In short
- Black screen but sound plays: the stream arrives, your device cannot decode the video. Almost always a codec (HEVC, 10-bit, 4K) too heavy for it. Pick the HD or SD variant of the channel.
- Picture with no sound: the audio track is in a format the device does not decode (AC3, E-AC3), or the wrong track is selected. Switch audio track in the player.
- Nothing at all, spinning wheel: the stream is dead or the server does not answer. Another channel works? It is this channel. None works? It is the server.
On this page
A black screen is not an outage, it is a symptom, and it hides three that have nothing to do with each other. Depending on whether the sound plays or not, whether the wheel spins or not, whether the other channels work or not, the cause is in your device, in the stream, or at the provider. This guide gets you to recognise which before you touch anything.
Recognising the symptom
| What you see | What is happening | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Black, but sound plays | The stream arrives, the video is not decoded | 1 |
| Picture, but no sound | The stream arrives, the audio is not decoded, or wrong track | 2 |
| Black, spinning wheel, on one channel | That channel is dead | 3 |
| Black, spinning wheel, on all of them | The server does not answer | 3 |
| Black on a movie or episode, channels OK | Mislabelled file or unsupported codec | 4 |
| Green, pink, blocky picture | Damaged stream or decoder giving up | 5 |
1. Black with sound: your device does not decode the video
The most frequent case, and the most misunderstood. The sound plays, so the stream arrives, so it is neither the network, nor the subscription, nor the server. It is the video your device cannot turn into a picture.
A video stream is compressed with a codec. The two that matter in IPTV: H.264, which every device from the last fifteen years decodes, and HEVC (H.265), more efficient, which providers use for FHD and 4K variants. HEVC needs a dedicated decoder in the device's chip. Phones and Apple TVs have had one for years. Many cheap Android boxes, old sticks and entry-level TVs do not, or have one that gives up on 10-bit and 4K.
What confirms it: the same channel works on the phone and not on the box. Same stream, two decoders.
What fixes it: the variant of the channel encoded in H.264. Most playlists offer each channel in several versions (SD, HD, FHD, 4K, sometimes with the codec in the name). SD or HD plays where FHD stays black. It is not a step backwards, it is what the device can do.
What does not fix it: reinstalling, switching apps, clearing the cache. The decoder is in the chip, not in the app.
2. Picture without sound: the audio track
Two causes, easy to tell apart.
The wrong track. Many channels and most movies carry several audio tracks: original version, dubbing, audio description, sometimes an empty track. The player picks one by default, and it is not always the right one. In IPTV Guard, the audio track switches from the player during playback: cycle through two or three before concluding.
An undecoded format. Sports and movie streams are often in AC3 or E-AC3 (Dolby Digital), for multichannel sound. Some devices, especially entry-level Android boxes, do not decode them and stay silent, or pass them untouched to a TV that cannot read them either. The sign: the silence hits premium channels and movies, not news channels. Here too, another variant of the channel, or another audio track of the same stream, brings the sound back.
On iPhone, Mac and Apple TV, the app decodes these formats itself: the case is rare on those devices.
3. Nothing at all: the stream is dead, or the server
The wheel spins, the screen stays black, no sound. Here nothing arrives. The question is no longer "which codec", it is "which level is down".
- A single channel in this state, the others work: that channel is dead on the provider's side. It happens every day, on every playlist: a source that cut, a stream not renewed. Take another variant of the same channel, or wait.
- All channels: the server does not answer. The checker tells you in thirty seconds whether it is a provider outage, an expired subscription or an address change.
- All of them, but only on Wi-Fi: see the guide works on mobile data but not on Wi-Fi.
IPTV Guard does not let the wheel spin forever: the player waits for a real first frame, and after twenty seconds shows an error with what it found, rather than leaving you guessing.
4. Black on a movie while channels work
Movie and series files have two ways of staying black.
The format is mislabelled. The provider declares an .mkv file that is actually an .mp4, or the other way round, often after re-encoding its library. The player opens the file expecting one format, finds another, and fails. IPTV Guard tests the file before opening it and corrects on its own: you do not see this case.
The codec is not played. Same logic as section 1: a movie in 10-bit HEVC or 4K on a device that does not decode it. The provider sometimes offers the same movie in several qualities; otherwise, the device decides.
5. Green, pink, blocky picture
The picture appears but it is wrong: green or pink tint, square blocks, smeared lines. The stream arrives damaged. Two origins: data loss between the server and you (network, saturated server), or a hardware decoder giving up on a badly encoded stream. Another variant of the channel fixes the second case; for the first, see the guide on cuts and buffering.
The order of checks
- Another channel. It works? The problem is specific to this one: sections 1, 2 or 3, dead channel.
- The same channel, another variant (SD, HD, FHD). It works? It was the codec, section 1.
- The same channel, another device. It works elsewhere? It is the device's decoder, not the stream.
- The audio track, if sound is what is missing. Two or three tries.
- The checker, if nothing works anywhere.
Reinstalling the app is not on the list, because none of the five cases is in the app.
In IPTV Guard
IPTV Guard waits twenty seconds for a real first frame, not a loading signal that lies, then shows a clear error instead of an endless wheel. On movies and series, the app tests the file before opening it: a format mislabelled by the provider is corrected before you see a black screen. And the audio track switches in one tap during playback.
Frequently asked questions
Why only some channels?
Because the provider does not encode all its channels the same way. The 4K and FHD variants are often HEVC, the SD ones H.264. A device that does not decode HEVC shows some and not others. It is not an outage, it is an incompatibility.
It works on my phone, not on the box.
The phone has decoded HEVC in hardware for years, many cheap boxes only do it partially, or not at all in 10-bit. Same stream, two different decoders. On the box, take the H.264 variant, often the one marked HD or SD.
The sound is out of sync with the picture.
The delay almost always comes from the audio chain: soundbar, HDMI ARC, Bluetooth headphones. Test on the screen's own speakers. If it is aligned there, the delay is in the audio chain, not the stream.
The picture is green, pink, or blocky.
The stream arrives damaged: data loss on the server or network side, or a hardware decoder that gives up. Another variant of the channel often fixes it.
A movie stays black while channels work.
A VOD file can be labelled in a format that is not its own, or encoded in a codec the device cannot play. IPTV Guard checks the format before opening; for the codec, the device decides.