Here's how to solve the PlayStation 4 Pro's flashing black screen 4K TV issue

Have you run into the dreaded PS4 Pro black screen HDMI connection issue? Here's a way to solve it.

[DivineAssault]

When i got rid of the PSVR my TV stopped doing this..

[solderman]

I was about to say the same thing.

[rainslacker]

Mines been doing this intermittently since I first got the console. No PSVR in the mix. Tried all sorts of things to get it fixed, but can't even find an acknowledgement from Sony that it exists. No update has worked.

I'll try this one later, but I'm still thinking it's an issue with the GPU not being cooled properly since it seems to do it regardless of if the game is HDR, if it's in 4K of any sort or just 1080. Either that, or it's just an issue communicating with some TV's, although it seems to be a problem among different makes and models.

[DivineAssault]

Try changing your video settings to RGB or that ycb.. One is for hdmi 1.4 and the other 2.0

[rainslacker]

Yeah, I've done that on a few different occassions. There isn't anything i haven't tried....including what's suggested in this article.

[Hardiman]

Never had an issue with my Pro. I had a M series 55 Visio 4K but it didn't have HDR so I got a 65 Samsung KS 9000 and absolutely love it!

[Gardenia]

I have the KS9000 and have flickering problems when turning HDR on. It only happens on startup and I can fix it by switching HDMI ports back and forth with the remote ones or twice, but it's still annoying

[Hardiman]

Really wow that's crazy because I haven't had any issues. It's set to 2160P, HDR and deep color set to automatic and HDCP is 2.2 on mine.

[DivineAssault]

switching the ports shouldnt do anything but cause wear n tear.. Your better off changing your 4K settings on the console..

[bondsmx]

Same here with a ks8000. I usually switch inputs a few times and get it to stop. Sometimes it flickers worse then other. And say I’m playing cod, decide to stop and watch Netflix. As soon as it turn Netflix, flickering returns. And or, vice versa.
Not gonna lie, it drives me insane.
Not insane enough to buy a $60 item like the article says though.

[Gardenia]

@DivineAssault

Switching with remote, not the cables themselves

[Tapani]

Got the exact same set and love it. Wanted to have 75”, but it was almost double the price. The HDR 4K checkerboarded games look so good. GOW tomorrow night. It’s going to be waiting me once I get back home from the last meeting...

[Hardiman]

I wanted the 75 incher too but your right that price but 65 is a great size!

[jreeves82]

I have the sony xbr-65x930e and have never had a problem with the ps4 pro.

[The_Jackel]

I have only had one issue with my bravia and it was the tv not the ps4 pro. it desided to have a hissy fit and not allow signal from the hdmi (port 2 but allowed signal in port 3) i did a factory reset and not 1 issue since then (that was when tv was not even a week old)

[Redlife2g]

Lol had the exact same issue as well. Factory reset did the trick as well...it started happening after some update that was downloaded

[jokerisalive]

for me it was the HDCP setting. once i set it to off no more issues. its a sync compatability issue with certain tvs or monitors.

[Elda]

With my Samsung this happens a lot,I get a black screen when I turn my Pro on but I can hear it,I usually have to unplug my tv & plug it back in & the black screen is gone & it's normal again.It's a pain in the ass but a small one.

[jokerisalive]

turn off the HDCP bro....it might help like it did for me unless you have already done that.

[Elda]

No bro here..lol.

[boing1]

You may also try to disable anynet+ in the TV if you're not using it.

[kevnb]

get a 4k hdmi splitter as a go between, they strip hdcp. I realized this after pirates started using splitters to rip 4k movies. You might want to do a little research ont he specific splitter first, but I went and got a rocketfish (best buy brand) one that did the trick.

[Master of Unlocking]

Do you mean this:
https://www.amazon.com/Rock...
or this?
https://www.amazon.com/Rock...

[kevnb]

they probably both work, but im using the first one. I just plug whatever device into the input and only use one output to go to my receiver. The amazon reviews make it seem like it didn't work for them, but I think this is because if you use both outputs at the same time some devices dont handle it well.

[kevnb]

I should also add that my 4K tv doesn’t have hdr, so this is something I have not tested.

[SegaSaturn669]

Here's my trick for this problem: I packed my 4k TV back in the box -- then i hooked up my trusty old samsung 1080p back in its place -- from that point, I sold my 4k TV. Bam. No more flashing black screen.

[kevnb]

all because of drm issues.

[MarineLineman]

Never had this issue. First time hearing about it, actually. Is it common?

[rainslacker]

It's not uncommon. But it's not a hugely widespread issue. You can easily find people talking about it. Easily see Sony ignoring any fixes. And find all sorts of fixes which may or may not work.

[Rude-ro]

Never seen the issue.
Now, the tv will do a black screen as it is turning on hdr for a game with it... but that is it.
Samsung 7500

[Phoenix76]

So that's the issue. Dam. Been having a black flashing screen happening to me. Only lasts a few seconds. But if using the TV as a social screen whilst using the VR and the screen goes, then the TV pic ends up all messed up but the VR is fine. Anyone else have that?

[kevnb]

its all just an hdcp issue most likely, my solution is just to get an hdmi splitter that supports 4k. These splitters have the unadvertised feature of removing hdcp, which allows my pre hdcp 2.2 receiver to work with 4K Netflix content, 4k movies on my apple tv, 4k blurays and avoids other issues hdcp causes legit customers.

[Master of Unlocking]

Damn, amazon doesn't sell rocketfish products in my country. Is Musou acceptable? Even if it says HDCP 1.4 on the box?

[kevnb]

You’re going to want to get one specifically supporting 4K. Do a little research and I’m sure you will find another model that does the same thing, pirates use splitters to rip 4K content.

[rainslacker]

So would that allow me to pass HDR through my receiver which is supposed to support 4K, instead of using the ARC port on the TV to go back to the receiver? That's been kind of an annoying thing for me although has nothing to do with the PS4 itself..

Also, will it still pass through the full quality audio, or limit it to DTS? If it allows the full range, then I won't feel the need to upgrade my receiver because of the stupid copyright crap because brought in a year too early. Sorry, still a bit bitter about that.:)

If it fixes the black screen, that's enough for me because I'm tired of dealing with it myself, because it happens a lot when it does happen, but may go a week or two without any issue so it gets really frustrating trying all the different fixes which may or may not work.

[GoldeneyeOO7]

I get this even with my standard PS4. Dunno if I can trouble shoot it the same way as described in the article. Anyone know?

[Master of Unlocking]

I've been looking for an HDR option on my Samsung TV but alas... nothing. When I try to set my PS4 Pro on HDR it automatically tells me my TV set is not HDR compatible anyway. Bummer. I know it's just a 1080p TV and not 4K, but I thought some of those latest 1080p sets (once pitched as "Full HD TVs" lol) could do it.
And I don't know if it's related but on my PS4 Pro TV&Sound settings menu it tells me that the HDCP protocol is 1.4, not 2.2...

Anyway, between the people who have a 4K TV on which their PS4 Pro outputs only a 1080p signal because their HDMI sockets are not 2.0a or w/e, the ones who only have the picture and/or the sound, and the ones who can't enjoy HDR in spite of their TV being officially compatible with that tech because they were sold a supposedly HDR10-enabled TV when it really is an HDR8+2 TV, it's all so complicated that articles like this one are always welcome. I heard of those black screens some people get with their PS4 Pro, here's hoping I don't encounter that problem when I finally purchase my 4K TV (someday...)

[kevnb]

as far as I know there is no 1080p set that supports HDR. For movies and tv HDR/4k content requires hdcp 2.2, if you were an early adopter its possible to have 4k capable equipment that doesnt have hdcp 2.2, personally I bypass this with an hdmi splitter.

[traumadisaster]

Man what a mess(not Sony just the av world in general), I'm sorry you are going through this. It seems me or my friends have experienced crap like this ever since HDMI was introduced.

[isarai]

i've been looking into it for months (though it was only an issue for me for about a week) and really it just seems completely random, it seems any change in video output settings/setup has worked for someone but not everyone. What worked for me was swapping out the HDMI cable with a "Rated" 4k/HDR10 HDMI cable that has small lightweight plugs that fit snug (as to remove wilting/wiggling of the plug) and that pretty much solved my problem, since Nov of last year i've only had it dip to black for a quick second about 3 times, shouldn't happen at all but it's a far more acceptable compromise cause one thng's for sure i'm sure as hell not turning off HDR or 4K just to stop it, kinda defeats the purpose of both the pro and my TV at that point. Also i have it hooked up to a 4k/HDR splitter from IBIS. though i just recently figured out this splitter only does true HDR 4:4:4 at 30hz whereas 60hz goes down to 4:2:0. and what sucks is there's no way for me to tell if my Tv is doing 60hz or 30hz at any given moment as it's automatic

[rainslacker]

All the solutions out there....which are numerous....seem to work great for some people, but not for others. Sadly, to date, nothing has worked for me, and Sony has yet to acknowledge the issue or make an update for it that would work for me.

The intermittent nature of it makes it hard to know if you actually fixed anything when trying all the different solutions.

[ps3vita4life]

What's weird is that my first ps4 pro (which I returned due to loud coil whine, another problem in itself) didn't have this issue but the second one did. Both pros were connected to the same tv.

Apparently some people have fixed the issue by setting RGB to limited for both the tv and ps4 pro or by setting both to full. Others have fixed it by setting the resolution to 2160p YUV420 or by changing the hdmi cable completely. I "fixed" my issue by simply changing the RGB setting on my tv and ps4 from auto to another option (either limited or full) and then switching both back to auto immediately after. I say "fixed" because even though a blackscreen hasn't happened for a while, there is no way of knowing if it ever will again.

[traumadisaster]

Is there an option deeper in the menu possibly? I found Hz in system information in a general option, it was no where near the graphics options.

[narsaku]

My pro's working fine, I don't think this is a dreaded anything. More like, nobody knows what this even is outside of the .025%

Now the RROD was dreaded.

[rainslacker]

Try doing a search for it. You'll find plenty of people saying they have the problem. It's not anything like RROD, but it's an issue that should get resolved officially. I'd be called a Sony fan boy by some on here, and I've had the problem since I first got my Pro. I've made several requests for help on the Sony forums to no avail. No one even seems to be able to definitively say what is causing it, and the solutions may or may not work.

It's not the end of the world if you have the problem, but it can be annoying when you're in the middle of a game, because the screen will go black, but the game itself won't stop. It can happen for several minutes off and on, then you won't see it again for a while, or you may see it again in an hour.

Glad you don't have it, but it has enough people talking about it that it's not some extremely isolated issue.

[dp5212]

There was an update from Vizio that was suppose to address the issue. Make sure you have the latest update if you have a Vizio.

[FyBy]

I had also this problem with 2015 Philips (6561) TV. So I bought 2017 Sony Bravia (XE9305 / X930E) and all is ok now.