Why do HDR movies appear dim and desaturated in Apple’s native TV app?

I was using HDR as a general description to refer to all high dynamic range technologies including HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby ATMOS, HLG etc.

The average consumer doesn't care which particular technology or specification is being used—they just want a brilliant image that uses the full spectrum of brightness, contrast and color their hardware is capable of displaying.

Apple should ensure that its hardware and software produces the best possible image regardless of the format being played. But at the very least, HDR movies should display as good or better (richer colors and wider spectrums of brightness and contrast) than the standard version of the same film.

Currently this is not the experience for many films purchased and played in the native TV app. Hopefully this is a problem they are working on solving.

Try comparing it on the same device. I actually used PiP to view them simultaneously, though obviously only one can be playing at a time.

In the attached screenshot you can see the scene from Free Solo I described previously. The TV app is using PiP to play an Apple-purchase version of the film. And the full screen version is the Disney+ app.

I used a separate device to take this photo (since screenshots of video content are disabled)and even with the camera’s attempt to color correct the image, you can still clearly see the difference in lighting and saturation. Specifically, compare the color saturation of his shirt as well as the color / detail / lighting of the trees on the ground below him.

The simple reality is Apple's TV app often displays HDR content such that it is dramatically dimmer, less saturated and with noticeable loss of detail when compared to even the standard (non HDR) version of the same content.

HDR versions (of varying types and encodings) display properly in all other third-party streaming apps, so clearly this is not a hardware problem, but an issue with the way Apple's TV app is opting to render many HDR videos.

Whatever quibbles one can make about subtle differences between the competing HDR formats currently in existence, this inferior experience is the simple reality faced by millions of consumers who purchase Apple's media content and try to watch it in the native TV app. To be faced with watching a version that is objectively worse than standard dynamic range is unacceptable and contrary to the point of HDR technology to begin with.

Here is another side-by-side example of Skyfall with a clearly desaturated dim opening credit scene in the Apple TV app (PiP window) next to the clearly superior, brighter, full color spectrum HDR version displaying perfectly in the HBO Max app (full screen). Both are supposedly Dolby Vision HDR.

This is a huge discrepancy and it is not the consumer's problem to solve, it is Apple's.

Yes I have looked at the TV Settings numerous times. And yes this is a reproducible bug over WiFi and Cellular.

This problem is not device specific, as I have reproduced it across multiple devices over a number of years, patiently waiting for someone at Apple to realize this bug exists and fix it. It seems a terrible shame that people spend hundreds or even thousands of $$$ for gorgeous 4K HDR content, only to have Apple’s TV app somehow muck up its rendering at the last mile.

The best way for you to understand this problem is to easily reproduce it for yourself on one of your own devices by following the simple steps I listed above.

Yes I have looked at the TV Settings numerous times. And yes this is a reproducible bug over WiFi and Cellular.

This problem is not device specific, as I have reproduced it across multiple devices over a number of years, patiently waiting for someone at Apple to realize this bug exists and fix it. It seems a terrible shame that people spend hundreds or even thousands of $$$ for gorgeous 4K HDR content, only to have Apple’s TV app somehow muck up its rendering at the last mile.

The best way for you to understand this problem is to easily reproduce it for yourself on one of your own devices by following the simple steps I listed above.

Yes I have looked at the settings, and yes I have streaming set to highest quality for both.

It’s honestly not a quality or resolution issue—it’s specifically regarding brightness and color saturation.

I’m a professional graphic designer, so I’m painfully aware when colors and lighting are not being rendered correctly, but in this case I’m certain even an average consumer should be able to immediately recognize the problem.

When you tested the movies, did you turn up the display brightness to maximum? That might help reveal the issue.

If you do as I did and use Free Solo as a test example: In the opening scene played in the TV app, Alex Honnold’s bright red shirt will appear muted and the entire outdoor scene will appear strangely dim. If you switch to the Disney+ app you will see the shirt and scene as the filmmakers obviously intended to render it.

Also, one last thing. Make sure the TV app is playing the purchased film from Apple and not automatically launching you back into the Disney+ app to watch the content there. Sometimes when content is available in both places the TV app defaults to the streaming service unless you ensure you are picking the specific item you purchased from Apple.

That may be but this problem persists across virtually all HDR / Dolby Vision content.

And regardless, as you can see from the image I shared, the difference is dramatic and Apple’s version is inexplicably dark with lots of loss of detail that is completely unexpected for content claiming to have an HDR color gamut.

Can you not see the dramatic loss of detail in the trees and muted colors in the image I shared? Does that look like a high dynamic range video to you?

This problem exists on virtually every HDR / Dolby Vision type video no matter the nuanced encoding of what type of HDR it is.

Another good example is Skyfall on the TV app vs in the HBO Max app. Compare the 'Columbia' opening credits logo before the movie even starts using the PiP method I shared. But honestly you can try this yourself on your iPhone with virtually any HDR movie.