A Screensaver option (Android TV)

[troyhough 61]

I noticed when watching something on the Nvidia Shield that if I pause the media, the frozen movie stays on the screen indefinitely. I wish some sort of screensaver would come on after being pause for X many minutes to reduce any sort of image burn-in.

[Bomsterr 4]

+1

 

Big issue if you have an OLED screen too.

[twistedvincent 10]

I also really need one !! They're just starting to publish that burn in IS an issue for modern TV when it was previously thought not to be.

 

So this is a necessity for Emby users.

[CBers 7450]

It's been suggested before, as has forcing a STOP command on non-Live TV content that is paused for a set period of time.

 

Personally, I just stop playback of non-Live TV and create a resume point, then the screensaver on my Shield kicks in after 5 minutes.

[Tro2001 1]

Hello Emby Team,

I’m using the official Emby client on my Samsung Smart TV (Tizen OS), and I’d like to request a feature that is critical for screen health — especially for OLED/QLED displays:

https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f539.png Auto black screen or screensaver when playback is paused for a long time (e.g. 5–10 minutes).

Why this is important:

• Leaving a paused video on screen for extended time can lead to pixel burn-in

• Most TVs (especially Samsung) do not trigger the system screensaver while an app like Emby is keeping a frame on screen

• Competing platforms (Emby Theater, Android TV) already support some form of screensaver or black-out on idle

Suggested implementation:

• Add a setting to Emby for Tizen client:

  Enable screensaver on pause https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/2705.png

  Screensaver timeout (minutes) https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/23f1.png

  Option: show black screen, or soft screensaver logo

I believe this would be a relatively small addition, but very useful for a large portion of users with modern Samsung TVs.

Thank you for your amazing work — looking forward to your feedback!

Best regards,
Yurii / Emby user from Ukraine

[Luke 42077]

On 7/12/2025 at 4:40 PM, Tro2001 said:

Hello Emby Team,

I’m using the official Emby client on my Samsung Smart TV (Tizen OS), and I’d like to request a feature that is critical for screen health — especially for OLED/QLED displays:

https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f539.png Auto black screen or screensaver when playback is paused for a long time (e.g. 5–10 minutes).

Why this is important:

• Leaving a paused video on screen for extended time can lead to pixel burn-in

• Most TVs (especially Samsung) do not trigger the system screensaver while an app like Emby is keeping a frame on screen

• Competing platforms (Emby Theater, Android TV) already support some form of screensaver or black-out on idle

Suggested implementation:

• Add a setting to Emby for Tizen client:

  Enable screensaver on pause https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/2705.png

  Screensaver timeout (minutes) https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/23f1.png

  Option: show black screen, or soft screensaver logo

I believe this would be a relatively small addition, but very useful for a large portion of users with modern Samsung TVs.

Thank you for your amazing work — looking forward to your feedback!

Best regards,
Yurii / Emby user from Ukraine

HI, a while ago we tried to include the screensaver feature into our Samsung app and Samsung rejected the app over this. I think they thought it would cause confusion with the device screen saver. Anyway we can try again to include it, but that is why it currently doesn't have it.

[Tro2001 1]

Thanks for the answer. It's very sad (. But somehow it turns out that Samsung allowed the screensaver for the Plex service because the screensaver is available and works on the app for their TVs.

[h0pdedix 8]

I know Emby already has a nice screensaver option on the Web client that can rotate through backdrops of our own media, but this feature is missing on the TV and Android apps as you well know. I think this would be a huge improvement, especially for those of us using OLED TVs as previously mentioned and noted.

Right now, when the app is idle on the home screen or when media is paused for a while, there’s no screensaver kicking in. As we all know this can be quite bad for OLED TVs, it feels like a missed opportunity since the functionality already exists on web, I understand you have attempted this in the past, it was somehow rejected, but I would hope you can continue trying just as Plex for example has achieved this somehow..

A screensaver option in the TV apps that activates both when idling on the home screen and during paused playback would not only help with screen protection, but also be fun for rediscovering content in the library as was my favourite use of it. I loved how Plex does this you’d suddenly see a backdrop of a movie or show you forgot about and it becomes the next thing you watch.

I think many users not just OLED owners would really appreciate this being added to the TV apps.

So with this, I leave it to you. I do wish the best in your attempts at achieving this and trust me when I say this is an important feature.

[Luke 42077]

7 minutes ago, h0pdedix said:

I know Emby already has a nice screensaver option on the Web client that can rotate through backdrops of our own media, but this feature is missing on the TV and Android apps as you well know. I think this would be a huge improvement, especially for those of us using OLED TVs as previously mentioned and noted.

Right now, when the app is idle on the home screen or when media is paused for a while, there’s no screensaver kicking in. As we all know this can be quite bad for OLED TVs, it feels like a missed opportunity since the functionality already exists on web, I understand you have attempted this in the past, it was somehow rejected, but I would hope you can continue trying just as Plex for example has achieved this somehow..

A screensaver option in the TV apps that activates both when idling on the home screen and during paused playback would not only help with screen protection, but also be fun for rediscovering content in the library as was my favourite use of it. I loved how Plex does this you’d suddenly see a backdrop of a movie or show you forgot about and it becomes the next thing you watch.

I think many users not just OLED owners would really appreciate this being added to the TV apps.

So with this, I leave it to you. I do wish the best in your attempts at achieving this and trust me when I say this is an important feature.

Hi, what version number of the Emby android app are you running?

[h0pdedix 8]

The latest available app on the NVIDIA Shield. (2.1.23g)

I am going to assume that you are asking due to the setting I see in playback that says "screensaver during playback," but for some reason, it has never seemed to work for me. On top of this, as mentioned above, I would love to see this also for idling on the home screen, with the addition of a selection for what to be your screensaver, like on the web client where you can choose a backdrop.

[Luke 42077]

Just now, h0pdedix said:

The latest available app on the NVIDIA Shield. (2.1.23g)

I am going to assume that you are asking due to the setting I see in playback that says "screensaver during playback," but for some reason, it has never seemed to work for me. On top of this, as mentioned above, I would love to see this also for idling on the home screen, with the addition of a selection for what to be your screensaver, like on the web client where you can choose a backdrop.

Hi.  Can you try searching for our standard android app (Just "Emby" on Amazon and "Emby for Android on Google) on the same device's app store and see how that compares?

Thanks.

 

[h0pdedix 8]

Sure thing, sorry I was not aware that there were two different options on Google Play. I am installing Emby for Android now, as I had Emby for Android TV.

Will keep you posted

[h0pdedix 8]

Okay, so I just tested Emby for Android 3.4.74 on my NVIDIA Shield with the screen saver option set to backdrop, and it did not apply via playback pause or home screen idle.

[h0pdedix 8]

Okay, just retested with a timer, and it did, in fact show up now on the Emby for Android app 3.4.74 on my NVIDIA Shield when idling on the home screen for 5 minutes. I will follow up if the same result occurs when playback is paused. See you in another rough 5 minutes.

[h0pdedix 8]

Confirming playback paused screensaver works too on the Emby for Android App on the NVIDIA Shield. This is good news, but also it is an issue in itself, as multiple versions on the same app store is quite confusing for some. For people like me, not even aware of it, would not even know the feature exists, so maybe it would be best to update the Android TV app in the nicest way possible, I mean, haha.

Little side question I noticed the backdrops on the screensaver don't fully cover the screen's width and or height and have tiny black bars on the edges. Is this normal, and if not planned to be adjusted? Just a nit pick for me !

[Luke 42077]

1 hour ago, h0pdedix said:

 

Little side question I noticed the backdrops on the screensaver don't fully cover the screen's width and or height and have tiny black bars on the edges. Is this normal, and if not planned to be adjusted? Just a nit pick for me !

Hi, can you please show an example of this? Thanks !

[h0pdedix 8]

3 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, can you please show an example of this? Thanks !

Sure thing!

Attached below, for the example of Space Jam, you notice the top, left, and right black bars. Not sure why it doesn't take up the full screen.

 

Also, could you let me know if there are any plans for updates to the Android TV app for the screen saver, etc.?

[Luke 42077]

On 9/18/2025 at 2:29 AM, h0pdedix said:

Sure thing!

Attached below, for the example of Space Jam, you notice the top, left, and right black bars. Not sure why it doesn't take up the full screen.

 

Also, could you let me know if there are any plans for updates to the Android TV app for the screen saver, etc.?

Hi ,what is the original resolution of the backdrop?