A sudden change in the color rendering of your smartphone’s display can cause panic, especially if you haven’t changed any settings. Xiaomi Redmi 9 users often face a situation where a bright and saturated screen turns into a monochrome, reminiscent of the pages of an old newspaper. This phenomenon does not always indicate a matrix breakdown or hardware failure, although it looks frightening to the inexperienced owner.
In most cases, the problem lies in a randomly activated feature designed to protect vision or save battery power. The MIUI system on which your gadget runs offers many personalization tools, and one of them could have been turned on by negligence. Understanding which option caused this effect will allow you to quickly return to your usual picture.
In this guide, we will go into detail all the possible causes of black and white images on Redmi 9.We will look at standard system settings, specialized eye modes and hidden features for developers.
Main reason: Electronic ink regime
The most common reason Xiaomi Redmi 9’s screen turns black and white is to activate the “Electronic Ink” feature, which was originally designed to simulate paper when reading texts, reducing eye strain and reducing display power consumption, but it can turn on by accident if you hit the appropriate item in the notification curtain or quick settings menu.
To check and disable this option, you need to go to the main settings menu of your smartphone. Find the section responsible for display and brightness, because this is where the basic color reproduction parameters are hidden. In some versions of MIUI firmware, this item may be called a little differently, but the logic remains the same.
Inside the screen settings menu, look for "Read Mode" or "Electronic Ink." If the switch is active, the system forcibly removes all colors, leaving only shades of gray. Disabling this feature will instantly return color saturation, and your Redmi 9 will again be happy with a bright picture.
⚠️ Note: Do not confuse the "Electronic Ink" mode with the usual read mode, which only adds a yellow filter. The black and white screen is exactly the function of Electronic Ink, which completely desaturates the image.
You can use a search by settings to make it more detailed, and type the word "ink" or "reading" in the settings search bar to quickly find the switch, which is especially useful if you've updated your firmware and changed the menu interface.
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If you often accidentally turn on this mode, remove the E-Ink icon from the Quick Settings panel to avoid a repeat of the situation.
Digital balance and sleep patterns
The second most popular reason for the monochrome display on the Xiaomi Redmi 9 is the Digital Wellbeing feature, which is designed to control screen time and help users less distracted by their smartphone in the evening. One of the tools of this feature is Sleep Mode, which translates the interface into grayscale, making phone use less attractive to the brain.
If your screen turns black and white at a certain time of day or after setting a timer, it's likely that this mechanism is activated, and you can check this through the settings of the Digital Balance app itself. Often users set the schedule themselves, forgetting about it, and then can't understand why the colors are missing.
To turn off, you need to find the Digital Balance section in the settings and go to the Sleep Mode section, where you will see the function’s schedule and the possibility of its complete deactivation, and check the screen time settings, which may be a restriction on the use of applications, accompanied by a change in color reproduction.
- 🌙 Sleep mode automatically turns on a black and white filter on schedule to improve sleep hygiene.
- 📉 Restricting apps can force you to change colors for specific programs you choose to control.
- ⏰ Focus timers are also able to run monochrome mode for a given period of time.
Importantly, Digital Wellbeing takes precedence over the usual display settings, and even if you set up a bright theme, sleep will override it, so if you want to use your phone in full color at night, you'll have to manually turn it off or adjust your schedule.
Setting up special capabilities
Android and MIUI provide a wide range of tools for visually impaired people, including color correction features that can be activated incorrectly, and if previous methods have failed, you should check out the special features section, where deep display settings are hidden.
In the Advanced Settings or Advanced Settings menu, look for the Special Features section, which is about vision or display. In some versions of the firmware for Redmi 9, there is a separate option, Color Correction or Color Filter. If it is on, the screen can only display one color channel or operate in reverse monochrome mode.
Also worth paying attention to is the Contrast Improver feature, which, while it doesn't always make the screen completely black and white, when combined with other settings, can produce an unexpected visual effect that the user perceives as a loss of color.
| Function | Location on the menu | Screen impact |
|---|---|---|
| Color filter | Special Opportunities → Vision | Full Color Removal (Grayscale) |
| Color inversion | Special Opportunities → Vision | Negative image (white turns black) |
| High contrast | Special Opportunities → Vision | Strengthening of borders, possible loss of semitones |
| Extension of text | Special Opportunities → Vision | It does not affect color, but changes the scale. |
If you find a color filter option turned on, simply turn the switch to the off position. The changes take effect immediately. In case the special features menu is locked or hidden, you may need to reset the special features settings to factory values.
☑️ Testing of special facilities
Developer Mode and Debugging by USB
For advanced users who have ever enabled a developer mode on their Xiaomi Redmi 9, there is another potential source of problem: The hidden developer menu has a monochrome space simulation feature built to test application interfaces, but can be activated by accident.
To check this option, you need to re-enter the Developer menu, and if you don't know how to get there, you need to click on the build number several times in the About Phone section. Inside the developer menu, you should scroll down to the Hardware Acceleration or Monitor section.
Find Simulate color space, if you select "Total monochrome" or the like, the screen will remain black and white regardless of the other settings, and you must select "Disabled" to choose.
⚠️ Warning: Be careful in the developer menu. Changing unknown parameters can lead to unstable system operation. MIUI or failures in the operation of individual applications.
In addition, the same menu may have a "High Text Contrast Mode" option that also affects image perception. Although it often changes the background to black, in some design themes it can look like a loss of color. Make sure all experimental features are turned off.
How to hide the developer menu?
Problems with the theme and lock screen
Sometimes the problem is not with system settings, but with third-party personalization elements. Redmi 9 users often install themes from MIUI Themes store, which may have their own color display rules. Some themes, especially minimalist or "paper", force black and white gamut for all interface elements.
Check which theme is currently active. If you recently installed a new design and the screen became monochrome immediately after that, the reason is obvious. Try switching to the standard theme "Classic" or "Default" to see if the problem will go away.
Also worth paying attention to is the lock screen: Some "super wallpaper" or complex lock screens may have a static black and white style that extends to the desktop when unlocked, and changing the wallpaper to a standard color image often resolves the issue.
- 🎨 Third-party themes may contain scripts that change the system color palette.
- 🔒 The lock screen with sleep design sometimes dictates the style for the entire interface.
- 📱 Low quality desktop wallpaper or specific style can create the illusion of a faded screen.
If the colors are not returned after returning to the standard theme, the theme file may have been damaged during the download, in which case it is recommended to clear the theme app cache through the storage settings or completely delete the problematic design file.
Resetting and hardware malfunctions
If none of the software methods helped to return color to the screen Xiaomi Redmi 9, it remains to resort to more radical measures.
Before performing this procedure, be sure to back up all important data, as the process will completely clear the internal memory of the smartphone. After reset, the phone will return to the “out of the box” state, and any software conflicts of settings will be eliminated.
However, even if the screen remains black and white after a complete reset and setup as a new device, there is a high probability of hardware failure, this can be damage to the display plume, problems with the screen power controller or the matrix itself after falling or getting moisture.
If you suspect a “iron” self-repair is not recommended, as you can damage other components, it is better to contact an authorized service center Xiaomi for diagnostics, wizards will be able to determine exactly whether you need a replacement of the display module or repair board.
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If the resetting of the settings did not help, the problem is of a hardware nature and requires the intervention of specialists of the service center.