Awful HDR quality in Netflix

[Jecht_Sin]

I have an 49XD8099 with Android 6.0.1. Simply put, to watch "The OA" from Netflix in HDR is unbearable. It's like if they added a wall of fog. Disabling the HDR the image improves considerably, still being a bit washed out. Other shows, when watched in HDR, don't look better either, so much that I decided to have a video mode with HDR off for Netflix only.

Too bad that doing so HDR gets disabled in all video modes (why? Just why?). Is it the Netflix app broken, The OA, or else? Also any chance to have only a mode with HDR disabled? Thanks.

[Kuschelmonschter]

I once had an XD85 with edge-lit IPS panel in a permanently well lit room where varying viewing angles could happen. A locally dimmed VA wouldn't have been any better in any way and even inferior in some ways. It had zero clouding or light bleed. You are pretty much playing the panel lottery with every LCD. This is more a problem of edge vs. direct lighting than IPS vs. VA though (and probably the price you pay). IPS can make sense when chosen carefully. If you are looking for a good HDR movie experience in the living room, IPS most probably isn't your best friend.

I think it is really bad practice to use differenent panels for different sizes of the same model like it is the case with the XE85. The 75" has totally different characteristics compared to smaller sizes. Most online reviews of the XE85 just don't apply to the 75" version.

[Graeme2812]

I'm glad i came across this thread and it's not just me Netflix HDR is playing up with!

I have a KD-43XF7596BU in a bedroom and as soon as i click play on an HDR title the netflix app seems to completely adjust the picture settings which drasticly reduces the depth of the blacks and dark colours.

I read somewhere that the app was optamising the picture settings for the higher end spec Sony TV's....Seems like it's doing the oposite for the lower end spec TV's to me!

I've noticed quite a differance in quality between HDR titles too. The Punisher seems to have a lot of noise in the brighter areas of the picture no matter my setting. Other HDR titles seem better.

Far more impressed with Amazon HDR, when i eventually find titles.

[RedHagar]

Sony had never acknowledged this but the last firmware update just fixed it! I have a xbr65x900e and the last firmware notes say that it "corrects brightness settings in certain circumstances". Since the upgrade, all my dark HDR issues are gone! Which suggests to me that the original issue was a bug. So I guess the "circumstances" were every time HDR was enabled.

All Marvel shows are extremely grainy and dark so HDR doesn't look great on those shows. I found Iron Fist was pretty good though.

[Graeme2812]

I'm running software version: PKG6.5629.0177EUA which, according to the update options, is the latest update and the Netflix app is 6.0.0 build 2373.

1080p titles are streaming at 3.48Mpbs and Ultra HD / HDR titles are streaming at 15.26Mbps which i tink is correct, and i still see the very noticable white filter applied when playing titles so I don't think it's fixed for me.

The more i read about how this is an intentional filter by Netflix/film makers the more I can live with this, but i'd rather they gave me the choice.

[rgledhill]

Still just as bad on my KD-XE9005 with the latest firmware update... 😞

[digitalray]

i got a KD-65XF9005 and have awful black levels when watching Dolby Vision content on netflix.

i can lower the black level slider down to 47 to get darkest possible black in black scenes, but then i lose a lot of dark image content, so this is no solution.

when watching HDR10 Content on Google Movies all is fine, great contrast, colors, deepest blacks and bright whites with the cinema home setting, but Dolby Vision on netflix selects DV Setting in Sony Menu automatically and should have real black levels automatically, but it doesn't. washed out colors and contrast, no black, no real bright whites.

[danielangelov91]

Same here - awful washed out colors! 

[digitalray]

I found out restarting Google Android System makes it better. Seems that fiddling with the settings and just turning your TV off an on All the time distorts the LED lighting and Black levels somehow. There must be a Bug. Hold your remote power Button until Android shuts down (white notification Box), wait a few seconds and press the remote power Button again to turn it on. android will Restart (coloured Symbol Animation). The problem is nearly gone for me in netflix DV after that.

Next day I tried a Complete System reset (settings > storage > System reset). 

I dont really know if that did more  but it might help trying for yourself if you can make out a difference. I have the impression the picture quality got a lot better after doing both things..

Nonetheless, Setting black level to 49 is a big improvement, even at daylight. i prefer black level 48 at night to get a real total black.

[Analogika]

I have a kd65xf850 and some Netflix shows look like crap. Why? If the picture is dark ( example is The haunting of Hill House), whenever the subtitle appear, the picture looks like a fog overlay is turned on. And it's distracting as it looks like it's blinking.... It is better if i set the hdr to HGL but it is still there.

On shows that are bright, you don't notice it (like star trek Discovery), but if it's dark, i turn off HDR....

I hope they fix it..

[digitalray]

this is because they make the subtitles in 100% white (1000 nits), this wil turn on the LED Lights to maximum.

in a dark setting you will see the led zone behind the font.

they really should set the typo brightness to 100 nits in HDR Movies like netflix.

So i think this is the wrong forum as netflix is an app. You should tell this to netflix as sony can't change the hardware or the netflix app code.

on the other hand.. netflix can't use different brightness for subs for every TV model, and not every LED LCD TV has about 50 LED Zones like the Sony TV. On OLED you won't notice the fog and on cheaper LED LCD TVs without LED Zones you won't see the fog either..

you can either turn off local dimming on your sony tv to make it work like a cheaper one, don't get real blacks but don't have fog or you can try writing to netflix about LED Zone TVs and the fog effect on sub typos and hope for them to implement a lower sub brightness for specific TV models. Sony can't really do a thing here.