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Brand new 65" 2018 Q9FN and issues with HDR

(Topic created on: 15-11-2018 05:50 AM)
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Pon11
Journeyman
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I have now been using my brand new 65" 2018 Q9FN for couple of weeks and only couple of days ago started to watch HDR content using the built in apps in the device. Almost immediately (especially when watching dark scenes of Ozark in Netflix) I noticed that there is something weird going on with every HDR content when the subtitles are enabled.

 

The problem is the following. Every time a subtitle appears on the screen, the device brightens up the details in the screen automatically as if it would try to automatically correct the brightness and contrast in the screen to match the bright light produced by the appearing subtitles. This is really annoying and makes watching of HDR content almost unwatchable. Non-HDR content does not have the same problem when subtitles are enabled and also if I turn off the subtitles completely the problem is gone also with HDR content. It should not however be the "fix" to just watch without subtitles as people including me do watch non-native content with subtitles.

 

Something I also tried to do was to set the colour of the subtitles to something else than white (currently yellow with black boxes around it) but the dynamic brightness / contrast adjustment is still there every time subtitles appear in the screen. Oh and just to be clear the latest firmware 1153 updated on 8 November.

 

I think there is also a similar kind of problem described in the topic linked below but I saw that discussion going nowhere so decided to open a new topic just for this problem: 

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/TV-Audio-Video/Brand-new-55-Q9FN-terrible-panel-quality/td-p/577...

"...if there's some white/bright element either from the scene, or even external (volume display, subtitles, etc.) it seems to brighten that corner of the screen and suddenly you see all this detail in the scene"

 

Am I alone with this issue and is Samsung doing anything to correct this? I feel like I should be returning the device because I don't feel like a satisfied customer at the moment.

 

 

 

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74 REPLIES 74
Ainkurn
Explorer
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Hello there sorry for the double post but I'm concerned about the same problem. 

I just bought a 55q9fn and I have the same issues with subtitles. The whole panel brightness goes up as soon as the subtitles appear with hdr content. Any solutions? Thanks

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Pon11
Journeyman
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Hi @Ainkurn!

So far I have not managed to find out any solution to this. Also Samsung support confirmed to me yesterday in a call that this would be a known issue and a "feature". They mentioned that some users might be more sensitive in seeing the effect that the appearing subtitles cause with HDR material. I said straight away that it is nothing to do with being sensitive or not and that they should not say something like that to a customer in the first place. To me that is kind of rude and not taking the complaint seriously. They are clearly trying to get a away with it without taking a serious action to correct the issue. I would encourage you also to inform Samsung about this asap so the possibility of fixing this with a future software update would increase. 

 

Just to update you I also tried resetting tv to factory settings and also reset smart hub but this did not fix anything. The only things that provided any help was to change subtitles in Netflix to yellow colour and change the size to minimum. Still the effect can be seen but not as badly as before.

KUTlime
Apprentice
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Look at my previous post, there is a some solution for this problem.

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paul1277
Black Belt 
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@KUTlime wrote:

Look at my previous post, there is a some solution for this problem.


If you turn the bacliight down with HDR then you will lose some of the dynamic range which is what HDR is all about. It sounds to me like a faulty panel

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Pon11
Journeyman
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Sorry for nor understanding but the page you linked seems so be just talking about audio and file format issues? Is the link correct?

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Pon11
Journeyman
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Sorry for nor understanding but the page you linked seems so be just talking about audio and file format issues? Is the link correct?
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Owlix
Apprentice
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Hi there, I have the 2018 q7 qled 65inch and have exactly the same issue. Everything works perfectly for all my HDMI sources but as soon as I use any apps, like Netflix, this problem occurs. All my TV settings change complete if I try and play HDR content, the screen keeps auto adjusting brightness (very dim) , colours change and I have no fix. If I turn HDR on in settings it's just OK for the HDR shows but everytime the sub titles pop up the screen is still auto adjusting brightness and it brightens up the whole screen. Now the all the HD shows are over saturated and way too bright and I have to turn HDR off again. It's obviously a common problem and not caused by a faulty screen.

 

I think the reason most reviews don't cover this problem is because it's only something you see within apps, not the HDMI sources. I don't think many, if any, reviews are doing checks on how installed apps display picture quality 

agitator
First Poster
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Hi.

 

I received my 65" 2019 Q9FN on Friday. Same issue as you with HDR and subtitles on Netflix.

 

I contacted the local Samsung support in Norway today, and got a reply within 21 minutes. They told me that this is a problem with the Netflix app, and that a fix is in the making. I'm now waiting for an ETA.

 

They said that this issue should not be apparent when playing back HDR content from other sources than Netflix.

I downloaded a sample of Avengers Infinity War 2160p HDR x265 with subtitles and played it back in the built-in app in the TV. The source is Kodi's DLNA, so all the processing happens in the TV.

As far as I could see, there were no issues at all, so I guess it is true that this only happens with Netflix.

 

Anyway, I will do some more scrutiny later tonight when it's properly dark.

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Pon11
Journeyman
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Hi,

 

Thank you very much for the information! During these couple of weeks that I have been watching content from different sources it seems that you are right. Also with PS4 games having HDR enabled does not cause the brightness to change with subtitles enabled. 

 

One things I however noticed this week was that the problem is not just when you are watching HDR content with built-in apps (Netflix, Amazon Prime..) and subtitles enabled but also the same problem is there with ULTRA HD content. I tried this with Netflix by watching "Dark" which is not HDR but ULTRA HD only.

 

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agitator
First Poster
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Oki, so UHD with no HDR has problems with brightness levels if subtitles are enabled?

And you say that the brightness problem is not restricted to Netflix, but also Amazon?

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