Owners of Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series smartphones often encounter an unpleasant visual artifact: photos in the gallery are displayed as blurred spots, losing clarity and detail. This phenomenon can occur suddenly after a system update or develop gradually during the operation of the device.
This behavior doesn't always mean that the display or the matrix is seriously damaged. Most of the time, the root of the problem is software failures in the MIUI or HyperOS shell that are not properly handling the cached images. The zoom algorithm can fail, creating the illusion of poor quality images.
This defect is not to be ignored, as it significantly reduces the usability of multimedia functions. Below we will discuss in detail the technical causes of blurring and provide a step-by-step algorithm for returning clarity to your images. 80% of the time the problem is solved by cleaning hidden system folders without losing personal data.
Technical reasons for distortion of previews
The primary reason why thumbnails in the gallery have blurred is because the media database overflows or damages. Android creates individual small copies of images, thumbnails, to speed up their display in the list. When that cache gets corrupted, the system starts stretching the microscopic preview to the entire screen, which creates a strong blurring effect.
Also, consider the graphics accelerator: In Redmi Note models with MediaTek processors or older versions of Snapdragon, GPU drivers may misapprove anti-aliasing filters to the interface, which causes the text and icon boundaries to appear soapy and the photos to lose contrast.
Another factor is aggressive energy savings: the system can limit the resources allocated to rendering images in the background to keep the battery power, resulting in previews loading in low resolution and not having time to upgrade to the quality of the original when scrolling the tape.
Cleaning up the cache of thumbnails and gallery data
The most effective way to eliminate artifacts is to force the cleanup of accumulated temporary files, so you need to access application management through system settings, which is safe for your personal photos, since only service data is deleted.
Follow the following steps to reset the cache:
- 📱 Go to the Settings menu and select the App item.
- 🔍 Find the Gallery System App (or Media Storage) in the list).
- 🗑️ Click the Clean button and select Clean the cache and then Clean everything.
- 🔄 Reboot the device to recreate the preview database.
Once rebooted, the system will start to re-scan the memory and generate new thumbnails, a process that can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the number of photos in memory, at which point the phone can heat up, which is the normal processor response to load.
☑️ Data cleanup algorithm
⚠️ Note: When selecting the "Clear All" option in some versions MIUI The settings of the gallery itself (albums, favorites) may be reset, but the photo files themselves will remain in memory.
Setting up the scale and fonts of the system
Often users inadvertently induce blur by changing display parameters for ease of reading. The increased scale of the font or interface elements causes the system to stretch graphic elements, which leads to loss of clarity. In Redmi Note, this is especially noticeable due to the high resolution of the screens.
Check the current display settings. If the scale is set to above the standard, try to return it to normal. Also pay attention to the font size: too large letters can "break" the layout of the gallery interface, shifting the miniature grid.
For accurate calibration, use the engineering menu or standard settings:
- 📏 Go to Settings. → Screen. → Text size and display.
- 🔧 Set the sliders in the middle position or the value of "By default".
- 🎨 Turn off Dark Mode temporarily to check if it is a color conflict.
Hidden DPI settings
Impact of MIUI and HyperOS Updates
Software updates often bring not only new features, but also optimization bugs. After installing a new version of MIUI firmware or switching to HyperOS, there may be a temporary decrease in the performance of the GUI. The system performs file indexing, which loads disk I/O.
If the problem occurs immediately after the update, it is recommended to wait 1-2 hours of active operation of the device, at which time the MediaScanner background processes stop working. If the blur persists longer than a day, the update may have been installed with an error.
The table below shows (frequently asked questions) by firmware version:
| Android version | Shell | Typical problem | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android 11 | MIUI 12.5 | Low cloud previews | Cleaning up the Mi Cloud cache |
| Android 12 | MIUI 13 | Artifacts when scrolling | Disabling GPU acceleration |
| Android 13 | MIUI 14 | Blurring in Portrait mode | Resetting camera settings |
| Android 14 | HyperOS | Gallery interface lags | Update of Google Components |
⚠️ Note: Do not install beta versions of firmware (Weekly builds) on the main device if you are not ready for possible graphics display bugs.
Problems with memory and storage
Internal memory occupancy is critical to media performance, when free space falls below the surface. 10-15%, The operating system cannot efficiently create temporary paging files, which leads to heavy photos being unable to be previewed and displayed in low quality.
In addition, memory wear such as eMMC or UFS in older Redmi Note models can cause read errors, memory sectors where thumbnails are stored can be damaged, and you can check the state of the storage through the diagnostic menu.
It is recommended to follow the following steps to optimize:
- 🗑️ Remove unnecessary videos and duplicate photos, freeing up a minimum 3-5 GB.
- 📂 Transfer the archived photos to SD-map or cloud storage.
- 🧹 Use the built-in Cleanup tool in the "Security" application".
💡
Use Google’s Files app instead of the standard Explorer to analyze your space more deeply and search for heavy forgotten files.
Hardware factors and display
We can't rule out the physical wear of components. On Redmi Note models with IPS-matrixes, the backlights can burn out over time or the contact of the plume is broken. If blurring is observed not only in the gallery, but also in the menu, games and the uniformly browser, it is likely that it is the display.
It's also worth checking the security glass. Cheap hydrogel or glass films of poor quality can have their own refractive index, which makes the picture soapy. Take the protection off and evaluate the clarity of the image directly.
For diagnosis, perform the test:
##64663##Type this command into the dialer to get into the engineering menu. Select the LCD or Display test. If the test image shows artifacts, stripes, or uneven brightness, you need to replace the screen module.
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If the blur disappears when you connect your phone to your TV via HDMI or in screenshots on another device, the problem is precisely in the physical matrix of your smartphone.