How is the Quality of Xiaomi TV (MiTV)?

 1 November 2018

How is the Quality of Xiaomi TV (MiTV)? 

This question must have been asked thousand times because Xiaomi TV (MiTV) is always a talk in Town.   MiTV has undergone several quick successions and is regularly upgrading its operating system.  So far,  Xiaomi introduced 5 models for MiTV4 series in just  1.5 years.   The quality of MiTV has also improved over the years. 

How Do We Compare the TV Quality?

Besides comparing the picture qualities and performance in regard to user friendliness,  speed and responses of the TV,  one should also compare the quality and design of the component boards and its layouts of the various components inside the TV.  For example,  what's quality of the components  used and who supplied them etc.  The quality of components will affect the TV’s operation and reliability.   This article will concentrate on the layouts and the designs of MiTV4 series and discuss about the problems and complaints found in the TV.

How Xiaomi Manufactures its TVs?

Xiaomi actually don’t manufacture but produce its TV by buying the various component boards and assemble them either in their own factories or factories appointed by them.   They source their LCD panels either from Samsung,  LG or other Chinese LED panel manufacturers.  Their component boards such as power supply and main board came from various other suppliers in China or elsewhere in other parts of the World.  The Xioami TV sold in India and Indonesia are sold with dual OS,  a patchwall as well as a Android TV OS. 

The Various Models of Xiaomi TV

MiTV1

MiTV1 was first introduced around Sept 2013.  Then a 49” TV would cost around CNY3,000.   The major components were most likely designed and manufactured by themselves and one could see the quality was not as good as today's TV.  Wirings were done using hard wirings and quite a lot of the discrete electronic components were used.

MiTV 2

Xiaomi started selling MiTV1 around June  2014.  The same size TV was upgraded with components supplied from various component suppliers.  Great improvement could be readily seen.  Hard wirings have been changed to ribbon wirings;  components were neatly arranged with plenty of working space.  More reliable electronic components were used.

MiTV3

MiTV3 was first introduced in Oct 2015 with a 60” model.  It also has a 3S model with a curved screen.  Other smaller TV less than 60" were introduced later in the year.   The component’s  quality was as good if not better than MiTV2

a)  Better PCB layout and better design and powerful power supply

Better imported component were being used

More surface mounted components and lesser discrete components were used.

MiTV4

MiTV4A was first sold around March 2017.   The MiTV4,   spotted with World's thinnest screen,  was  then exhibited in CES (Consumer Electronics Show).   It won an award for the design.  Subsequently,  4C,  4S and 4X were introduced in 2018 with some variations in the casing designs;  otherwise,  the TV are basically the same.

Again,  good quality components were used in all the boards except more Chinese made components were being used.

The mainboard design is more complex incorporating all the input and output device all in one main board as shown attached

MiTV4 used similar power supply board as in MiTV3.  It came from same component manufacturer near Shanghai.

Picture Quality

It is understandable that most users are more concerned about the picture or video quality of MITV.

MITV4 mostly uses LED panels from 3 sources,  Samsung,  LG or CSOC ( Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd).  The LED panel nowadays comes together with factory built-in "logic display board or T-Con" to ensure picture quality.  As for the CPU (Cortex A53) and other components,  they are quite commonly used also in other branded TV.

As a budget TV,  MiTV4 often use TN LED panels as they are cheaper in price with acceptable quality.  Though the picture or video produced by TN LED panel is not as rich as VA or IPS LED panels used in many other branded TV such as Sony or Panasonic,  they are better in other aspects such as the better response time,  making them better for games because they have less picture lags.  Some MiTV,  such as MiTV3S,  also use VA or IPS LED panels,  comparable to the better and more expensive brands.

Here is a raw display of picture quality of MiTV as compare to SamSung TV

What are the common faults in MiTV4 Series?

The common faults in MiTV4 are usually software related in which the operating system is either not working properly.  The fault could be due to memory clogs or due to “glitches” caused during automatic downloading and upgrading.  The operating system were always downloaded automatically be default and many versions were introduced.  

Sometimes,  the TV can get freezed up or just re-start all by itself.  This is especially true when the operating system came across movies or sound system that have different formats not compatible with the defaulted MiPlayer,  The workaround was either to restart or do a factory reset, then use other players.

Here are some of the complaints,  also commonly found in other brands except some are peculiar to the 9mm thick MiTV due to its special backlight designs  

1.  TV has picture but no sound 

Usually,  this is caused by the movie's sound system not compatible with MiTV’s defaulted music  player.  MiTV’s defaulted music  system can play only aac and AC-3 sound system in 4K movies.  It would not produce any sound in other format.   The workaround is to download and install MXPlayer from Aptiode TV.

2.  TV has no picture but got sound

There are many reasons;  but the common ones are caused by faulty LED backlights.   In some events,  it also damage the Power Supply Board.   In that case,  one would need to replace the fault LED but also the Power supply Board.   This can also occur in other makes as most Chinese made TVs use either LG or Samsung Panels which have this kind of technical problem.   To prolong the life of the LED backlights and also the TV,  the recommended practise is to lower the brightness of the TV or install fans to cool down the LED panels.

3.  TV’s bottom very warm (only in MiTV4)

This is caused by LED backlight which is located at the bottom of the TV panel. The heat can be as high as 50^oC in warm weathers.  The solution is to turn down the brightness or install fans at the bottom of the panel

4.  TV screen curved (only in MiTV4 especially those above 55”)

This is known to have caused also by heating problem,  especially when the LED backlights are operating at very high brightness.   So far,  there were few reports about damages due to curved screens

5.   Other Operational Problems

Note:   Some of these problems found in MiTV are also commonly found in other Chinese made TV or even in more expensive branded TV because of licensing requirements

a)  MiTV from China are in Chinese

This is not a problem as there is a software or APK one can use to automatically convert the language from Chinese to English except some essentials not included in the APK's dictionary will still be Chinese.

b)  MiTV Cannot Sign Into Youtube

The Chinese Version MiTV that are  sold in China have its own Operating System (OS) that does not support Google Service which is banned in China.  Therefore,  it cannot play Google Play and unable to sign directly into YouTube using google account user names.   To overcome,  one would have to use Smart Youtube or other versions of Youtube that does not have signing-in requirement;  the alternative is to buy only their versions that have Andriod TV in their OS such as those sold in India or Indonesia.

c)  MiTV Cannot Play 4K YouTube Movies

MiTV does not have VP9 video decoders to play 4K YouTube Movies.  This is because VP9 are never used in China and Google requires a license to use VP9.

d)  MiTV Cannot Play Netflix and Some Other Movies

MiTV  would hang or does not play properly.   This is because MiTV does not have the required players to play these Movies especially those not used in China .   In the case of Netflix, only the older version of Netflix that is downloaded from Aptiode-TV can play Netflix with some limitations.  This is because Netflix do not support MiTV that requires additional license.

New Development
 
It was speculated that Xiaomi is working on a  newer PRO version that will be called MiTV5 .  It  will have Andriod TV OS; meanwhile,  overseas users will need to buy additional set top box,  such as MiBox S if they wanted to 4K YouTube and Netflix videos.   

In Conclusion

The  quality of MiTV depends much  on its quality control of the component supplied by manufacturers like LG or Samsung.    So far,  the quality is acceptable although there were complains about LED panels especially MiTV4 having black screens because of the heating problem.  After-all,  MiTV is a budget TV which is still undergoing transformation and improvements work.   Understand many users of the new model, such as the MiTV Pro introduced in India,  have encountered many operational problems initially when they change the operating system from Patchwall OS to the Android TV OS.   It has since been rectified

TV heating problem is also common in other brands.   For Longevity,   remember to do the following:-

1.  Keep the TV a distance of at least 4" or 100 mm from the wall and make sure nothing is obstructing the air flow;  not even a piece of cloth or filter;
2.  Reduce the brightness of the TV where possible;
3.  If one owns the 9 mm thick MiTV4,  better to install fans at the bottom of TV panel and make sure the  plastic  sheet that protects the shining aluminum panel is removed at the back.

After Note:  7 November 2018

Some forummers were put off by the heating problems in MiTV4.  It has to be noted that heating problem is not only happening in MiTVs but also in other makes and model.  Many were due to improper installation;  others due to prolonged operation without proper ventilation.   The solution is to install small cooling fans.  Afterall,   Xiaomi has sold millions of the MiTVs in China and India,  much more than any other brands.   Some faulty ones cannot be avoided.  It is always better to know the problem and to handle them beforehand.  ._____________________________________________________________________________
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