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Akin6172's avatar
Akin6172
Reel Rookie
5 years ago

Dim HDR and Dolby vision picture quality

I recently bought the roku ultra 2020, I discovered when I watch HDR10 or Dolby vision content, it is very dim and has low brightness in netflix, apple tv and amazon content. I compared to my nvidia shield and fire tv ,and HDR content is much brighter on those machines, I am using an LG C9 with identical settings on all 3 devices and the Roku ultra just looks dimmer and picture details get lost. I set the oled light to 100, contrast is on 100 and peak brightness is on high. I am also on the latest software 9.4, didn't change the brightness.I don't know if anyone has noticed this also.I even tested out the new Google tv chromecast and Dolby vision HDR was much brighter on the same tv.

app playback

24 Replies

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  • Jt1520's avatar
    Jt1520
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    I too purchased the Roku Ultra 2020 with Dolby Vision.  I noticed immediately that my picture was much dimmer than usual.  When auto detect on display setting is selected, it set Roku to 4K Dolby vision.  I changed it back to 4K TV and the picture is much better and brighter.  Feel like I purchased this 2020 version needlessly.  Channel selection is much faster, so I guess I’ll keep it, but disappointed with Dolby Vision.

    • RACU73's avatar
      RACU73
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      As of Version 10 of the roku software, setting the Display Type to 4K is the only way to get a normal, not dimmed picture. This setting disables HDR in any form so that’s very disappointing. I have an LGCX with the latest firmware and don’t have this issue with their apps. All LG Web OS apps run with Dolby vision or HDR 10 with a normal picture 

      • HisSvt2's avatar
        HisSvt2
        Roku Guru
        4 years ago

        Setting my Ultra to regular HDR is not bad but Dolby Vision is really dark on my LG BX OLED. Obviously running 4K only is brighter always because no HDR at all. 

    • DXPUNK's avatar
      DXPUNK
      Channel Surfer
      5 years ago

      I too have noticed that the Dolby Vision is unusually dim compared to the native apps on my LG E8 OLED - same exact picture settings on both the Roku and native app, same app, same content. I've had to switch to a brighter picture profile when streaming anything with Dolby Vision on Roku to bring it in line with how it looks on the comparable native app on the LG. Another disappointment in this latest product. 

  • andino66's avatar
    andino66
    Channel Surfer
    5 years ago

    I'm having the same issues. The screen is dark and the color looks washed out compared to other streaming devices that I use.  I hate to do this but I think if this continues I'll return the Roku Ultra while I still have a window to do so. It's a shame that this problem continues while other devices look amazing in Dolby Vision.

    • DXPUNK's avatar
      DXPUNK
      Channel Surfer
      5 years ago

      It’s too bad they still haven’t addressed this. Between this and an issue with frame rate on the Netflix app, I ended up returning the Roku Ultra 2020.

      • atc98092's avatar
        atc98092
        Community Streaming Expert
        5 years ago

        I've watched several DV titles on Disney+ the past week, and didn't notice anything in particular about the quality. Seems about the same as my '19 Shield tube. This is on the LG Nano85 set, so perhaps it's TV specific. 

  • Waytrix's avatar
    Waytrix
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    I have the same issue. Even after adjusting multiple settings the 2020 Roku Ultra streams very dim on my LG CX. It's so dim that it's distracting. It really seems like something is wrong with the software for this device, I hope it's not a hardware issue. Hoping that Roku can push an update to address this.

      • Akin6172's avatar
        Akin6172
        Reel Rookie
        5 years ago

        Still waiting for the next software update ,still on version 9.4 from last year so no change for now.

  • Skooma's avatar
    Skooma
    Reel Rookie
    5 years ago

    I just picked up the 2020 ultra myself. I've got a Sony 900E tv, and it autodetected 4k HDR 30hz. I noticed immediately that all content on netflix, hulu and disney+ look really dim with subdued colors. It looks awful which seems odd for a "flagship" device. It's gotta be a firmware thing but I'm not encouraged when I see posts from 2020 with this same issue.

    Has anyone made progress with this?  It seems the ultra has both display and audio issues from other posts I've read constantly requiring a reboot of the ultra. My old firestick worked just fine but I figured I'd "upgrade" lol.

    *note* one thing that did come to mind is a lot of TV's only have 1 or 2 HDMI ports with 18gbs enhanced functions. I'm not using one of those as my other 4k devices are on them. I wonder if that might be part of it. Then again, the firestick was also in that same HDMI and had zero issues like this.