Netfllix vs Other sources - washed out image

ivrytwr3

ivrytwr3

ivrytwr3

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Has anyone else experienced this? Let me explain.................

We have Netflix and i also get Netflix material from other sources to store and keep.

I watched Love, Death and Robots from my external source and it look stunning - rich in colour etc. I then noticed my lad was watching the same episode from Netflix itself - it looked so washed out!! I compared a few other shows and it was the same.

Any idea what's going on here? Any setting in Netflix i can change?
 
Were they being watched on the same TV, and is the TV's external inputs (if you used an external device) on the same settings as the default/main settings?
From memory my TV lets me have different picture settings for it's internal tuners/decoders, and each of the external inputs, so for example I can have it set to a "movie" mode for my blu-ray player, a general mode for my VM box, and something different for it's own tuner/built in apps.

It's also possible you were watching different encodes (UHD with higher contrast vs SD/HD/UHD with standard contrast range).
 
sounds like the tv is configured to consider the external netflix box as providing limited rgb brightness level range ~16->235, as opposed to full range 0->255 rgb,
so, if the box outputs any brightnesses in 235->255 range these appear as white
 
Also possible you have the basic, non-4k HDR / Dolby Vision Netflix package, but external sources were the higher quality format?
 
Could the OP be comparing the actual film / media itself?

E.g. I have Lilo & Stitch on blu-ray and took screenshots of it at key points on my computer. Then I watched it on Disney+ and the same images (at 1080p) didn't have quite the same clarity as my blu-ray images. So I think when a film is being streamed over the internet, there is more compression going on with the image than with the blu-ray counterpart. Again this is using the same screen (Viewsonic VP2768) and at 1920x1080.
 
Pawnless Endgame said:
Could the OP be comparing the actual film / media itself?

E.g. I have Lilo & Stitch on blu-ray and took screenshots of it at key points on my computer. Then I watched it on Disney+ and the same images (at 1080p) didn't have quite the same clarity as my blu-ray images. So I think when a film is being streamed over the internet, there is more compression going on with the image than with the blu-ray counterpart. Again this is using the same screen (Viewsonic VP2768) and at 1920x1080.
Click to expand...
That is pretty much always a thing, even a good streamed copy of something is unlikely to match a good disc version in terms of PQ, as the streaming service has every reason and need to reduce the bitrate whilst if you're putting it on a disc you only need to consider the maximum bit rate of the player and how much space there is on the disc.
Netflix tends to do fairly well as they spend quite a lot of money on R&D to improve their encoders, but it still only takes a slower/older device or connection to reduce that stream quality.

Slightly back on topic, I watched Love Death and Robots on my TV through it's internal app and it looked fine in UHD and my set isn't an expensive one.
 
theone8181 said:
I wouldn't have thought lower quality would mean washed out. Is it trying to hdr badly, or as above if external then hdmi black level.
Click to expand...
That would be my guess, or the TV is possibly something like dynamic black levels to one source but not the other.
I mean it's even possible it's as simple as watching the TV under different lighting conditions in the room, as that can affect the perceived colours like the various optical illusions you see posted in GD where there is a picture with the same colour looking much lighter on half the image than the other half.
 
Both versions watched on the same TV.

  • Sony KD55XF9005BU 55" 4K HDR Smart LED TV
  • Have Netflix Ultimate through Sky and pay for Ultra HD also

Think i'll do another compare and take some pics :)
 
ivrytwr3 said:
Both versions watched on the same TV.

  • Sony KD55XF9005BU 55" 4K HDR Smart LED TV
  • Have Netflix Ultimate through Sky and pay for Ultra HD also

Think i'll do another compare and take some pics :)
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, were you watching netflix from the app on the TV or through sky, as if it's hdr the sky box uses a different version.
 
Might be something to do with HDR - someone else has posted a similar problem:

discourse.osmc.tv

Advice with HDR Settings (Currently washed out colours)

Just wondering if someone could point me in the direction for the most optimal HDR settings? I have an LG OLED TV, the video content is HDR but im seeing really washed out colours, a couple of examples below; HDR Example 1: Non-HDR Version: HDR Example 2: Non-HDR Version 2: The...
discourse.osmc.tv discourse.osmc.tv

So in example 2, pic 1 is similar to Sky/TV Netflix app and pic 2 is what my external source looks like.
 
I’m not sure it helps if you’re using the TV app, but I had this when passing HDR content through an older sound bar via HDMI. Completely washed the picture out. Connecting directly to the TV sorted…

Daft question, but is your internet connection fast enough to stream the full HDR quality?
 
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