4K Genie Mini and my Vizio TV seem to hate each other.

You're saying the CEC control on the TV?  I know there's an HDMI control on DirecTV but I didn't test it.  Not sure if this makes a difference, but the problem happens regardless if I'm changing channels with my Harmony universal remote or the DirecTV receiver remote.  

Could be CEC or it could be a timing issue. When you change channels the DirecTV box has to renegotiate the HDCP copy protection and if the TV does not respond quiclkly enough the Directv box decides the TV is not HDCP compliant and shuts the TV down.  Even worse if you are going through an AVR. Been reported quite often and it seems only with Vizio.

First make sure both the Directv box and the TV are set to 1080i/4K only. Then try one of the other Vizio inputs that support 4k (assuming you have more than one). If it still does not work, remove the AVR from the loop and see if the problem goes away. Post back with the results.

I think it might be the CEC.  Tried disabling it briefly tonight briefly, no picture fade out.  When I turned it back on, my screen goes black.  I try changing inputs, the picture is jumbled at the top, with what input is selected on my Sony A/V receiver.  I have to power cycle my TV to get the picture back.  

Texas- My resolutions on the TV are 1080p, 1080i and 4K.  The problem still happens when CEC is enabled.  IDK if having HDMI control enabled on DirecTV makes a difference.

Otto- Thanks for your wisdom and efforts to help.  I'm beginning to think it must be something with Vizio.  

Interestingly, Vizio says only use ARC if you're using their soundbar.  At least that what it says on the TV itself.  I had the screen jumble issue once with my XBOX One X, but 99.9 percent of the time, the picture fade out issue only happens with DirecTV.

Thanks for the helpful info.  May look into a different TV in the future to avoid this..