How to remove background dimming on Xiaomi: causes and solutions

The gray dimming of the screen on Xiaomi smartphones is a common problem that users face after updating MIUI or changing system settings. The screen seems to be covered with a translucent veil, contrast decreases, and colors become faded. In most cases, this is not a hardware malfunction, but a software failure that can be fixed without going to the service center.

The reasons for dimming range from power saving mode on to graphics driver errors. In this article, we'll look at all possible solutions, from basic checks to deep system settings. Importantly, some methods require developer or ADB rights, so only proceed if the standard options don't work.

Why is the screen blackout on Xiaomi

The gray filter on a Redmi, POCO, or Mi screen rarely occurs by itself, usually preceded by certain user actions or system failures.

• 🔋 Ultra Battery Saver: Activates automatically at a discharge below 5% or manually in battery settings. This forcibly mode reduces the brightness and saturation of the screen.
• 🌓 Night mode/Vision protection: if the settings are too aggressive blue light filter (temperature) 2000K-3000K), The screen may appear gray.
• 🛠️ Graphics driver error: after the update MIUI or core systems possible display artifacts, including dimming.
• 📱 Hardware limitations: on some models (e.g. Redmi Note 8 Pro with Mediatek Helio processor) G90T) Problems with color reproduction due to the features of the chipset.
• 🔄 Resetting: After resetting to factory settings, screen calibrations may be lost, especially if manual color settings were previously used.

Before proceeding with the correction, check whether the darkening is due to physical damage to the matrix.

1. Restart your phone in Safe Mode (press the power button → long tap on "Switch off" → "Safe Mode").
2. If there is no blackout in safe mode, the problem is in the software or applications.
3. If the dimming remains - a malfunction of the screen plume or matrix is possible (diagnosis is required).

Method 1: Disconnecting the energy saving mode

The most common cause of dimming is activated Ultra Battery Saver or standard power saving mode. In MIUI, these features not only limit the background activity of applications, but also forcibly reduce the brightness of the screen by adding a gray filter.

To disable:

1. Open the Settings. → Battery.
2. Use the Ultra Battery Saver (or Ultra Battery Saver) mode.
3. Choose Off or No Limits (depending on the MIUI version).
4. Restart the device - changes will apply after the reboot.

If the Ultra Battery Saver item is not on the menu, check:

• 🔍 Section Settings → Special facilities → Improved visibility (sometimes the regime lurks there).
• 🔍 Quick Settings Panel (swipe down from the top edge of the screen) – Battery and Snowflake icon.

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO F3) Ultra Battery Saver is activated automatically when connected to a low-current charge (e.g. from a power bank). If the dimming only occurs during charging, check the power supply.

Method 2: Configure night mode and protect vision

The Vision Protection (or Night Light) function MIUI It can create a gray film effect if the color temperature is set to a minimum. AMOLED-screens where the colors are less saturated.

How to disable or configure:

1. Go to Settings → Screen → Vision Protection (or Night Mode).
2. Turn off the slider on or move the temperature controller closer to 5000K (neutral white).
3. Check the schedule: if the mode is turned on by time, reset the settings or turn off automatic on.

Some firmware (e.g. MIUI 13 for Redmi Note 10 Pro) have a separate text contrast setting in the Special Features section. If it is activated, the screen will appear dim.

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If the screen is still gray after you turn off the Vision Protection, try manually setting the color temperature to a maximum of 6500K, then return to 5000K. This resets the graphics driver cache.

Method 3: Reset screen settings via engineering menu

If standard methods didn’t work, the problem could be the wrong screen calibrations. Xiaomi has a hidden engineering menu where you can reset the display settings, which only works on Qualcomm (Snapdragon) processor devices.

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app and enter the combination: ##36446337###
2. Select Display Test → Color Test.
3. Scroll down to Reset Color Settings and confirm the reset.
4. Reboot the phone.

For devices on Mediatek (e.g. Redmi 9A, POCO M3), the engineering menu opens with a different combination:

##4636##

Go to Testing → Display and perform the calibration.

⚠️ Warning: Do not change other options in the engineering menu unless you are sure of their purpose. Incorrect settings can lead to loss of touchscreen sensitivity or incorrect display of colors.

Method 4: Correction through ADB (for advanced users)

If the dimming is caused by a malfunction of the SurfaceFlinger (Graphic Composer of Android), it can be reset via ADB. This method requires connecting the phone to a PC and enabling developer rights.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Debugging. USB: Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (Tap 7 times until the notification "You became a developer" appears. → Additionally. → For developers → Debugging by USB.
2. Connect your phone to your PC, install Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools drivers.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or the terminal (macOS/Linux) Enter: adb shell settings put system screen_brightness_mode 0 adb shell settings put system screen_brightness 204 It'll reset the brightness settings.
4. To reset the color profile, do: adb shell settings delete global night_display_color_temperature
5. Reset the device.

If the problem is in the graphics driver, try restarting the SurfaceFlinger:

adb shell su -c "stop surfaceflinger; start surfaceflinger"

Note

root-right

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ADB-commands are the most effective way to do this if the dimming is caused by a software failure, but improper use can cause the system to run in an unstable way. Always back up before changing system settings.

Method 5: Update or roll back firmware

Some versions of MIUI (especially MIUI 12.5 and MIUI 13) have display bugs that are only patched with the update.

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → System update.
2. If you have an update, install it, preferably via Wi-Fi, to avoid interrupting the download.
3. After the update, perform a cache reset: Settings → Additional → Recovery and Reset → Clear the cache.

If the dimming appears after the update, try to roll back to the previous version of MIUI.

• 📥 Download the necessary firmware from the official website of Xiaomi Firmware.
• 🔧 Use the Mi Flash Tool (for PC) or Update via Recovery (for power users).
• ⚠️ Before rolling back the data – the process erases all user files.

Nana POCO-sometimes helps switching to global firmware (if there was a regional ROM). For that:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the Mi Unlock Tool.
2. Install Global ROM firmware via Fastboot.

Hardware causes of blackout and what to do

If none of the software methods worked, the problem could be a physical malfunction.

• 🔌 Screen plume damage: When dropped or pressed hard, the plume can move away or deform, leading to display artifacts.
• 💡 Failure of illumination: on AMOLED-screens over time degrade LEDs, which causes a gray plaque.
• 🔋 Screen power controller malfunction: If dimming is amplified by low battery charge, the problem may be in the matrix power circuit.
• 🌡️ Overheating: with prolonged load (games, video editing), the screen may dim due to thermal throttling.

How to diagnose a hardware malfunction:

1. Connect your phone to an external monitor via USB-C → HDMI. If there is no dimming on the external screen, the problem is in the smartphone matrix.
2. Check the screen for pressure: gently press different parts of the display. If you press the dimming changes, the plume is to blame.
3. Run the matrix test through the engineering menu (#36446337## → Display Test). If the test shows artifacts, you need to change the screen.

⚠️ Warning: If the blackout is accompanied by screen flickering, stripes or self-reboots, do not attempt to repair the device yourself. This may be a short circuit in the matrix power supply, which will lead to the complete failure of the phone.

FAQ: Frequent questions about screen dimming on Xiaomi