27-06-2018 08:05 PM - last edited 27-06-2018 08:07 PM
Hi,
I've just switched from a 49 MU7000 to a 55 Q9FN and was giddy with excitement about finally owning a top end TV.
Unfortunately, I've either received a dud or there's an inherent problem with the tech; for HDR (and even SDR content), the screen goes /incredibly/ dark during dark scenes. We aren't talking perfect QLED blacks here; all detail is lost, UNLESS I leave a white menu screen up.
As you can see from the photos. Annoyingly, I'm also using an S9 to take the photos so it does a better job of amplifying the incoming light, but believe me when I say it's even worse than the TV is showing. I would estimate that the unlit picture is displaying at <10 nits.
I ascribed this to either a problem with local dimming or eco mode, but modifying both of those settings made no difference. It's making using the tv for anything other than bright content unusable, and I didn't honestly expect a £3000 TV to be notably worse than a £700 TV.
Please advise.
P.S: Why have Samsung removed the ability to change audio languages when playing from a USB source? All of my movies are playing in Italian or Portuguese with no way to change it.
18-12-2018 09:23 AM
Samsung support got back to me today re. light fluctation issue and said;
With regards to your query, please be informed that there is no known issue with this TV model. We can raise it to our product specialist for further investigation
So if you do have issues with the subtitles affecting the brightness on other parts of the panel, I suggest you raise this with Samsung Support. They're not reading this forum, so whatever you say here isn't being looked at.
18-12-2018 09:27 AM
I contacted the support myself and I've been told the same, so I think it's less that they don't know about the issue and more that they don't aknowledge it.
18-12-2018 09:29 AM
Moreover, they should be proactively seeking the feedback, not us chasing them. After all, this is the official Samsung community forum
18-12-2018 09:45 AM
I think they know very well that they went into a technological dead end with the QLED technology.
Their panels are fast but they're just not good to watch movies. I can see them going OLED or another road in the next iteration.
18-12-2018 09:47 AM - last edited 18-12-2018 09:48 AM
I doubt Samsung is not aware of this issue, they just don't have a solution yet. You get all kinds of funny replies from Samsung support when approached. In one case, when I showed them my video on youtube that shows this problem on the Q7FN, they replied that they don't see anything wrong in the video...
18-12-2018 09:52 AM
18-12-2018 09:57 AM
Hehe, well, they did say that maybe the brightness is encoded in the video itslef and not added by the TV. Go figure...
And yes, it happens with any content and any source, also with non HDR. Netflix + HDR is just easy to demonstrate.
18-12-2018 09:58 AM
I e-mailed the Italian Samsung support and they replied advising an image reset (useless of course) and mentioning a future update that should be released soon for the Q9FN model which will address "the HDR contents related issue"....but they weren't more specific than that...I don't know if they are just buying time or if this is real, but I asked for further details about ETA of the firmware update and I am still waiting...
20-12-2018 10:27 PM - last edited 21-12-2018 12:01 AM
I kind of fixed this issue on my 65” Q7FN by disabling the local dimming in the service menu. I tried some other suggested settings first, but nothing else helped. Downside is that the backlight is now fixed to a pretty low level and I already got used to the blinding brightness this tv is normally capable of. My girlfriend didn’t and she’s actually happy that the tv is dimmer now.
Anyway this is a huge improvement! Dark scenes look great as subtitles won’t cause the infamous fluctuating brightness. Praise be! I watched the original Spider-Man on SDR and it was a delight. HRD test videos from Youtube look amazing with deep colors on black background. Quickly tested one scene of Stranger Things season 2 HDR which previously looked so horrible I almost smashed the tv. Simply beautiful now! Black level looks excellent and would look good enough with a bit higher backlight level too.
As mentioned earlier, the backlight setting won’t do anything now with the local dimming disabled. It’s really odd that the setting is missing from standard menus, as that one thing changed this tv from garbage to a pretty nice one. Now I just need a way to increase the backlight level a bit… Brighter scenes would certainly look nicer then. If someone knows a setting to try in the service menu please tell. I have zero expectations that Samsung will help us and fix this in a firmware.
If someone needs detailed instructions on how to disable the local dimming and my prefered settings to make the tv look nice, just ask. I’m too lazy to write them here if nobodys interested and all the info can be found from the interweb anyway.
21-12-2018 01:52 AM
Would love to know the settings you used, and how you got to the service menu...