topic Re: Live TV Flickering in Sky Q

Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 21:50:52 GMT

I have a problem with my Sky. I am getting Live TV flickering and going to black randomly and it affects all channels. Playback of recordings do not flicker and watching streaming content via the Sky Q does not flicker.

Sometimes powering off and back on the box clears the issue, so maybe it's an intermittent software fault?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to permanently fix it as I am tired of having to reset the box?

Is there an software update?

Thanks in advance

Re: Live TV Flickering

oldfella — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 21:54:56 GMT

@rayraff wrote:

I have a problem with my Sky. I am getting Live TV flickering and going to black randomly and it affects all channels. Playback of recordings do not flicker and watching streaming content via the Sky Q does not flicker.

Sometimes powering off and back on the box clears the issue, so maybe it's an intermittent software fault?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to permanently fix it as I am tired of having to reset the box?

Is there an software update?

Thanks in advance

Hi @rayraff

Try a Reset Settings in the Q box hidden menu.
To enter hidden menu press Home and navigate down to Settings but do not select Settings.
With Settings highlighted press 0 0 1 Select.
Only Carry out the first Reset (Reset Settings) as the other two will wipe all recordings.
After the Reset you will have to re pair your Bluetooth remote If you use one.
If you cannot switch the Q box on with the remote after the Reset press the Standby button (Amber led) on the front of the box.
To re pair the remote press 1 & 3 together on the remote and follow onscreen instructions to re pair.

Make sure that you are pointing the remote at the Q box when you press 1 & 3 together.

Resetting the settings will also reset:

Audio visual settings, such as picture resolution and HDMI control
Settings changed within the hidden engineer menu, include LNB type. If on a communal dish you need to reset the LNB to SCR in the hidden menu. After changing the LNB type you need to reboot the Q box.

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 22:06:07 GMT

Ok, I do that and now I've lost all the apps Netflix, Disney+, etc

How do I get them back?

Thanks

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 16:29:55 GMT

Did the reset and then updated to latest software and now it's bad again with the picture and sound breaking up but only on Live TV. Recordings are working fine with no picture or sound break up. Streaming content is working fine with no picture or sound break up. Based on this I believe the dish and cables to the Sky box and from the Sky box to the TV are all okay.

Is Sky working on a new version of software to fix this issue?

Is it a known issue with rhe current version of software?

Re: Live TV Flickering

oldfella — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 18:18:17 GMT

@rayraff wrote:

Did the reset and then updated to latest software and now it's bad again with the picture and sound breaking up but only on Live TV. Recordings are working fine with no picture or sound break up. Streaming content is working fine with no picture or sound break up. Based on this I believe the dish and cables to the Sky box and from the Sky box to the TV are all okay.

Is Sky working on a new version of software to fix this issue?

Is it a known issue with rhe current version of software?

No current issue with Software @rayraff

Updating Software is only necessary if the Q box is not on the latest version.

Message "update this box with latest version " is always shown even when the Q box is on the latest.

Uodating when on the latest does not refresh the software.

You say issue is only with live TV.

Have you tried recording content now which is currently live ? And the checking the playback?

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 18:22:14 GMT

If I reset the settings it loses apps like iPlayer, Disney, Netflix, Prime, etc and I want those.

The Sky Q box is about 7 yrs old.

I will try recording some live TV and seeing if the recording is ok. It does seem to affect ITV and Channel 4 most.

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:34:59 GMT

Live TV programme broke up and screen went black for a second or two. Recorded version of Live TV programme made at the same time as we watched the Live TV did not break up or have the screen go black.

Re: Live TV Flickering

oldfella — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:36:30 GMT

@rayraff wrote:

If I reset the settings it loses apps like iPlayer, Disney, Netflix, Prime, etc and I want those.

The Sky Q box is about 7 yrs old.

I will try recording some live TV and seeing if the recording is ok. It does seem to affect ITV and Channel 4 most.

Hi @rayraff

If you lose the Apps you just need to refresh them in the Hidden menu.

To enter hidden menu press Home and navigate down to Settings but do not select Settings.
With Settings highlighted press 0 0 1 Select.
Select Apps 
then highlight Refresh all Apps on this box.
You'll see a message that says, 'Your apps are being refreshed'. This will stay on screen until you press Dismiss to return to normal viewing
It’s recommended waiting at least 5 minutes before doing so.

Refresh Apps can take up to 24 hrs to complete .

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:39:10 GMT

If I reset settings it takes the box back to software as it was back in 2018 when we got the box. To get the streaming apps back I had to update software to latest version.

Re: Live TV Flickering

oldfella — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:42:42 GMT

@rayraff wrote:

If I reset settings it takes the box back to software as it was back in 2018 when we got the box. To get the streaming apps back I had to update software to latest version.

Reset settings shouldn't do that @rayraff

Looks like you did a Factory reset !!!

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:46:50 GMT

I will try doing it again and double checking I didn't have finger trouble.

Thank you!

Re: Live TV Flickering

oldfella — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:59:14 GMT

@rayraff wrote:

I will try doing it again and double checking I didn't have finger trouble.

Thank you!

First check which Software it currently is @rayraff

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 20:02:46 GMT

Currently on Q280.000.08.00L (5vosfts)

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 21:48:21 GMT

I did Reset Settings and once again it lost all the apps except the Sky app.

Re: Live TV Flickering

oldfella — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 21:57:37 GMT

@rayraff wrote:

I did Reset Settings and once again it lost all the apps except the Sky app.

Hi @rayraff

Have you tried rebooting your Q box?
To reboot press Standby on your Sky Q remote (if the box responds to the remote), and then switch off and unplug at the mains.
Wait at least 30 secs and then Plug back in and switch your Sky Q box back on at the mains.
Wait for the on screen instructions to disappear and the front led to turn Amber. Then wait for 30 secs before you press Home on your Sky Q remote or if this is not working press the standby button on the front of the Q box (Amber led)

note: some features may take up to 5 minutes to return.

If you still have no Apps try refreshing the Apps in the Hidden menu.
To enter hidden menu press Home and navigate down to Settings but do not select Settings.
With Settings highlighted press 0 0 1 Select.
Select Apps 
then highlight Refresh all Apps on this box.
You'll see a message that says, 'Your apps are being refreshed'. This will stay on screen until you press Dismiss to return to normal viewing
It’s recommended waiting at least 5 minutes before doing so.

Refresh Apps can take up to 24 hrs to complete .

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 22:03:34 GMT

I've done Refresh Apps and now they're back. Software version is the same as before Q280.000.08.00L (5vosfts)

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:44:33 GMT

Apps are back and I re-reset the Picture settings and it still flickers and loses the picture completely.

How do I get a new Sky Q box?

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:56:58 GMT

We had a Sky engineer visit and he said the issue was possibly caused by Sky box being 100% full of recording, which might have been slowing the box down or the HDMI being used. I had to good into Recordings -> Manage to delete recordings that had been deleted from the Recordings section but were still using disk space on the box.

I have deleted 75% of the recordings and Sky engineer switched to a Sky HDMI cable and so far (touch wood) the problem seems to have stopped working.

Re: Live TV Flickering

Chodley — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 06:24:08 GMT

Seems unintuitive a full hard drive would cause it but I don't know - maybe it caches live TV to disk all the time for rewinding and that was being interrupted having to shuffle stuff on disk.

glad it's working

Re: Live TV Flickering

rayraff — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 06:33:18 GMT

I thought it was supposed to auto-delete the oldest recording to free up space, so you never had to go into Manage yourself unless you wanted to undelete something you had deleted. I had deleted a load of stuff from Recordings but it was still there in Manage and the disk was showing 100% full, but we never had any recordings fail.

I agree with you, but it does seem to be "a thing"