Plays as DV5

HLG > Plays as HLG

(To note, the Panasonic TV Supports HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and DV 5/8)

Edited August 21, 2025 by rbjtech
Added further testing

[robsen 3]

On 8/20/2025 at 8:44 PM, Luke said:

Hi, please try 3.4.88+ and let us know how things compare:

We've added automatic fallbacks directly into the player. No server transcoding or operations required. Please try it out and report your experience. Thanks !

can confirm. cleared cache and data from the old app, uninstalled it, installed the arm7 3.4.91 and it works on my Amazon Fire TV 4k Max (2nd Gen)

Edited August 28, 2025 by robsen

[JahMark 1]

On 8/20/2025 at 2:44 PM, Luke said:

Hi, please try 3.4.88+ and let us know how things compare:

We've added automatic fallbacks directly into the player. No server transcoding or operations required. Please try it out and report your experience. Thanks !

Also confirming that it's working on my AFS 4K Max (2nd Gen). No black screen!! Woohoo!

Thanks for getting this sorted and bringing back our confidence in Emby!

Will the updated app be pushed to the app store?
Will you also remove the old app to not confuse users?

[Luke 42077]

23 minutes ago, JahMark said:

Also confirming that it's working on my AFS 4K Max (2nd Gen). No black screen!! Woohoo!

Thanks for getting this sorted and bringing back our confidence in Emby!

Will the updated app be pushed to the app store?
Will you also remove the old app to not confuse users?

HI, yes hopefully within the next several days it will be in the store. Thanks.

[BalthazarBux 16]

Confirmed to work for me too, no more black screen.

But! Since I havent used the Fire app for a long time I don't know when this happened but now I see choppy playback on all sorts of content, sdr and hdr. Maybe it is something known , worked on. Or maybe just me, I have to continue testing now when the app is good for use again.

[Kyle009 1]

Has anyone else updated through the Amazon app store? My version is seemingly really old 3.4 but can't find an update. I'm using the none fire TV version. 

Do I need to side load?

[ebr 16169]

3 minutes ago, Kyle009 said:

Has anyone else updated through the Amazon app store? My version is seemingly really old 3.4 but can't find an update. I'm using the none fire TV version. 

Do I need to side load?

Hi.  Unfortunately, Amazon still has us held up in review with no further information.

I'd say about once every 18 months or so, they do this to us.  Hold us up for weeks in review with no action and no evident reason.  Then, magically one day, they release it.

[Kyle009 1]

Oh good old Amazon!

Is there a way to side load or do I just need to wait?

[Luke 42077]

27 minutes ago, Kyle009 said:

Oh good old Amazon!

Is there a way to side load or do I just need to wait?

I know some users side load the google play version although that is not something we generally test ourselves. You may just have to wait.

[Kyle009 1]

Ok thanks. Will wait and see

[Kyle009 1]

On 05/09/2025 at 00:24, JahMark said:

Also confirming that it's working on my AFS 4K Max (2nd Gen). No black screen!! Woohoo!

Thanks for getting this sorted and bringing back our confidence in Emby!

Will the updated app be pushed to the app store?
Will you also remove the old app to not confuse users?

 

Can I ask how you got this to your Firestick? I have the same model but my app is still on 3.4.74

[BalthazarBux 16]

1 minute ago, Kyle009 said:

 

Can I ask how you got this to your Firestick? I have the same model but my app is still on 3.4.74

Just sideload it,

[Kyle009 1]

22 minutes ago, BalthazarBux said:

Just sideload it,

Thanks, might do this seeing as the Amazon Appstore is so slow.

Assuming you just fed the arm7 link into Downloader app on the stick?

[BalthazarBux 16]

36 minutes ago, Kyle009 said:

Thanks, might do this seeing as the Amazon Appstore is so slow.

Assuming you just fed the arm7 link into Downloader app on the stick?

Hmm, I already had the apk on my mobile phone, so I just sent it over to my stick with a "Send Files to TV" app.

[Kyle009 1]

14 minutes ago, BalthazarBux said:

Hmm, I already had the apk on my mobile phone, so I just sent it over to my stick with a "Send Files to TV" app.

Ok thanks I'll try that!