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Discussion topic: Dark pictures on UHD

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This message was authored by Mackemholic This message was authored by: Mackemholic

Dark pictures on UHD

Notsure if you can advise me, I have Samsung tv UE43CU8500KXXU, when I watch sky UHD the picture goes dark/Dim. Thx Dean

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This message was authored by oldfella This message was authored by: oldfella

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@Mackemholic wrote:

Notsure if you can advise me, I have Samsung tv UE43CU8500KXXU, when I watch sky UHD the picture goes dark/Dim. Thx Dean


Hi @Mackemholic 

I suspect that this is due to the peak brightness of the TV being too low to get the benefit of HDR content.

If you are set to 2160p 10 bit resolution try it on 2160p 8 bit and see if this any better.

This message was authored by Godfrey This message was authored by: Godfrey

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@Mackemholic   If you look at the rtings.com review of this Samsung TV then you will discover this...........

 

rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/cu8000 

 

Peak 2% Window 
 
 295 cd/m²
Peak 10% Window 
 
 295 cd/m²
Peak 25% Window 
 
 296 cd/m²
Peak 50% Window 
 
 296 cd/m²
Peak 100% Window 
 
 296 cd/m²
Sustained 2% Window 
 
 294 cd/m²
Sustained 10% Window 
 
 295 cd/m²
Sustained 25% Window 
 
 295 cd/m²
Sustained 50% Window 
 
 295 cd/m²
Sustained 100% Window 
 
 296 cd/m²
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL) 
 
 0.000

 

The HDR brightness is disappointing. It's not bright enough to display HDR content properly. Bright highlights don't stand out, and overall this TV doesn't provide a good HDR experience.

These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point, with the following settings:

  • HDR Picture Mode: Movie
  • Brightness: Max
  • Contrast: Max
  • Color Tone: Warm 2
This message was authored by Godfrey This message was authored by: Godfrey

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@Mackemholic   A typical review of this Samsung TV reveals;

 

The HDR brightness is disappointing. It's not bright enough to display HDR content properly. Bright highlights don't stand out, and overall this TV doesn't provide a good HDR experience.

These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point, with the following settings:

  • HDR Picture Mode: Movie
  • Brightness: Max
  • Contrast: Max
  • Color Tone: Warm 2
This message was authored by ThePope27 This message was authored by: ThePope27

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

@Mackemholic I had this issue, 

 

Change the resolution to 2160p but when it asks you 10bit or 8bit, use 8 bit and it will resolve it.

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This message was authored by NickNewark This message was authored by: NickNewark

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

I've recently switched back to 8bit, my TV isn't capable of a decent HDR (Sony) picture via Sky. I've tried all different types of settings and it still looks gloomy and dark. Not ideal, but for  the time being I'm happy with UHD. 

This message was authored by YorkshireSkyQ This message was authored by: YorkshireSkyQ

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

  1. What's your setup? Is your SkyQ box plugged straight into the TV or via an amp?
  2. Which HDMI cable are you using? A different one to the one supplied by Sky?
  3. Are you on the latest firmware for the TV? If not, do an update. 
  4. How is HDR when using Filmmaker Mode? Still dull?
This message was authored by YorkshireSkyQ This message was authored by: YorkshireSkyQ

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

Not sure the technical limitations of this TV are the issue. A lot of HDR broadcast content just uses a HDR wrapper to trigger HDR modes but their brightness rarely goes above 200-300cd/m². Star Wars series on Disney+ are a prime example. The video image should still look fairly bright even though many broadcasts uses this cheat technique. 

 

There are known issues out there with various broadcasts and TVs. A number of iPlayer UHD programmes used to show up unwatchable dull on my TV (LG C8, calibrated). I sent details to the BBC but I've no idea if it was the BBC stream that couldn't navigate my TV or if it was my TV that couldn't deal with the stream.

This message was authored by YorkshireSkyQ This message was authored by: YorkshireSkyQ

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

Are the Sky HDR programmes duller than Sky SDR programmes? 

This message was authored by ThePope27 This message was authored by: ThePope27

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

@YorkshireSkyQ 


Some TV's just can't do 10bit HDR due to hardware limitations within the tv itself, mostly the screen brightness.

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Sky Q 2TB v2 Box + 2 Mini Boxes - Brsk BetterNet1000 FTTP, WatchGuard M400 Firewall, Plume Mesh

Sky Signature + Ultimate TV Pack, Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, Sky Kids, TNT Sports, MUTV, LFCTV, Racing TV, Premier Sports, DAZN
This message was authored by YorkshireSkyQ This message was authored by: YorkshireSkyQ

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

I doubt Sky HDR broadcasts go very bright very often and even then, it's only various small aspects of video images that hit the peak highs of 600-1000 nits. This is even the case in many 4K HDR blu rays. A number of broadcasts/streams, The Mandalorian for example on Disney+ are using fake HDR (using HDR containers to trigger the setting on TVs) and even though this series comes up as Dolby Vision on my LG OLED tv, it doesn't exceed 200 nits for entire episodes. Various scenes still look bright as well as object highlights, but they would on any TV, including @Mackemholic's Samsung UE43CU8500KXXU.

 

If I were to take a guess, I reckon Sky's HDR programmes don't go above 200-300 nits for 95% of actual broadcasts.

 

On another note, there are known issues. When iPlayer's His Dark Materials first came out, it was unwatchably dark on my LG OLED tv (which has been calibrated). A Very British Scandal was also the same. I emailed the BBC to let them know and since, they look a lot better but still not perfect.

 

I have no idea if this is the fault of the TV not handling the HDR image properly OR if it's the fault of the data from BBC, or both. But it's been improved since I and probably many thousands of others told the BBC.

 

In addition, HDR isn't all about brightness. It has a hugely increased colour palette which would still make content look far more lifelike, so nothing should look dull, even if a TV is only capable of 300 nits. The Mandalorian series doesn't go above 200 nits but it still appears to show a much better colour palette than SDR content so metal, fire, the sun and other known materials/objects etc that SDR has difficulty showing properly do look more realistic. 

This message was authored by FunkyDunky This message was authored by: FunkyDunky

Re: Dark pictures on UHD

This improved things loads for me. Thank you. 

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