Possible Fix for Too-Dark Netflix Videos on Samsung TVs

[100pat]

Sadly, the answer is to switch your device to SDR. You can sit in a pitch black room and mess with settings all you want - that won’t fix it. 

This means that you have to notice, or know, that the video you want to watch will be streamed  in Dolby Vision HDR and change a setting every time (then change it back - what a pain!) to accommodate this. 

a) *EDIT* THE INFORMATION IN a) BELOW IS WRONG. I HAVE LEFT IT IN PLACE SO AS NOT TO CONFUSE PEOPLE WHO SUBSEQUENTLY RE-READ IT.  IT APPEARS THAT, FOR MORE MODERN TELLYS AT LEAST, THE OPTION ("INPUT SIGNAL PLUS" IN SETTINGS/ GENERAL/ EXTERNAL DEVICE MANAGER) FOR TOGGLING BETWEEN HDR AND SDR ONLY FUNCTIONS IF YOU ARE WATCHING VIA AN EXTERNAL DEVICE SUCH AS AN APPLE-TV OR A FIRESTICK.  IF YOU ARE USING THE TELLY'S OWN SMART NETFLIX APP THERE APPEARS TO BE NO OPTION TO TOGGLE BETWEEN HDR AND SDR. 

a) If watching via the Netflix smart app on the Samsung HDR telly itself, turn off the HDR settings in the telly’s General/ External Device Manager settings which set the input ports for HDR. Usually called HDMI UHD Colour or Input Signal Plus. (EDIT: NO, THAT WON'T WORK. )

Now the Netflix Dolby Vision HDR video will still play in 4k/UHD but only in SDR. (And only in 8-bit) But, at least, you can see it without having to sit in the coal cellar. 

 (May cause unwanted changes to other devices connected to the TV)

Remember to turn those settings back on again for non-HDR Netflix videos and for all Amazon etc. videos.

b) If watching via an AppleTV 4k connected to a Samsung HDR TV the following are usually the best Video settings in the AppeTV for everything except Netflix HDR videos. I recommend using them all the time:

- 4K SDR (Yes, SDR!) in 50Hz (UK) or 60Hz

- Chroma 420 (To enable 10-bit on most, not-super-expensive, Samsung tellys)

- Match Content > Range and Frame Rate both turned on. 

Now, to watch a Netflix Dolby Vision HDR video in SDR on a Samsung HDR TV, simply turn off Match Dynamic Range (only) in the Match Content setting referred to above. EDIT :SO LONG AS YOU HAVE SET YOUR APPLE-TV TO SDR AS I HAVE RECOMMENDED ABOVE. 

Now the Netflix Dolby Vision HDR video which you want to watch will still play in 4k/UHD but only in SDR. (And only in 8-bit)

Remember to turn that Range setting back on again for non-HDR Netflix videos and for all Amazon etc. videos.

EDIT: NOTE THAT, IF YOU ALTERNATIVELY ELECT TO TURN OFF HDR WHEN USING AN APPLE-TV BY USING THE "INPUT SIGNAL PLUS" SETTING IN YOUR SAMSUNG TV SETTINGS, THAT WILL WORK BUT THEN YOUR APPLE TV WILL SENSE THAT IT IS NO LONGER CONNECTED TO AN HDR TV AND WILL PROBABLY ALTER SEVERAL OF IT'S OWN SETTINGS. 

EXPLANATIONS:

Firstly, the “best” AppleTV settings shown above will allow SDR Videos and the Home Screen to display correctly and then, when you start to play any HDR video, the AppleTV automatically switches itself to output HDR ( and automatically back to SDR again, when done.) EDIT: UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU HAVE TURNED OFF THE "MATCH RANGE" OPTION IN ORDER TO WATCH A NETFLIX DOLBY VISION VIDEO. 

Netflix outputs it’s HDR videos in Dolby Vision HDR format. Many brands of  telly display this OK but Samsung tellys are designed to use the rival HDR10+ format. Dolby Vision formatted videos display badly on Samsung TVs. Full stop!

Amazon Prime output their HDR videos in HDR10+ format so they display nicely on Samsung tellys. 

Netflix claim to output HDR in both Dolby Vision format and in vanilla HDR10 (without a +) format. Presumably, if we could get them to send HRD10 (without a +) format videos to our Samsung TVs that would fix the problem. But, I rang Netflix, and it seems (in a very vague conversation) that this is not possible unless our AppleTVs could somehow request it. 

Dolby Vision vs HDR10+. Who will win the battle to become the industry standard?

Note that this correct AFAIK on 08/10/2019 and may change in future. Those of us who just bought new Samsung TV sets will be keeping our fingers crossed!

EDIT: MY APOLOGIES FOR THE EDITS!

[Peven]

It’s almost 2 years since I bought the 2018 Q9F did this issue ever get sorted for the overly dark hdr content for this model. 
I’ve heard rumblings of updates for later models (shocked Samsung repeated its mistakes up until 2020) but not sure if the Q9f is comparable with the updates. 

[antonio243]

are you sure that the update fix the issue completely ? hdr ?

[XenomorphXx121]

That is a shame, dont know why it's different for different regions. 

I thought it wouldn't make a difference. 

[XenomorphXx121]

Yes it does, it's much brighter and I had to go through all the settings again to get it looking right like having it on Dynamic as it looks better and high contrast enhancer high is now brighter than low but that does my eyes in so I left it at low and on Dynamic the colour tone has only the option for cool or standard so maybe I'll mess about with the settings a bit more. 

[NealS]

I did this last night on my TU7000 in the UK. Had to go through the USB as checking for updates without it didn't find anything. Certainly seems better, not perfect but will play with the settings later. Also seem to have aquired a "FILMMAKER MODE"!

[Voss]

Bought the crystal UHD TU7000 this weekend and I have 3 days to return it and get a refund. I mainly use the TV for gaming on my PS4 Pro and then Netflix. The HDR in games is horrible, I can't see anything in dark scenes of The Last Of Us or Spider-Man, does anyone know if the firmware update fixes the HDR for gaming too?

Not too bothered about Netflix HDR.

[Rameezsultan86]

This sounds very promising, 

i just spoke to samsung Portugal and they say in few days the update would be possible to be done directly via the TV rather than using the USB approach. 

If you still want the exact software ill recommend call them and they will send the link for downloading the exact firmware of you TV. 
 
I have other issues as well with the TV that it randomly flickers and the new firmware will fix that as well. 

so the general msg from samsung is the firmware will fix everything ranging from screen darkness to covid 19. 

[Rameezsultan86]

If you have a return policy and can get another uhd tv for the similar price ill advise you to go for it. 
im pretty disappointed with samsung and if i had a chance to return the TV i wouldn't had thought twice. 

EDIT: i have the exactly same tv in 55inch havent updated it yet so cant say anything for sure but confidence is low

[JAMES4578]

Whilst will not solve all problems, some advice from the Rtings site if still issues after update:

"HDR is automatically enabled for the native apps. When you start playing HDR content, a small HDR icon appears next to the picture mode on the quick settings menu. Once you start playing HDR content, some of the settings change automatically, including the Backlight, which increases to 'Max.' We recommend leaving these settings to their default settings in HDR.

For HDR to work from external devices, Input Signal Plus usually has to be enabled from the External Device Manager menu for the input you are using. Older devices may have compatibility issues if this option is left enabled, so it's recommended to only enable this setting for devices that require it.

If you find HDR content too dim, increase the Brightness and Gamma, and set Contrast Enhancer to 'High.' A Brightness setting of '5,' and Contrast Enhancer set to 'High' produces a noticeably brighter picture in HDR"

I would also ensure the ECo settings are switched off for the best results, whilst  HDR should be automatically enabled a good idea to check if the Backlight is at the Maximum  setting and High Contrast on which should be the case. Colour Space Settings best at Auto, you may need to experiment with other settings.

[Voss]

Thanks for the advice, I'll do the update as soon as I can and then make my decision. 
Not looking forward to all the hassle of returning the TV, hoping the update fixes the issue.  

If you happen to do the update before me, let me know how it went for you.