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Possible Fix for Too-Dark Netflix Videos on Samsung TVs

(Topic created on: 10-07-2019 09:26 PM)
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100pat
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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!

 

368 REPLIES 368
ikramkhasim
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I noticed now even Netflix 4K UHD content suffers from the same fate. Watched the new season of Haunted and the scenes were extremely dark.

Edwin__CDY
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When I first got my Q60, I had the same issue, dark scenes from Netflix or YouTube or anything would dim the whole screen. I turned off ambient light detection, and it still won’t work. Out of frustration of looking at the screen dimming itself(I couldn’t see anything at all at some point even at dark room), I play with the settings and found intelligent mode. When i turned on intelligent mode, the self dimming issue was gone. The screen would not dim it self automatically even when not much was showing on the screen.
Go to settings > general > intelligent mode
Turn it on and make sure adaptive brightness is on too.
I hope this will solve your issue.
ikramkhasim
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@Edwin__CDY  I think Intelligent Mode only applies to QLED models, so those without QLED will not have that option to play with unfortunately.

Edwin__CDY
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Oh man I’m sorry to hear that. I really couldn’t stand when my tv decided to dim itself during low light scenes. I really hope Samsung would allow its users to disable this feature on every TV. I’ve seen a post somewhere saying the reason Samsung is doing this is because this will allow them to achieve higher black screen scores on papers, so they can say that their screen has deeper blacks than others.
ikramkhasim
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@Edwin__CDY wrote:
Oh man I’m sorry to hear that. I really couldn’t stand when my tv decided to dim itself during low light scenes. I really hope Samsung would allow its users to disable this feature on every TV. I’ve seen a post somewhere saying the reason Samsung is doing this is because this will allow them to achieve higher black screen scores on papers, so they can say that their screen has deeper blacks than others.

And yes a black screen we all got! I don't mind when it happens when credits are rolling (it makes reading them easier), but it just serves no purpose when you're trying to watch someone battle a demon in a dark basement.

Ionut_1
Journeyman
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Can't seem to find in general settings intelligent mode. Maybe because I didn't update my tv from last year and is not in the menu...

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ikramkhasim
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@Ionut_1 I guess it only applies to QLED TVs

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Ionut_1
Journeyman
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I have a qled 7F from 2017. Should be the same menu in general. I'd say is because is not updated for a good while the option is not available...

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ikramkhasim
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Okay well then those who have not updated or have no QLED TVs still have no solution.
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Magpie90
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As mentioned by @Anonymous User CDY there is no Intelligent mode and I am referring to my Samsung which is a 43 inch 2019 model UHD 4K. It is not a QLED model.