HDR Video Color

[forsure]

Does anyone else feel that most films are just too dark with HDR settings. Is it my TV? I have tried all settings. Is is it Chromecast, it does not look much different with Dolby Vision than films sent from Amazon Prime. I thought Amazon Prime or whichever app is streaming HDR 4k films, that they all look too dark. Or is this more marketing with the True Black nonsense. So now I see less?

[flashandpan007]

What TV do you use?

[davexnet]

It's poor on my 2017 LG 4k Ultra TV. I'd rather watch the non-HDR version.
The whole thing seems like a gimmick. Either the picture is too dark, or the shadows are
elevated to a murky grey. In either case it's a worthless experience.

[forsure]

It's poor on my 2017 LG 4k Ultra TV. I'd rather watch the non-HDR version.
The whole thing seems like a gimmick. Either the picture is too dark, or the shadows are
elevated to a murky grey. In either case it's a worthless experience.

I was really impressed with the bright/color parts, it's just the dark that makes it as you put it. My friend told me he paid $2700 for his OLED and did not notice a difference in my $300 (price went up, it's great for regular tv).
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hisense-58-Class-4K-UHD-LED-Roku-Smart-TV-HDR-58R6E3/587182688

The film that made me think to comment is 1080p. It is just converted to Dolby Vision bc of Chromecast. Is HDR possible on 1080p? I want my HDR blu rays to look like any HDR Youtube video which look great on my tv. . Is it the streaming aspect?

[davexnet]

On my TV, the very bright picture elements were like looking at the sun. Seems that many TV's have not found the right Hdr contrast balance or are physically incapable of it.
As soon as Prime made Hdr the default, I cancelled it
I have some 1080 and 720p Hdr samples on my pc

[forsure]

On my TV, the very bright picture elements were like looking at the sun. Seems that many TV's have not found the right Hdr contrast balance or are physically incapable of it.
As soon as Prime made Hdr the default, I cancelled it

Why do any YOUTube videos look great? I think it's the streaming not the actual tv.
Especially this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFdonlDSY8E

[davexnet]

I agree with you, I've had much better results with the YouTube sample videos. I posted about it in the LG and Prime forums, but I didn't get any meaningful responses

[forsure]

I agree with you, I've had much better results with the YouTube sample videos. I posted about it in the LG and Prime forums, but I didn't get any meaningful responses

So then streaming must be the variable. Maybe it's just packet loss.

[davexnet]

It's not that, it's their hdr mastering
that's the problem

[forsure]

It's not that, it's their hdr mastering
that's the problem

"Their" would be whom? The HDR cult? Are they related to Sound United?

[davexnet]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

[forsure]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

Yah but it looks that dark on any apps. Including Chromecast streaming my UHD Blu rays with Dolby Vision. Only thing that didnt so far was YTUbe

[forsure]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

That Avatar link uses HDR X , whatever that is.

[usually_quiet]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

Yah but it looks that dark on any apps. Including Chromecast streaming my UHD Blu rays. Only thing that didnt so far was YTUbe

Your TV supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision but not HDR 10+ and has the kind of mediocre specs that are typical for inexpensive 4K HDR TVs. Its rtings.com review notes that doesn't get bright enough for great HDR performance and covers less than 90% of the DC3 colorspace. If you haven't already tried them, the rtings.com review for your TV suggests settings for your TV that might make the screen a bit brighter when playing HDR content.

[forsure]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

I'll give that site a try. That does not explain why Ytube looks as good as it does. It reads HDR WHEN they start.

Yah but it looks that dark on any apps. Including Chromecast streaming my UHD Blu rays. Only thing that didnt so far was YTUbe

Your TV supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision but not HDR 10+ and has the kind of mediocre specs that are typical for inexpensive 4K HDR TVs. Its rtings.com review notes that doesn't get bright enough for great HDR performance and covers less than 90% of the DC3 colorspace. If you haven't already tried them, the rtings.com review for your TV suggests settings for your TV that might make the screen a bit brighter when playing HDR content.

I'll give that site a try. That does not explain why YT videos work as well as they do. They read HDR when they play.

[forsure]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

Yah but it looks that dark on any apps. Including Chromecast streaming my UHD Blu rays. Only thing that didnt so far was YTUbe

Your TV supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision but not HDR 10+ and has the kind of mediocre specs that are typical for inexpensive 4K HDR TVs. Its rtings.com review notes that doesn't get bright enough for great HDR performance and covers less than 90% of the DC3 colorspace. If you haven't already tried them, the rtings.com review for your TV suggests settings for your TV that might make the screen a bit brighter when playing HDR content.

Which tv do I use on the site. According to my link models it does not come up in search on rtings

[davexnet]

A search of 58R6E3 brings up this:
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/hisense/r6090g

[forsure]

A search of 58R6E3 brings up this:
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/hisense/r6090g

Thanks. Yep those are the settings I am using except for Gamma. I 'll give it a try. So am I correct where it gives the suggestion in SDR? I did not see any specific column for HDR. My tv looks pretty good in other modes for regular tv. Those settings given are the ones I use for HDR movies. Well Usually Quiet, it did support my friend's point about the black. I have noticed some movies look dark when not decoding HDR, is that just bc it's Chromecast and has to?

I found the HDR column.

[forsure]

Amazon Prime, which supposedly now uses hdr10+, but it's supposed to be backwards compatible

Yah but it looks that dark on any apps. Including Chromecast streaming my UHD Blu rays. Only thing that didnt so far was YTUbe

Your TV supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision but not HDR 10+ and has the kind of mediocre specs that are typical for inexpensive 4K HDR TVs. Its rtings.com review notes that doesn't get bright enough for great HDR performance and covers less than 90% of the DC3 colorspace. If you haven't already tried them, the rtings.com review for your TV suggests settings for your TV that might make the screen a bit brighter when playing HDR content.

Yah those settings were different for HDR and a nice fix. Thanks. The whites are definitely whiter. I don't know where the "Gamma" setting is. Is that another word for tint? I did not see it on the internet nor in the picture settings. The rest worked. However since there is no Gamma setting and it also says my tv does not have eArc which it does, I might think this is a universal review for that series and not my specific model.

[usually_quiet]

My tv looks pretty good in other modes for regular tv. Those settings given are the ones I use for HDR movies. Well Usually Quiet, it did support my friend's point about the black.

Your TV has a VA panel while lots of other 4K TVs have an IPS panel or ADS panel. VA panels provide darker blacks than IPS or ADS panels but IPS and ADS panels have wider viewing angles than VA panels.

I have noticed some movies look dark when not decoding HDR, is that just bc it's Chromecast and has to?

I don't know for sure because I haven't tried the Chromecast with Google TV with HDR content but I don't think the Chromecast itself can tone-map HDR. Maybe some of the supported players for the Chromecast with Google TV can do tone-mapping but once again, I haven't tried it yet for HDR content.

There is some useful info about HDR and the Chromecast with Google TV at https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1619691310

[usually_quiet]

Yah those settings were different for HDR and a nice fix. Thanks. The whites are definitely whiter. I don't know where the "Gamma" setting is. Is that another word for tint? I did not see it on the internet nor in the picture settings. The rest worked. However since there is no Gamma setting and it also says my tv does not have eArc which it does, I might think this is a universal review for that series and not my specific model.

Gamma has to do with luminance (black-gray-white).

The general calibration and HDR settings for your TV are here: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/hisense/h6570f/settings#make-hdr-brighter
I can't find a detailed user manual for your TV so I can't help you locate the gamma settings inside your TV's menu system. The pictures under the "White Balance" section at the bottom of the page are the result of whatever calibration process the reviewers at rtings.com used to get the most accurate color and white balance they could obtain from the individual TV they tested for the review. The reviewers do say that the settings shown in the pictures under the "White Balance" section are valid only for the individual unit they used for the review.

[jagabo]

I don't think the Chromecast itself can tone-map HDR. Maybe some of the supported players for the Chromecast with Google TV can do tone-mapping...

With 10 bit HDR files I get reasonable colors and levels with Kodi and VLC on the Chromcast on my 8 bit SDR TV. Black levels might be a little too high -- but I only have a few HDR files to test with.

<edit>

I believe I was mistaken above about the Chromecast tone mapping HDR videos. It looks like some of the files I mentioned testing were not HDR, but were from an an HDR source tone mapped and rencoded as SDR.

I downloaded the youtube 4K HDR,1080p HDR, and 4K SDR versions of the Avatar video linked to earlier in this thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFdonlDSY8E

Kodi couldn't really play the HDR version -- but from the few frames I saw before it locked up didn't appear to be tone mapping. The picture was washed out with very low contrast and saturation. VLC was able to play it smoothly but had similar bad levels/colors. The SDR version played in both players and had good levels and saturation. Kodi and VLC were able to play the 1080p HDR versions but did not tone map to reasonable levels/colors.

</edit>