Apple Intelligence is now available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac!

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

apple tv 4k hdr washed out colours

Hi, I have a Apple TV 4k, tried it on both my samsung tvs (2016 and 2017) and the picture is washed out with muted colors in HDR mode except for the screensavers, which look great. The SDR mode looks way better with more brightness than HDR mode for all menus and content except the screensavers.

The screensavers all look great like I'm used to from other HDR-sources.

This must be some kind of bug? Please dont tell me to adjust the TV settings, I've turned all enhancements off and the fact that the screensavers look great tells me this is an issue with the Apple TV and not my Samsung TVs.

Posted on Sep 23, 2017 2:49 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 23, 2017 11:09 PM

HDR content (both HDR10 and DV) is delivered in a flat "log" picture profile with washed out colours and milky blacksUser uploaded file. The TV is then supposed to add the required filter to make it look the way it's supposed to in HDR according to the metadata in the picture signal. There is clearly a problem with how Apple TV and Samsung TVs(as well as some Sony TVs I think) send and interpret the metadata so that HDR content does not get filtered correctly and ends up looking washed out. Adding dynamic contrast is just a poor fix that somewhat helps with the overall picture quality because the blacks are crushed and saturation is added, but it does NOT look the way it's supposed to in HDR. Especially the extra brightness of HDR will not be added this way. I have the same problem with Netflix in Tizen (samsung operating system) now, so this is not purely an Apple TV problem, it's a problem with how some tvs interpret HDR metadata.

56 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 23, 2017 11:09 PM in response to Jmetyo

HDR content (both HDR10 and DV) is delivered in a flat "log" picture profile with washed out colours and milky blacksUser uploaded file. The TV is then supposed to add the required filter to make it look the way it's supposed to in HDR according to the metadata in the picture signal. There is clearly a problem with how Apple TV and Samsung TVs(as well as some Sony TVs I think) send and interpret the metadata so that HDR content does not get filtered correctly and ends up looking washed out. Adding dynamic contrast is just a poor fix that somewhat helps with the overall picture quality because the blacks are crushed and saturation is added, but it does NOT look the way it's supposed to in HDR. Especially the extra brightness of HDR will not be added this way. I have the same problem with Netflix in Tizen (samsung operating system) now, so this is not purely an Apple TV problem, it's a problem with how some tvs interpret HDR metadata.

Oct 19, 2017 9:31 AM in response to MortenTG

Same issue here using a 2015 LG OLED (EF9500). It supports HDR10 but not Dolby Vision. Just as the OP mentioned, everything SDR looks dark if HDR is enabled. However, the screen savers and iTunes movies with HDR look amazing. Hopefully they can figure this out soon. I too would like to see the ATV only enable HDR when the content support it, just like my Xbox One and the apps on my TV do.

Oct 19, 2017 12:42 PM in response to Aaron Smith9

I think now that TVs not supporting Dolby Vision is the problem. Seems that Apple TV is outputting in Dolby Vision for TVs that only support HDR10. If you pay close attention you can see brightness fluxing up and down in certain scenes (Netflixs Mindhunter is one example). This is consistent with the extra layer of metadata that Dolby Vision supports, but HDR10 does not. The fluxing is in other words caused by HDR10 TVs not knowing how to interpret the Dolby Vision signal. I now also have this problem with the native Netflix app in Tizen on my Samsung TV, washed out and fluxing brightness. The Amazon app still works and HDR-shows are displayed correctly withe the "An HDR movie is playing" mesage from Samsung displaying on HDR shows.

Oct 27, 2017 12:06 PM in response to MortenTG

MortenTG wrote:


I've tried several movies from itunes, both those marked with DV and HDR and none of them look good. I have the same problem with Netflix content, both from ATV and from the native Netflix TV-app. I see that you refer to manually changing the HDR output type on the ATV from DV to HDR10. I can't find seem to find this setting?

MortenTG, I think you only get the ability to change from HDR to DV if you have a TV that supports DV. If your TV doesn't support it you don't get the DV option at all. I know I don't see it on mine.


Netflix released an update to the ATV app last night, but it didn't change anything. It's really odd that all the HDR content in Netflix appears as DV on the ATV. On the WebOS app on my TV it shows as HDR since it knows my TV doesn't support DV. Things still look flat with the ATV app. They don't look amazing on my WebOS app, but they do look better.


I don't have the same issue with HDR content on iTunes. If it says HDR, it looks amazing. I watched War of the Planet of the Apes and it was really impressive looking. However, Goodfellas, which is shown as DV, doesn't look good at all. Looks better if I switch the ATV back to SDR.


In my case at least, it seems like a bug that makes anything listed as DV to not look good on my non-DV TV. Hopefully Apple will fix this in a future release. We are only on 11.0 of TVOS.


BTW, I recommend filling out this form here for feedback to Apple regarding the new ATV. I've put in a request to have the system only switch to HDR/DV mode when the content supports it:


Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

Oct 8, 2017 6:06 PM in response to MortenTG

I'm having the same issues, matter of fact when I exit ATV 4K the picture on my Samsung UHD TV is really dark. I've checked the video setting on both the ATV and Samsung but that doesn't appear to be the issue. I shut the TV off and waited about a minute and when I turned it back on the TV wasn't as dark. I agree I believe there is a software issue with the ATV 4K and hopefully a fix is coming, the sooner the better.

Oct 19, 2017 12:53 PM in response to MortenTG

I think you're on to something there. Funny enough I too was watching Mindhunter on Netflix and noticed the same when I had HDR enabled. I ended up switching it off as SDR looked better to me. However, the iTunes movies that appear as Dolby Vision look great to me with HDR on, so maybe there's something weird about the Netflix app? At any rate, Apple should fix this so HDR10 only toggles on when the content supports it. Same with Dolby Vision. All other times it should output SDR. Other 4K devices haved figured this out...

Oct 24, 2017 4:02 PM in response to Jmetyo

I have same issue on New Sony KD65A1.


All output from Apple tv 4K is washed, pale, dull.

Using the Belkin HDMI 2.1 câble from Apple Store ...


Same video streamed through vlc on Android tv looks amazing. Apple TV was sepia effect over the entire movie.


Extended range for HDMI 2&3 are enabled.

Oh and is it correct that Apple TV doesn’t support 4K 60hz 4:4:4? It only shows 4:0:0 and 4:2:2

apple tv 4k hdr washed out colours

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.