As an owner of a Chromecast, I know firsthand how frustrating it can be when your device isn’t working properly. Recently, I encountered a problem with my Chromecast device where the screen was turning pink. After doing some research and testing, I’m here to share how I solved it, as well as other solutions I discovered. In this blog post, I’ll be discussing the causes of the Chromecast pink screen, and how to fix it.
A Chromecast pink screen can happen due to handshake issues, buggy firmware, casting issues, or the hardware acceleration feature.
| Causes of Chromecast Pink Screen | Solutions to Fix Chromecast Pink Screen |
|---|---|
| Handshake issues with HDMI cable or incompatible devices | Reconnect cables |
| Buggy firmware updates | Update graphics driver |
| Casting issues | Reboot Chromecast |
| Hardware acceleration causing driver incompatibilities | Clear the cache |
| Factory reset Chromecast | |
| Power Chromecast from mains socket instead of TV USB port |
Table of Contents
Causes of Chromecast Pink Screen
Pink screens from Chromecast are mainly because of system issues. Some are harder to solve, while others are relatively uncomplicated.
- Handshake Issues
Some pink screens when using Chromecast are because of handshake issues. A handshake happens when you connect an HDMI cable to a device, transferring information with each other.
Handshake issues happen with incompatible devices or faulty cable connections. Typically, there is a specific handshake protocol that contains enough information to transmit videos when you connect a cable to a device. When the transfer fails, the video tends to end up being a blank screen.
- Buggy Firmware
When switching cables doesn’t work, the problem may be within the system. One main culprit is the firmware update. Sometimes, new firmware versions contain bugs that create hiccups for your Chromecast device.
Updating the software also requires Chromecast to reboot. This process can get stuck in a permanent loop that leads to a pink screen. Restarting the device typically solves this problem easily. A firmware update helps in eliminating the pink screen, too.
- Casting Issues
Other Chromecast devices have trouble casting from their tablets, phones, or laptops. Instead of mirroring, they only produce a pink screen with a faint outline of images.
Pink screens from casting issues don’t result from the usual connection problem. Rather, the system has errors that won’t let other devices cast into the TV.
In this case, you can work around the issue by projecting the whole screen instead of a single application. However, you may notice that the quality may go down or be unstable.
- Hardware Acceleration
Hardware acceleration is a feature that speeds up your device’s performance. However, there can be driver incompatibilities between devices that can produce a pink screen.
More often than not, hardware acceleration works by default on Chrome. That means you get improved overall quality and performance when using Chromecast.
Turning this feature on actually depends on your hardware. If it’s on the lower end of technology, your device can benefit from turning it off.
How to Fix Chromecast Pink Screen
Fixing a Chromecast with a pink screen is a piece of cake if the problem is only within the connections. However, a more long-term solution may be more appropriate if you keep encountering system issues.
Reconnect Cables
Reconnecting your cable is an easy fix but not a permanent solution. For some, it can remove the pink screen altogether, while others find that they have to do it every time they open their TV.
Either way, it’s a simple method that can offer a band-aid remedy to an annoying problem. Here’s how to do it properly:
- First, make sure that your TV is off.
- Remove the TV plug from the power source.
- Unplug the Chromecast from the TV.
- Press and hold the TV’s power button for at least 30 seconds.
- Release the button.
- Then, plug the TV back in and turn it on.
- Wait for at least a minute until your TV broadcasts HDMI compatibility.
- Next, insert Chromecast back into your device, including the micro USB.
Update Graphics Driver
Read more: Chromecast keeps restarting
Updating your computer’s graphics driver may be necessary when the problem comes from casting. Not only does an updated version eliminates the possibility of a pink screen recurring, but it also gives you better graphics and fewer bugs.
To update your graphics driver, here’s what you need to do:
- Locate the taskbar.
- Search for Device Manager and open this window. Alternatively, you can open the control panel and look for Device Manager.
- Then, click on the arrow next to Display Adapters.
- From the dropdown options, choose which driver you want to update.
- Right-click on the driver and choose Update Driver.
- A pop-up window will appear asking how you want to search for drivers.
- Click on “Search automatically for drivers.”
- Finally, your computer will determine whether you have the best version of the driver on your device.
Reboot the Chromecast
Often, an easy solution is to simply restart your Chromecast device.
- To do this, open the Google Home App, Touch and hold the device’s title, tap settings, more settings then reboot.
- Alternatively, you can simply unplug the Chromecast for at least 60 seconds which will reboot the Chromecast.
Clear the cache
It would also help to try clearing the cache of your Chromecast.
To clear the cache on Chromecast with Google TV, you need to follow these simple steps:
- Go to your profile icon and select Settings, then System, then Storage, then Internal shared, storage then Cached data. Select “Clear cached data for all apps,” then click Ok
Factory reset the Chromecast.
As a last resort, you can also try factory resetting the Chromecast.
While the device is plugged into the TV, hold down the power button for around 25 seconds. The device would flash red, then white. Once it flashes white and your TV goes blank, release the button.
Power the Chromecast from the socket
If you are currently powering your Chromecast via the USB port on your TV, the Chromecast might not be receiving enough power. To fix this, try powering the Chromecast from the mains socket instead. You should have a USB to mains adapter that came with the Chromecast to do this.
Conclusion
Read more: Chromecast too dark
Having a Chromecast pink screen can be alarming. Lucky for you, all you need to do to fix this is to check for the cable connections and the system that runs on your devices.
Two of the easiest ways to address a pink screen are by reconnecting the cables and updating your graphics driver. With these, you’ll be able to watch via Chromecast smoothly in no time.
