Loss of Audio When an External Streaming Device Powers Off (and How to Fix It)
DSID Admin
Last Update hace 2 meses
When using your Brightsign device connected to an external streaming device (such as a Fire TV Stick, Roku, or Apple TV) via HDMI passthrough, you may encounter a situation where audio suddenly stops working. This issue typically occurs after the streaming device is powered off or enters sleep mode.
Why This Happens: HDMI Handshake Explained
This issue is related to something called the HDMI handshake — a process where devices connected via HDMI communicate and agree on video and audio settings (resolution, audio formats, HDCP, etc.).
When your external streaming device powers off or sleeps, it stops sending a valid HDMI signal. As a result:
The BrightSign player may lose audio sync or fall back to an invalid audio state.
Once this happens, restarting the streaming device alone is not enough to recover audio on the BrightSign player.
How to Restore Audio
To recover the audio when using passthrough:
Power on or wake up the external streaming device by hitting the home/menu button on the remote.
Reboot the BrightSign player (you can do this by pressing the reset button on the device itself or via your LoopOS account under Locations).
Once both devices are on and active, the HDMI handshake is re-established properly, and audio should return.
⚠️ Important: Make sure both devices are powered on before rebooting the BrightSign player, or the handshake may still fail.
Suggestions for Ensuring Constant Audio
Several streaming devices can be configured to never power down or fall asleep. This saves you having to reboot the Brightsign device to re-establish the HDMI handshake. These include:
| Device | Native "Never Off" Option | Workarounds |
| AppleTV | ✅ Yes | N/A |
| Nvidia Shield | ✅ Yes | N/A |
| FireTV | ❌ No | ⚠️ Complicated |
| Roku | ❌ No | ⚠️ Limited |
| Chromecast | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Devices You Can Configure to Never Turn Off
Can it stay on indefinitely? Yes, with settings adjustment.
How:
Go to Settings > General > Sleep After
Set to Never
Note: Still consumes power and can get warm.
Can it stay on indefinitely? Yes, more configurable than others.
How:
Go to Settings > Device Preferences > Screen saver and set “When to start” to Never.
Go to Power > Sleep and select Never.
Can it stay on indefinitely? Mostly — with screen saver and energy-saving tweaks.
How:
Go to Settings > System > Power & energy and disable energy-saving options
Set screen saver (Ambient Mode) to never sleep or show images constantly.
Note: Still may go idle after long inactivity unless tricked with an app or periodic wake commands.
Can it stay on indefinitely? Sort of. Most Roku models automatically go into low-power mode after 20 minutes of inactivity.
Workarounds:
Disable "Auto Power Savings" under Settings > System > Power
Keep a looping video or app running (like a weather feed).
- Note: Roku will still force sleep after long periods of time (several hours).