The situation when video or preview in the camera app begins to twitch unpleasantly is familiar to many smartphone owners. This phenomenon, known as flicker or flipper effect, often occurs when shooting indoors under artificial light. The phone screen is covered with horizontal stripes, the image loses smoothness, and colors can pulsate unnaturally. For users of Xiaomi and Redmi, this problem is especially relevant due to the wide range of models and the variety of matrixes used.
The main reason is that the camera sensor refresh rate is out of sync with the AC frequency on the power grid. The fluorescent light bulbs and LEDs flash at a high speed that the human eye does not notice, but the matrix detects. In Android smartphones, a software algorithm is responsible for compensating for this effect. If it is configured incorrectly or malfunctions, the user sees the very same bands on the screen.
Fortunately, in most cases, this is not a sign of hardware breakdown. It is usually enough to set the program parameters correctly in a standard application or third-party utilities. In this article, we will discuss in detail what settings affect picture stability, how to use Pro mode to manually fix the defect, and what to do if standard methods do not help.
Nature of the Flicker Effect and Network Frequency
To effectively combat flickering, you need to understand the physical process of flickering. Artificial light sources are powered by an AC power grid. In Russia and Europe, the standard frequency is 50 Hz, which means 50 cycles of voltage change per second. The lamp light actually turns on and off 100 times per second (two peaks per cycle). The phone camera shoots video at a certain speed, for example, 30 or 60 frames per second.
When the camera frame rate is not synchronized with the flashing frequency of light, interference occurs. The sensor manages to catch light in different phases of its brightness for different lines of the frame. As a result, dark and light bands appear on the image that move or pulsate. In the Xiaomi camera settings, this parameter is often called “Anti-flicker” or “Flicker suppression”.
- 🌍 Regional Standard: 50 Hz is used in Europe and Asia, 60 Hz in the USA and Japan.
- 💡 Type of lighting: Luminescent and cheap LED-Lamps flicker more than halogen or expensive diodes.
- 📱 Role of the software: Algorithms of image processing in MIUI They try to automatically adjust the shutter speed to the network frequency.
Importantly, the current matrices in the flagship Redmi Note and Xiaomi Pro models have better mechanisms to combat this phenomenon. However, in the budget segment or when using third-party applications (Instagram, Snapchat), automation may not work, and this is where the user has to intervene manually.
⚠️ Note: If the flicker is only seen in one particular app (like Telegram) and the standard camera is clean, the problem lies in optimizing the app itself, not in the hardware of the phone.
Setting up the Anti-Flicker option in a standard camera
The first and most logical step to fix the problem is to check the built-in flicker suppression settings. In the MIUI or HyperOS shell, this item is often hidden in the additional menu or depends on the selected shooting mode. By default, the system tries to determine the network frequency itself, but sometimes it requires user assistance.
To access the settings, open the Camera app and click on the three horizontal bars in the upper right corner. From the menu that opens, select Settings. Next, scroll through the list to Professional Settings or Additional Settings. Here you will find Anti-Flicker (or Suppression of Flicker). The options available usually include Auto, 50 Hz, 60 Hz, and Disconnected.
☑️ Algorithm of setting anti-flicker
If you are in Russia, Ukraine or Belarus, the right choice is 50 Hz. Setting a value for “Auto” is not always ideal, as the algorithm can go wrong in mixed lighting. Forced exposure of 50 Hz causes the camera to synchronize shutter speeds with the European grid standard, which removes the stripes in 90% of cases.
It should be noted that in some shooting modes, for example, with HDR activated or in Portrait mode, manual frequency setting may not be available. In such situations, the system relies solely on automatic calculation of the image processor. If the bands are saved, try switching to Video mode with a standard aspect ratio.
Using Pro Mode for Manual Control
When automatic settings don't work, Pro mode comes to the rescue, allowing you to manually control shutter speed, ISO and white balance, which gives you direct control over how the matrix perceives light, and this is the most effective method for static video shooting or taking photos in complex lighting.
In Pro mode, find the shutter speed, denoted by the letter S or T. To remove flicker, shutter speed should be a multiple of the current fluctuation period in the network. For a 50 Hz network, the period is 0.02 seconds. Therefore, the ideal shutter speed is 1/50, 1/100, 1/200 seconds. If you set the shutter speed 1/60 or 1/30, the bands can appear again.
| Parameter | Recommended value (50 Hz) | Impact on the image |
|---|---|---|
| Excerpt (S) | 1/50, 1/100, 1/200 | Synchronization with network frequency removes bandwidth |
| ISO | Minimum possible | Reduces digital noise but requires more light |
| White balance (WB) | Handheld (light bulb icon) | Remove the color from the lamps |
Also in Pro mode, you should pay attention to white balance. Sometimes flickering manifests itself as color distortions. Put the WB in manual mode and move the temperature sliders until the colors are natural.
Why not put the shutter speed 1/60 in Russia?
The problem of flickering in social networks and messengers
A separate and very common problem is flickering when recording videos through Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp or Telegram cameras, which often ignore Xiaomi’s camera system settings and use its own image capture algorithms, and can force a 60 FPS frame rate or fixed shutter speed that is incompatible with your lighting.
In these cases, standard phone settings may not help. Some apps have their own hidden settings that are restricted. However, there is a universal method that often helps on Android. In the settings of the app itself (if any), look for the "Video Quality" or "Resolution" section. Sometimes the drop in quality from 4K to 1080p changes the camera's algorithm and eliminates the flipper.
If there is nothing in the app settings, you can try changing the system refresh rate of the screen, although this affects the smoothness of the interface rather than video capture. A more effective way is to use third-party camera applications, such as Open Camera, which can stream video to social networks through the Connect to URL function or simply shoot high-quality video for later download.
- 📉 Decrease in resolution: Switching from 4K FullHD can activate another processing pipeline.
- 🔌 Third-party cameras: Apps like Open Camera are tightly bound to network frequency.
- 🔄 Update of the application: In new versions of Instagram often fix bugs with specific models of smartphones.
⚠️ Note: When using third-party cameras to record on social networks, make sure that you give the application all the necessary permissions to use the microphone and storage, otherwise the video will be recorded without sound or will not save.
Hardware causes and the effect of protective glasses
Software isn't always to blame. There are a number of physical factors that can cause or amplify the flickering effect on Redmi phones. One of the most common and subtle factors is the protective glass or the film on the camera. Cheap glasses can have their own structure or shine in a certain way, creating optical interference with the light source.
Try to gently wipe the camera lens with a microfiber. Fat spots can scatter light from the lamps, creating halos that noise-cancellation algorithms perceive as flickering. If the phone has a thick security glass over the camera block, try temporarily removing it and checking if the problem disappears.
Also worth mentioning is the state of the matrix plume: in phones that have been dropped, the contact of the camera plume with the motherboard may be disrupted. This can lead to image artifacts that the user confuses with flickering. If the stripes are of a strange color (pink, green) and are not dependent on lighting, it is more a sign of hardware damage.
💡
Use the Xiaomi Equipment Test app to check the camera sensor without third-party filters. Dial code for entry: ##6484###.
When Removal or Repair Is Needed
If neither the anti-flicker setting, nor the Pro mode, nor the app change helped, there may have been a software failure in the camera module or drivers, in which case the effective solution may be to reset the camera settings to factory settings, which will return all parameters, including hidden ones, to the original state.
To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Camera → Memory and click “Clear” (or “Reset”). Don’t worry, your photos won’t be deleted, only the settings of the app will be reset, and then the phone will restart and the image processing algorithms will start again.
In extreme cases, when flickering is accompanied by other artifacts (blurring, shifting focus, noise on a black background), it can be a question of failure of the camera module. Constant flickering in all lighting conditions, including bright sunlight, is a sure sign of hardware failure of the sensor, in which case the software methods are powerless, and it will require a replacement of the camera module in the service center.