New user having issues

[forfun32]

Hi,

I just purchased my first Android box. It is M8S Pro with Android 6.0. When I watch videos on Kodi, they are very dark. Does anybody know how to fix this? The brightness sometimes seems to go up and down (brighter, darker) but generally it's darker than what you would expect and dark scenes are borderline unwatchable.

I am watching on an LG smart TV.

I've watched Apple TV on my TV with no issues. Same with plugging in laptops or anything else.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Sorry if I'm sticking this question in the wrong place. It's my first time on the forum as well.

Cheers!

 

[Nigelar]

Hi.
When watching a video in kodi, click on the film reel icon. Brightness controls are in there so see if they are set to low.
If that doesnt work you may want to try a different hdml lead in case the original is faulty.
There isnt a specific section for the m8s as it isnt a droidbox supplied machine but the droidbox forum community try and answer general questions so dont worry!

 

[forfun32]

I checked that film reel icon and there are no brightness controls. I've also tried multiple hdmi cables and that doesn't fix the problem either.

 

[forfun32]

I am using 5G wifi - would that affect anything? Should I switch to 2.4G?

 

[StringyMCFC]

You say it seems to go brighter and darker, does it go brighter when a button is pressed and then darker after a few minutes? If so it sounds like screen saver settings on the box itself rather than Kodi. Try going in to settings from the android home screen and disable screen saver. Hope this helps.

 

[StringyMCFC]

Actually, I think (I'm not near a box at the moment to check) there may be screen saver settings in Kodi too. Try android settings and system settings and disable screen saver / screen dimming on both.

 

[Nigelar]

Wifi will have no effect at all.
This is the video settings screen in kodi when you press the film reel icon

 

[forfun32]

I'll look for screensaver/dimming settings. I'm a complete novice so any tips on where to look would help!

Here is what I get when I press the film reel icon in Kodi.

 

[StringyMCFC]

For the setting in Kodi it's System > Appearance > Screensaver.

If it's set to "dim" change that to "off" and see how that works. It may not help as Kodi treats a film/video as being "active" so you may be better trying it in the android settings outside of Kodi too.

To do that you need to exit Kodi and go in to your settings (normally a picture of cogs or similar) then look around in display settings, power saving etc) to find a screen saver option.

 

[Nigelar]

If you cant see brightness and contrast in the on screen panel it may be because "surface rendering" has been switched on (for some unknown and strange reason - where did you get this box from. Was it already set up "fully loaded").
See this i found on google from someone who had a similar problem and see if that solution works.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=260671


A further test is to view stuff outside kodi e.g. in youtube and see if there is a problem. If there is, it might be a problem with the box. If it is only in kodi, then we know it is a setting in there.

 

[Nigelar]

If doing the above doesn't enable brightness and contrast, see also the last entry on this web page

http://kodi.wiki/view/Android_FAQ#Missing_.22brightness.22_and_.22contrast.22_options

 

[forfun32]

I bought the box on Amazon. It came fully loaded. I tried that solution you showed but when I go into settings > video > acceleration, I can't seem edit the rendering. It's set to 'autodetect' and I can't change it. See attached. I've tried advanced settings level and expert to no avail.

I'll check some youtube videos. I plugged a usb drive and watched a video on the video player there and it seemed normal.

 

[Nigelar]

Ok. Theres the second solution to try.

Does your box supplier have a support forum like this one for droidbox users? Thinking they may be able to help as well.

 

[forfun32]

Second solution worked! And after making adjustments, the picture is better.

I can't seem to find a support forum for the box provider.

Thanks for everybody's help! You guys are great.

 

[Nigelar]

Glad it worked. You may want to click on the "set as default for all media" item to save the settings as a default.