Using settings. Choose a topic or search for a problem, such as bigger text or no sound. Old setting names still work in search. Each setting is one line with its value at the end: a switch changes straight away, and a value with › opens a list with your choice marked. Changes save automatically. Less common settings are folded into a group at the bottom of each page; search opens it for you. For easier reading across the app, open Look & feel › App text & layout size. TV guide › Guide text size changes only the guide. Chapter 19 explains how every page works.
Three topics in the Watching TV group cover how content plays: Picture & sound, Subtitles and While watching. Most people never need to leave the defaults; these are what to reach for when something specific is wrong, and the more technical ones are folded at the bottom of each page, under names such as Fix picture problems.
53
Video Free some Essentials
Path: Settings › Picture & sound › Picture · Fix picture problems
How
- Video quality caps resolution; Picture shape & zoom sets the default picture shape, including the Crop choices that cut off black bars built into the picture.
- Automatic Use less data preserves full quality on a healthy link and steps down only after repeated stalls. Always on forces the lowest available variant.
- Video decoder, in the folded Fix picture problems group, chooses Hardware (recommended), Android software decoder, or TiviGlass decoder (the bundled FFmpeg engine). This choice belongs to the device you set it on and is not copied to your other devices by cloud sync. If a hardware decoder crashes TiviGlass, that format is decoded in software on this device for a while, then hardware is tried again. That lasts a week after a crash TiviGlass can prove was the decoder, and up to 72 hours if it closes the same unexplained way twice in a short time, and a week again if it happens soon after that ends. The troubleshooting row App exits on HEVC channels or shows explains how it decides.
- Match TV frame rate switches your TV to the channel’s frame rate, so films and sport move more smoothly. It is Off by default, and the update that made Off the default turned it Off once on every TV, including TVs where you had turned it on. To use it, turn it on here on each TV you want it on. It belongs to the TV you set it on: cloud sync and backups do not copy it to your other TVs, and Reset settings to defaults turns it Off again. A new TV set up by copying from an old one may start with the old TV’s choice. It is part of Advanced playback, so it needs Essentials or Premium. On older TVs and boxes, TiviGlass keeps the current refresh rate when it already matches the channel, and favours a higher matching rate when a change is needed so the controls stay smooth. Pausing playback does not make it change the display. Some TVs go black for a second during a switch, and on some boxes live channels stop and start. If that happens, turn it off here. Only full screen playback changes your TV’s frame rate; the guide preview never does.
- Dolby Vision, in the same group, offers Prefer HEVC / HDR10 for when a Dolby Vision picture looks wrong.
- Playback learning, in the same group, is On by default. While it is on, this TV remembers the fixes it found after playback problems and starts with them next time. Turn it Off to start every channel on its normal settings. The fixes it already found are kept, and come back if you turn it on again. Protection after a decoder crash stays on either way. The change applies from the next channel you open. It belongs to this TV only, cloud sync does not copy it, and Reset settings to defaults turns it back On.
- Reset playback learning, in the same group, clears the fixes this TV taught itself, so hardware decoding is tried again. Protection that switched a video type to software for a week after a crash is kept until it ends, and the message after the reset says the date it ends. If you gave any channel, film or episode its own video decoder from More in the player, TiviGlass then asks Clear decoder choices too? Clear them puts those items back on the Video decoder set on this page. Keep them or Back leaves them as they are. Only the profile you are using is changed, and every other setting you gave those items is kept. The reset applies from the next channel you open.
- Everything here is the default. Any one channel, film, episode or recording can be given its own picture shape, audio delay, decoder or external player from the player menu → This channel.
Good to know
Change the decoder only if a channel won’t play. For supported H.264 and HEVC streams, choosing TiviGlass decoder keeps that software engine selected even when playback learning or recovery requires software decoding. The TiviGlass decoder can decode streams the hardware refuses, but it works the processor hard — and if only one channel needs it, set it on that channel from the player menu instead of here, so the rest of your channels keep the faster hardware decoder.
The TiviGlass decoder prefers HD. Above 1080p it steps aside: a 4K channel is tried on your box’s own hardware decoder first, even when that decoder says 4K is beyond it, rather than quietly handing the picture to a software engine that cannot keep up. If you chose TiviGlass decoder yourself, 4K still plays on the TiviGlass decoder, and where a stream comes in several qualities it prefers one at 1080p or below. If TiviGlass has learned to avoid the hardware decoder for that format, 4K still plays in software: on your box’s own Android software decoder where it has one, otherwise on the TiviGlass decoder. Nothing changes at 1080p and below.
Per-item settings stay on this device: a decoder or an audio delay describes this box and this speaker setup, so copying them to your other TVs would cause the very problem they were set to fix. Each one shows Default until you change it, and Reset this channel puts it back.
If a channel plays but stutters, and it plays cleanly in another app on the same box, try Reset playback learning. It is in the folded Fix picture problems group on this page. TiviGlass remembers when a channel failed to decode and quietly uses the slower software decoder for that format afterwards. That is usually right, but it can stick on a box that is perfectly capable, and software decoding works the processor hard enough to make the picture judder. Resetting clears what it learned so the hardware decoder is tried again. It takes effect on the next channel you open, not on the one playing now. It keeps protection that switched a video type to software for a week after a crash, which ends by itself on its date. Find and fix a problem (how-to 65) will tell you whether this is happening: look for Software decoding forced, which says whether your box has a working hardware decoder for the format it has been avoiding. When that software decoding is crash protection, the line names the format and the date it ends instead, and there is nothing you need to do. If you would rather this TV started every channel on its normal settings, turn Playback learning Off in the same group.
A few formats depend on your equipment rather than on TiviGlass, and no setting changes them. Dolby TrueHD needs a receiver or soundbar that accepts it directly — unlike Dolby Digital and DTS, there is no way for TiviGlass to decode it in software, so on a TV’s own speakers a TrueHD track cannot play and TiviGlass will say so rather than fall silent. Dolby Vision on a screen that does not support it plays the HDR10 layer of the same picture. AV1 needs Android 10 or newer. MPEG-2, which older European standard-definition channels still use, plays on TV boxes but is missing from most phones and tablets.
The TiviGlass decoder prefers HD. Above 1080p it steps aside: a 4K channel is tried on your box’s own hardware decoder first, even when that decoder says 4K is beyond it, rather than quietly handing the picture to a software engine that cannot keep up. If you chose TiviGlass decoder yourself, 4K still plays on the TiviGlass decoder, and where a stream comes in several qualities it prefers one at 1080p or below. If TiviGlass has learned to avoid the hardware decoder for that format, 4K still plays in software: on your box’s own Android software decoder where it has one, otherwise on the TiviGlass decoder. Nothing changes at 1080p and below.
Per-item settings stay on this device: a decoder or an audio delay describes this box and this speaker setup, so copying them to your other TVs would cause the very problem they were set to fix. Each one shows Default until you change it, and Reset this channel puts it back.
If a channel plays but stutters, and it plays cleanly in another app on the same box, try Reset playback learning. It is in the folded Fix picture problems group on this page. TiviGlass remembers when a channel failed to decode and quietly uses the slower software decoder for that format afterwards. That is usually right, but it can stick on a box that is perfectly capable, and software decoding works the processor hard enough to make the picture judder. Resetting clears what it learned so the hardware decoder is tried again. It takes effect on the next channel you open, not on the one playing now. It keeps protection that switched a video type to software for a week after a crash, which ends by itself on its date. Find and fix a problem (how-to 65) will tell you whether this is happening: look for Software decoding forced, which says whether your box has a working hardware decoder for the format it has been avoiding. When that software decoding is crash protection, the line names the format and the date it ends instead, and there is nothing you need to do. If you would rather this TV started every channel on its normal settings, turn Playback learning Off in the same group.
A few formats depend on your equipment rather than on TiviGlass, and no setting changes them. Dolby TrueHD needs a receiver or soundbar that accepts it directly — unlike Dolby Digital and DTS, there is no way for TiviGlass to decode it in software, so on a TV’s own speakers a TrueHD track cannot play and TiviGlass will say so rather than fall silent. Dolby Vision on a screen that does not support it plays the HDR10 layer of the same picture. AV1 needs Android 10 or newer. MPEG-2, which older European standard-definition channels still use, plays on TV boxes but is missing from most phones and tablets.
54
Audio Free some Essentials
Path: Settings › Picture & sound › Sound · Fix sound problems
How
- Default audio language picks your preferred dub automatically.
- Surround sound sends multichannel audio to a receiver or soundbar. Turn it off if your TV or speaker is stereo only.
- Audio passthrough, in the folded Fix sound problems group, chooses how Dolby and DTS soundtracks are sent: Automatic lets your TV or receiver decide, Off, decoded on this box makes TiviGlass decode the sound itself, and Always on sends it untouched even if your equipment says it can’t take it.
- Adjust sound timing fixes lip-sync. Your timing adjustment is reapplied if playback needs to restart its decoder. If it’s only wrong on one channel, set it on that channel from the player menu → This channel rather than here.
- Even out volume and Boost quiet audio even out and lift the sound.
Good to know
Even out volume is the answer to channels that are wildly different volumes. The TV guide preview and the Sports preview use the same Even out volume, Boost quiet audio and Surround sound settings as full screen, so a preview plays at the level you get when you open it. Levelling is available on Android 9 or later and has to decode and process the audio. When Even out volume is on, Automatic passthrough switches to PCM. Always on keeps Dolby/DTS untouched and prevents levelling. A receiver showing Multichannel PCM can still be receiving 5.1; PCM does not mean stereo. If Surround sound is Off, TiviGlass prefers a stereo soundtrack; Stereo PCM is expected when one is selected. Leave Surround sound On to keep a multichannel track while levelling. If live channels play with a picture but no sound — while movies and shows are fine — turn Surround sound off. It means your TV or speaker is stereo only and can’t play the Dolby track those channels carry. Bluetooth speakers are always stereo only.
Surround sound and Audio passthrough are not the same setting. Surround sound chooses which soundtrack to play; passthrough chooses how it’s sent to your equipment. Setting passthrough to Off keeps surround — TiviGlass just decodes it itself instead of handing it over. Passthrough changes apply on the next channel or episode. If your TV or receiver refuses a Dolby or DTS track while passthrough is on Automatic, TiviGlass restarts that channel or episode once with the sound decoded on this box, instead of going silent. The one exception is playback TiviGlass has already moved onto its own sound decoder after an earlier sound fault on this box: there it falls back to stereo first, as before. It does not remember this, so the next channel tries passthrough again.
Surround sound, Audio passthrough, Adjust sound timing and Even out volume belong to this TV. They describe the TV, soundbar or receiver this box is plugged into, and Even out volume changes how this box sends the sound to it, so cloud sync does not copy them to your other devices. Restoring a backup, from the cloud or from a file, does not change them either. Each TV keeps what it had before this update. Set them on each TV.
When Create captions from live speech is on, Automatic passthrough decodes live sound inside TiviGlass so the on-device caption engine can hear it. Always on remains a literal override and can prevent live captions from receiving audio; use Automatic or Off with captions.
Surround sound and Audio passthrough are not the same setting. Surround sound chooses which soundtrack to play; passthrough chooses how it’s sent to your equipment. Setting passthrough to Off keeps surround — TiviGlass just decodes it itself instead of handing it over. Passthrough changes apply on the next channel or episode. If your TV or receiver refuses a Dolby or DTS track while passthrough is on Automatic, TiviGlass restarts that channel or episode once with the sound decoded on this box, instead of going silent. The one exception is playback TiviGlass has already moved onto its own sound decoder after an earlier sound fault on this box: there it falls back to stereo first, as before. It does not remember this, so the next channel tries passthrough again.
Surround sound, Audio passthrough, Adjust sound timing and Even out volume belong to this TV. They describe the TV, soundbar or receiver this box is plugged into, and Even out volume changes how this box sends the sound to it, so cloud sync does not copy them to your other devices. Restoring a backup, from the cloud or from a file, does not change them either. Each TV keeps what it had before this update. Set them on each TV.
When Create captions from live speech is on, Automatic passthrough decodes live sound inside TiviGlass so the on-device caption engine can hear it. Always on remains a literal override and can prevent live captions from receiving audio; use Automatic or Off with captions.
55
Subtitle appearance Free styling Essentials
Path: Settings › Subtitles › Turning subtitles on · Size, look & timing · More subtitle styling
How
- Subtitles on by default and Default subtitle language set the behaviour for every stream.
- Broadcast captions (CC) enables broadcast captions.
- Subtitle text size and Subtitle background box sit under a live preview. Subtitle colour, Subtitle outline & shadow and Subtitle position are folded under More subtitle styling.
- Subtitle delay holds subtitles that come inside the stream back by up to two seconds, for when they run ahead of the speech. It is one-way by design: a subtitle that has not arrived cannot be shown early. Part of Advanced playback. For a subtitle you searched for or loaded yourself, use the free Sync buttons in the player’s Subtitles picker instead — those move either way.
Good to know
Choosing a Default subtitle language turns Subtitles on by default on for you — they are two settings but one intention, and a language on its own would never show you anything. Leave the language on Stream default to take whichever track the stream marks as its own default. Subtitle position lifts subtitles clear of a broadcaster’s on-screen banner. Turning subtitles on and choosing a language is always free; the cosmetic styling is part of Advanced playback, which comes with Essentials and Premium.
A few European channels carry their subtitles as DVB bitmap images rather than text. TiviGlass cannot display those, so they are left out of the subtitle list instead of appearing as a track that does nothing when you pick it. Search subtitles is the way round it.
A few European channels carry their subtitles as DVB bitmap images rather than text. TiviGlass cannot display those, so they are left out of the subtitle list instead of appearing as a track that does nothing when you pick it. Search subtitles is the way round it.
56
Captions when there are none Premium
Path: Settings › Subtitles › Finding subtitles online · Captions from speech
How
- Search online automatically finds and attaches subtitle files without being asked.
- Link an OpenSubtitles account using credentials that work at OpenSubtitles.com, and choose whether to prefer hearing-impaired subtitles. Wait for linking to finish; if it fails, the form stays open with an explanation so you can retry. A service outage is shown separately from rejected credentials. VIP account sessions keep the API host supplied at login for subsequent searches and downloads.
- Create captions from live speech generates captions on the device in real time.
- Download speech languages fetches the languages you need for transcription, and Speech caption language picks the one being spoken. In the list, OK on a language you do not have downloads it. OK on one you have offers Use this language or Delete, so nothing is deleted by a single press.
Good to know
Subtitle search is free — finding a file that already exists is an accessibility feature. Only live transcription is Premium, and it isn’t available on every device: it needs about 1.5 GB of memory and four processor cores. It no longer matters whether your device runs 32-bit or 64-bit software — the speech recogniser now ships for both, so older sticks such as the first-generation Fire TV Stick 4K are judged on memory and cores like everything else. TiviGlass tells you which of these is the reason on the settings row itself rather than simply failing, and nothing else about your Premium plan is affected. Subtitle sites cap how many files you may download per day. If you reach that cap TiviGlass says so plainly, and the count resets after 24 hours; linking your own OpenSubtitles account gives you your own allowance instead of the shared one.
57
Reliability Free some paid
Path: Settings › While watching
How
- Buffer size sets how much video is held ahead of the picture. It does not slow how fast a channel starts, and devices with less memory offer fewer steps because they cannot hold the largest cushion.
- Delay before switching channels, under Changing channels, makes fast channel surfing smooth.
- Reconnect when playback stops, Reconnect attempts and Try another copy of the channel handle dropouts. The two Fusion switches beside them reach copies of the channel on your other TV services (Premium).
- Reduce live TV delay, Pause & rewind live TV, the Sleep timer, Keep screen awake during playback, Picture-in-picture when you press Home and Play video in for an external player complete the page. Merge duplicate channels is now on Channels & groups, and Continue where you stopped and Auto-play next episode on Movies & shows.
Good to know
The external-player choice stays saved if another app cannot accept a particular stream. TiviGlass tells you when it has fallen back to its own player; also check whether Use the other app for is set to movies and shows only or to live TV as well. Reset playback learning (Picture & sound › Fix picture problems) undoes the automatic codec workarounds TiviGlass has applied for your device — use it if playback got worse after a system update, then let it relearn. Protection that switched a video type to software for a week after a crash stays until its end date.