HDR issues SONY 49XE8396

[CaptainLambino]

Hi,

Apologies if you have all seen this type of query before but I genuinely cannot find an answer that will fix my specific TV.

I recently bought a Sony 49XE8396 at a Black Friday sale (2017) here in the UK. The TV is great and overall I am pretty happy!

However when I view HDR content, whether it is through the android apps (Netflix is what I use mainly) or through my PS4 Pro the content appears drab, the colours wash out, reds become almost grey and the overall screen just looks faded. This is especially noticable when playing games. Just one example is if I click Star Wars Battlefront II - the game starts to load, then the screen goes briefly blank before returning and appears hugely washed out. I am assuming this is when the HDR function kicks in and hence the sudden change in colour.

I have spent ages reading up on this and cannot accept the general consensus that "HDR is a gimmick unless you have an OLED TV". This TV I bought cost a small fortune and I can't bring myself to just turn off HDR because I feel that I am missing out on a function that was part of the sales pitch when I purchased the TV.

I feel that there must be a setting that can be changed to correct this?! I have read online that people have worked out their own fixes for their own TVs that make the colours "pop" with HDR turned on. However I cannot get this to happen on my TV 😞

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Lady Laura

[Sean_Mc]

Hi CaptainLambino,

Please note - HDR content is not automatically detected via HDMI input.

To view content in its optimal image quality, set the picture mode to HDR-Video mode.

1. Press the HOME button on the remote control.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Display in the TV category.
4. Select Picture.
5. Select Picture mode and set to HDR-Video.

Please let us know if this helps!

Thanks,

Sean Mc

[Kuschelmonschter]

I have spent ages reading up on this and cannot accept the general consensus that "HDR is a gimmick unless you have an OLED TV". This TV I bought cost a small fortune and I can't bring myself to just turn off HDR because I feel that I am missing out on a function that was part of the sales pitch when I purchased the TV.

Not necessarily an OLED, but a TV that can actually reproduce a higher dynamic range. An XE83 just can't due to missing local dimming. Those TVs seem to introduce a greyish bloom in order to open up shadows and bring down highlights. I have no clue whether they could do better, but if you search forums you will find lots of threads about greyish HDR pictures. In my opinion this is false advertising.

I would just disable HDR because content will look better on a XE83 afterwards. Unfortunately HDR can't be disabled on older models from 2015 and early 2016. So best feature of the newer entry-level HDR TVs is the switch to disable HDR. And that's a shame...

[CaptainLambino]

Hi thank you for your answer - however - the options I have are

Vivid

Standard

Custom

Cinema Pro

Cinema Home

Sports

Animation

Photo - Vivid

Photo - Standard

Photo - Custom

Game

Graphics

Do you reckon any of the above could be HDR-Video?

Thanks 

Lady Laura

[LightFoot]

Hi @CaptainLambino. Settings -> Display -> Picture -> Advanced settings -> Video options -> HDR mode (probably set to Auto).

[CaptainLambino]

@LightFoot Hi mate, I have seen this setting however this doesnt resolve the washed out look that HDR programmes have?

[Risc0n]

---

@Sean_Mc wrote:

Hi CaptainLambino,

Please note - HDR content is not automatically detected via HDMI input.

To view content in its optimal image quality, set the picture mode to HDR-Video mode.

1. Press the HOME button on the remote control.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Display in the TV category.
4. Select Picture.
5. Select Picture mode and set to HDR-Video.

Please let us know if this helps!

Thanks,

Sean Mc

---

That is incorrect, I had the 55 inch version and it has a game mode and does auto detect HDR. There is also no HDR video mode on this tv......

@CaptainLambino this TV has no local dimming, this is what causes the washed out look as it cannot dim sections of the screen, only the whole screen. 

Use the calibration settings from here 

https://youtu.be/x_HL1vjq5DQ

[stellet]

I was pretty frustrated with my SONY 49XE8396. No matter what I did, I always had a grey sheen (as if the contrast/brightness were too high all the time) all across the screen, specially with netflix UHD and HDR channels. I followed almost every calibration forum and video recommendation, but could not get rid of this anomaly. I have my 49XE8396 hard wired over ethernet and I was at the end of my tether so I decided to check every single setting on the TV. 

For some bizzare reason, disabling the internal wifi got rid of the grey sheen and allowed me to properly adjust the display setings. The only problem is that I had to personalise most of the settings to get a acceptable picture.

It's a late at night now, but if you require each individual setting please let me know. 

[AstroSmurf]

Try going into settings, colour, adv.colour temp and look at the red ,green and blue GAIN. Make sure these are maxed out(when in HDR mode)

[stellet]

I have since switched the wifi back on without the grey sheen returning. HDR mode is off and am now happy with my individual setup.