HDR issues (greyed out colors) with OLED

Hello Community,


I setup my current gen Apple TV 4K with my LG G3 (an OLED).

With HDR content I have issues with grey colors/a dim picture.

Dolby Vision and SDR work fine.

I first noticed this issue with a HDR movie played through Infuse and since then figured it affects all sorts of HDR content.


Generally I have set the Apple TV to Dolby Vision 60HZ as my TV supports DV. Additionally I activated content matching and frame rate matching. So when I play SDR content Apple TV switches the signal to SDR and my TV recognizes that.

Dolby Vision content -> stays at DV. TV uses Dolby Vision picture mode.

HDR content is causing some troubles. The TV does recognize HDR and changes the picture mode accordingly.

Unfortunately the HDR picture looks grey/dim.

To confirm this I set the Apple TV manually to HDR 60hz. The main menu becomes a lot dimmer and greyer than both SDR and Dolby Vision mode.


I’d like to point out that I have not deactivated content matching - so if the menu was not being rendered in HDR the Apple TV should switch to SDR/Dolby Vision.

And yes the same HDR files look correct when played directly on the TV. It appears to be an Apple TV issue or an issue of the two devices in combination.


I have exchanged the cable (both certified HDMI 2.1 cables). The issue persists. Also I do believe that if this was a cable problem Dolby Vision would have similar issues.

As of right now I have no clue how to fix this and I am very unhappy with the HDR mode of the Apple TV.

Both the TV and Apple TV are updated to the newest firmware.


I have not been able to find the exact same problem online. Generally people seem to suggest to change the standard mode to SDR and have content matching switch the HDR mode on for HDR content. This does NOT fix the issue for HDR content.

Id appreciate any help or suggestion!



Apple TV 4K

Posted on May 3, 2024 5:50 PM

Reply
6 replies

May 5, 2024 5:36 PM in response to dgaapple

dgaapple wrote:

Hey thanks for your response.

I‘m not sure I‘m following. Are you suggesting I set it to Dolby Vision at all times?

Yep! At least while playing media via the Apple TV 4K. That's Apple's default for your device for good reason.


Wouldn‘t an HDR10 movie (non Dolby Vision) then basically be regraded digitally to DV?

I don't know what you mean by "regraded" but Dolby Vision is basically HDR10 plus more stuff. Think of it as 'backward compatible'. At any rate, your iPhone-calibrated ATV4K has no problem mapping the color of most any video you're likely to watch to the best your Dolby Vision TV does very nicely - especially your top-of-the-line LG OLED!


I say set it up the right way and give it a chance. You can later switch to WebOS apps, watch the same stuff and pick your favorite. My guess is you won't really see much difference - they'll both look good, but the ATV4K does better than most TVs internal chips do.


That can’t be in the directors intent.

Studios want you to enjoy the movie in basically the right colors so they used HDR10... maybe they just didn't think Dolby Vision was ready at the time. You can bet that Dolby and Apple and LG will use that HDR10 info for all it's worth.


Have a little faith that the video scientists and engineers at Apple have spent more time thinking about this than the video specialists on YouTube who realized years ago that Apple TV devices look just fine without all their calibration fees, etc.


Maybe I wasn’t clear:
Again when I have it set to DV and play a HDR 10 movie the output switches to HDR but then the movie is too dim.

I obviously wasn't clear. Again, stop doing that and getting bad results. Accept the benefits of the priciest media player device on the market! Turn Match Content back to OFF (the default). Dial in the best Dolby Vision you can between the ATV4K and the TV, and enjoy watching your awesome setup.


Given your very bright panel, I would be shocked if any HDR10 (or greater) content looked too dim with things setup the way Apple suggests. Adjust video and audio settings on Apple TV – Apple Support (UK).


OR, take the bad advice that so many give... then adjust your TV instead to deal with each color or motion curveball that'll come along, as it comes along, by turning on the match content options. I found the following in the ref guide link above... note the simple statement I put in bold:


  • Turn on dynamic range matching: To watch content in its original dynamic range, select Match Content, then turn on Match Dynamic Range.
  • Turn on frame rate matching: Apple TV automatically plays video in the best available format supported by your TV, which includes resolution, dynamic range and frame rate. To watch content in its original frame rate instead, select Match Content, then turn on Match Frame Rate.


IOW, if you don't like what you're seeing with match content on, adjust your TV directly to deal with the video streams you're asking the ATV4K to pass along "as is".


May 5, 2024 5:28 PM in response to dgaapple

dgaapple wrote:

Hey thanks for your response.

I‘m not sure I‘m following. Are you suggesting I set it to Dolby Vision at all times?

Yep! At least while playing media via the Apple TV 4K. That's Apple's default for your device for good reason.


Wouldn‘t an HDR10 movie (non Dolby Vision) then basically be regraded digitally to DV?

I don't know what you mean by "regraded" but Dolby Vision is basically HDR10 plus more stuff. Think of it as 'backward compatible'. At any rate, your iPhone-calibrated ATV4K has no problem mapping the color of most any video you're likely to watch to the best your Dolby Vision TV does very nicely - especially your top-of-the-line LG OLED!


I say set it up right the way and give it a chance. You can later switch to WebOS apps, watch the same stuff and pick your favorite. My guess is you won't really see much difference - they'll both look good, but the ATV4K does better than most TVs.


That can’t be in the directors intent.

They want you to enjoy the movie in basically the right colors (what HDR10 and beyond's all about).


Have a little faith that the video scientists and engineers at Apple have spent more time thinking about this than the video specialists on YouTube who realized years ago that Apple TV devices look just fine without all their calibration fees, etc.


Maybe I wasn’t clear:
Again when I have it set to DV and play a HDR 10 movie the output switches to HDR but then the movie is too dim.

I obviously wasn't clear. Again, stop doing that and getting bad results. Accept the benefits of the priciest media player device on the market! Turn Match Content back to OFF (the default). Dial in the best Dolby Vision you can between the ATV4K and the TV, and enjoy watching your awesome setup.


Given your very bright panel, I would be shocked if any HDR10 (or greater) content looked too dim with things setup the way Apple suggests. Adjust video and audio settings on Apple TV – Apple Support (UK).


OR, take the bad advice that so many give... then adjust your TV instead to deal with each color or motion curveball that'll come along, as it comes along, by turning on the match content options. I found the following in the ref guide link above... note the simple statement I put in bold:


  • Turn on dynamic range matching: To watch content in its original dynamic range, select Match Content, then turn on Match Dynamic Range.
  • Turn on frame rate matching: Apple TV automatically plays video in the best available format supported by your TV, which includes resolution, dynamic range and frame rate. To watch content in its original frame rate instead, select Match Content, then turn on Match Frame Rate.


IOW, if you don't like what you're seeing with match content on, adjust your TV directly to deal with the video streams you're asking the ATV4K to pass along "as is".


May 3, 2024 8:12 PM in response to dgaapple

Those suggestions to set default video to SDR and Match Content ON are outdated and rather elitist to begin with.


It's sort of like the joke: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this! [guy moves his arm in a bizarre fashion]". Doc says "Don't do that."


Seriously, you've got an amazing TV! Let the Apple TV 4K device show off the TV's best mode of output. See my response in this thread: Is it possible to achieve Judder-Free vie… - Apple Community. I also geek out on the misguided notion that messing with Match Content defaults is a good thing here: Apple TV Screen goes black intermittently… - Apple Community



May 17, 2024 7:45 AM in response to Hillbillycarrotcruncher

I recently bought a MacBook 16 inch M2 pro

The rest of this thread is about the Apple TV 4K box, not about Macs, so that brings new other variables into the issue that might turn out to point to quite a different cause.


… when using HDR external video from the HDMI socket to My 55 inch LG OLED when I activate HDR, the screen on the OLED looks grey and washed out even with no image displayed …

Have you reviewed: Play HDR video on Mac - Apple Support ?

What is the exact model TV? Are all HDMI ports of the same spec? HDMI 1.4/​2.0/​2.1? Is the port in use configured for 4K HDR, if such is needed for your model TV?

Is other equipment involved in the setup? Adapters? HDMI devices?

What spec cable(s) did you use? Rated for 5/​10/​18/​48 Gbps? What length?

Are your colorspace settings for HDMI matching on both devices? E.g. YCbCr vs. RGB, or RGB High vs RGB Low.


… of course all the Apple apologies and will come on here and say that it's something else it's always something else it's never Apple …

If user A has a different experience than user B, with both using the same base equipment, then it is warranted to examine the details of the setup for smaller differences. If the laptop is capable and the TV screen is capable, then logically any difference has to be about the connection and/​or settings.


I don't think I'll keep this MacBook for much longer. It's the most disappointing purchase I've ever made in Laptop.

I don’t think you purchased a laptop mainly to watch HDR content on a TV. It is nice to have it supported, but it is tangential to the purchase of the device. A TV-connectable Apple TV 4K streaming device is just 5% of the cost of a MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16".

May 4, 2024 12:25 AM in response to bgmeek

Hey thanks for your response.


I‘m not sure I‘m following. Are you suggesting I set it to Dolby Vision at all times?

Wouldn‘t an HDR10 movie (non Dolby Vision) then basically be regraded digitally to DV?

That can’t be in the directors intent.

Maybe I wasn’t clear:

Again when I have it set to DV and play a HDR 10 movie the output switches to HDR but then the movie is too dim.





May 16, 2024 2:37 PM in response to dgaapple

I recently bought a MacBook 16 inch M2 pro I've used Windows computers before this and I've never been so disappointed in the purchase of a laptop in all my life when using HDR external video from the HDMI socket to My 55 inch LG OLED when I activate HDR, the screen on the OLED looks grey and washed out even with no image displayed, but that's using a jet black background on the same as the other monitor which is built into the Laptop one looks black and one looks washed out and grey, there should be no image displayed on the OLED when there's no picture on there it's an oled, there is something wrong with the way that the MacBook is rendering the picture to the output of the HDMI, of course all the Apple apologies and will come on here and say that it's something else it's always something else it's never Apple, I don't think I'll keep this MacBook for much longer. It's the most disappointing purchase I've ever made in Laptop.

HDR issues (greyed out colors) with OLED

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