Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a situation where the screen of the device suddenly becomes monochrome. This is not a matrix breakage, but an activated feature of the system, designed to reduce eye strain or help combat digital addiction. The Redmi Note 8 Pro model with the MIUI shell has several ways to switch the color range, and finding the right menu item can take a long time.
Monochrome mode can be switched on either intentionally by the user or accidentally, for example, when you change profiles quickly or activate special features. Understanding where the switch is hiding will allow you to return the brightness of the image in seconds. We will look at all possible options for settings, from standard profiles to hidden functions.
Recovery of color rendering does not require complex manipulation or data reset, just know the exact path in the settings menu. Next, we will discuss in detail each method, starting with the most common, which is found in most cases on Xiaomi devices.
Use of Digital Wellbeing and Concentration
The most likely reason for the black and white image is the activation of the “Sleep” or “Digital Well-Being” mode, a feature introduced in Android that allows users to limit their smartphone use at certain times of the day. In the Redmi Note 8 Pro, this tool is integrated deep into the system and takes priority over other display settings.
To check if the system is blocking color, you need to go to the settings and find the partition associated with the screen or digital balance. Often users forget that they have set an activation schedule, and the phone automatically goes into reading mode in the evening.
Inside the menu, you'll find app usage charts and timers, and that's where the switch that turns the screen gray is hidden, and it's designed to make it less attractive to the brain during rest hours.
If you find an active timer or schedule, you should turn it off or change the time of your work, sometimes it helps to simply log out of your Google account or temporarily shut down the service if the settings are not saved, and it is important to check if the check box on "Sleep Mode" at the top of the screen is not.
⚠️ Warning: If the sleep mode is on schedule, it will activate automatically every day at a given time, even if you manually return the colors.
When the feature is turned off, the screen should immediately turn color, and if it hasn't, it may be another settings section or a third-party app, and it's worth checking if the "Do Not Disturb" mode with special design options is running, although this is less common.
Setting up color profiles and reading mode
The second common reason is that you activate a read mode or a specific color profile, and there's a feature in the MIUI shell that mimics electronic paper that turns the entire interface into shades of gray for comfortable text reading, which is not a bug, but a feature that's easy to turn on and difficult to find without a prompt.
To control these parameters, you need to go to the display menu, and here are all the settings that affect color reproduction, brightness and contrast. Users often accidentally hit the Read Mode switch when trying to change the brightness in the notification curtain or through the settings.
- 📱 Go to Settings. → Screen.
- 👁️ Find the Reading Mode or Eye Safety.
- 🎨 Check the tab Color scheme or Colors.
- 🔄 If you select "Paper" or "Monochrome", switch to "Standard" or "Saturated".
There are several options available in the color scheme section: standard, saturated, warm and automatic. If you choose Paper, all colors on the screen will be replaced by shades of gray. This is a useful feature for people with hypersensitive eyes, but it can be annoying when used in normal use.
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For quick access to read mode, add the switch to the notification curtain through the Control Panel editing menu.
Also worth paying attention to adaptive settings: the system can automatically turn on read mode when you run certain applications, such as a browser or a book reader, check the list of applications for which this feature is activated, and eliminate unnecessary ones.
⚠️ Note: In some versions MIUI Reading mode may override color scheme settings. First, turn off reading mode before changing color profile.
Changing the color scheme requires rebooting some apps to display correctly, so if the menu colors are dim after switching, try closing all running programs and reopening them, which will update the interface's display cache.
Special Opportunities and Monochrome Mode
And deep within the Android system settings, there's a disabled section, and there's a switch that forcibly turns the entire interface into black and white, called Monochrome Mode, for people who are visually impaired or want to drastically reduce their smartphone usage time.
You can get to this section through the general system settings, and the path may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the logic remains the same, and often users come here by accident, trying to zoom in on the font or change the controls.
Inside the special features menu, you have to be careful, and you have tools to control gestures, voice and visual design, and one wrong click can change the view of the screen beyond recognition, scaring the inexperienced user.
- 🔍 Open the Settings. → Advanced settings.
- ♿ Select the Special Opportunities section.
- 👁️ Find the Vision or Improved Visibility tab.
- 🚫 Turn off the Monochrome Mode switch.
If you find the Monochrome Mode switch switch on, just turn it off. Changes apply instantly. If this item is off but the screen remains gray, maybe another tool, like color inversion or high contrast, is active.
☑️ Testing of special facilities
It's worth noting that on the Redmi Note 8 Pro with the Helio G90T, these modes are switched without delay. However, if the system is under load, it can take a couple of seconds to change the settings.
⚠️ Warning: Enabling high contrast mode along with color inversion can create a black and white screen-like effect, but with distorted color rendering.
After making changes to the special features section, it is recommended to check the sensor's performance, sometimes activating these features changes the sensitivity of the touch or the behavior of the on-screen buttons, and make sure that the navigation is working correctly.
Equipment testing and screen diagnostics
If the software settings are fine but the screen remains monochrome, it is worthwhile to conduct a hardware diagnostic. Xiaomi’s engineering menu has a built-in display test that allows you to check the matrix, touchscreen and color channels, which will help to prevent physical failure of the plume or screen controller.
You use a special code to enter the engineering menu, and by entering it in the Phone app, you will have access to a hidden diagnostic interface, and be careful when using other features of this menu, so as not to disrupt important system settings.
In the test mode, you can run a color display check, the screen will be consistently painted in red, green, blue and white, if at some point the colors are not displayed correctly or remain gray, this may indicate a problem with iron.
##6484##Enter this code in the dialer to enter the CIT (Customer Inspection Test). Select the item associated with the display (usually called "Display" or "Screen"). Follow the instructions on the screen to check.
What if there is color in the test and there is no color in the system?
The test results will help you understand whether to carry the phone to the service. If the matrix is good, but the problem persists after the reset, it may be that the plume connecting the board to the screen is damaged, which often happens after falls or moisture.
| Type of test | Description | Normal result | Sign of malfunction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Test | Checking the red channel | Bright red screen | greyish |
| Green Test | Checking the green channel | Bright green screen | Spots or lack of color |
| Blue Test | Blue channel check | Bright blue screen | Flickering or gray |
| White Test | Checking uniformity | White background without spots | Yellow or gray spots |
Do the test with a charged battery, and it can take a few minutes to test, and discharging the device in the middle of the test will prevent the diagnosis from being completed, and if all the tests are successful, the problem is programmatic.
The impact of third-party themes and launchers
MIUI's shell allows you to deeply customize your look through the Themes app. Some third-party themes may contain bugs or have a special monochrome style. If you've recently installed a new theme, it may be that that's where the problem lies.
Third-party launchers downloaded from Play Market can also conflict with the system settings of the display, they intercept desktop control and sometimes impose their color reproduction settings, and checking this version requires a return to standard design.
To eliminate the influence of themes, you need to temporarily switch to classic style, and this can be done through the "Themes" app in the profile section, and returning to the standard theme "Classic" or "Default" will reset all visual changes.
- 🎨 Open the Topics app.
- 👤 Go to the Profile section (human icon).
- 📂 Select the Topic tab.
- ✅ Click on the standard theme and select Apply.
Once you have a standard theme, the phone can reboot, which is normal for the system to change the deep design settings, and if you have returned the colors after you reboot, then the previous theme has been corrupted or incompatible with your version of the software.
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Third-party themes are a common cause of visual glitches, always check if the theme with a non-standard color profile is active before looking for a problem in the system.
If you are using a third-party launcher (Nova, Apex, etc.), try temporarily removing it or disabling it. Run a standard MIUI launcher and check the image. This will help to localize the source of the problem.
Resetting and eliminating system errors
When none of these methods worked, the radical but effective step is to reset the settings. A software failure can block the change in screen settings at the system file level, and a reset will return the phone to factory status by removing all user settings.
Before starting the procedure, make sure to back up your sensitive data.Reset will delete contacts, photos, apps and files if they are not synced with the Mi Cloud or Google Drive cloud. This is a critical step that should not be forgotten.
You can reset through the settings menu. Select About and find the reset button. The system will offer several options: reset only settings or completely delete data. To solve a screen problem, you usually need to reset.
⚠️ Warning: Before reset, make sure that the battery is at least 50%. interruption of the reset process due to discharge may result in the inability to boot the system.
Once reset, the phone will start as new, you'll need to reset the original setup, so if the screen is colored on the clean system, it means the problem was the accumulated software debris or the settings conflict.
Even if the screen remains black and white after a complete reset, it is likely to indicate a hardware malfunction, in which case an authorized service center is required to replace the display module or plume.