Weird bug causes NVIDIA SHIELD TV to make 4K Vizio M-series screens flicker

Don’t look now, but there’s a nasty bug with the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV that’s ruining the viewing experiences of many-a Vizio owner. The issue is that the TV will periodically flicker very quickly as if the HDMI cable is being removed and reinserted.

The issue only seems to affect Vizio’s 4K M-series TVs such as the M43-C1, and specifically in the 4K 60hz HDMI ports, as some have reported that the issue doesn’t happen when the Android TV unit is plugged into a 1080p port.

One user who contacted Vizio support suggested the problem lies with the SHIELD TV in that its refresh rate goes a bit faster than 60hz, something that makes the TV behave unexpectedly.

Thankfully a solution shouldn’t be far off. Many have already contacted NVIDIA, and the company has a record of the bug and will likely be working to fix this one. We’ll be reaching out to NVIDIA to see if they have any ETAs to offer up. In the meantime, you may simply have to use a different HDMI port for your TV-watching needs if this issue is bothering you.