Cable Forum - V+ Poor contrast / black levels from V+ (Samsung) box

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Poor contrast / black levels from V+ (Samsung) box

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum for this...

Since I upgraded my TV (Panasonic TX-L50E6B) I've noticed that the image quality from my V+ box isn't anywhere as near as "good" as it is from my Bluray or media PC. In particular, the black levels seem massively lacking.

I've attached a picture which hopefully shows what I mean; in the 'home' screen you can see that the black background is actually dark grey, compared to the 'actual' black from the TV's menu which I have opened for comparison. Even on 'black' screens when watching TV content, there is a severe lack of contrast and deep blacks.

Is there anything I can do to mitigate this, without adjusting TV settings (I've got them nicely optimised for viewing on the other devices), or is it just a limitation of the V+ box? It's a Samsung unit, not TiVo or anything.

It's all running through my AV amp and passing through to the TV; I'm not changing inputs on the TV.

Hope this makes sense?!

Re: Poor contrast / black levels from V+ (Samsung) box

Quote:

Originally Posted by HowardCanning (Post 35691228)

in the 'home' screen you can see that the black background is actually dark grey

That's because the background IS actually dark grey. It's defined as #161616 in the HTML. Absolute black (and other extremes) can cause problems with some TVs so it is deliberately avoided.

Re: Poor contrast / black levels from V+ (Samsung) box

Interesting.. I'd never have put that as the cause!

Even blank screens look a lot more "grey" than they should be though... It makes it look like I've got the backlight turned right up.

I take it there's nothing I can do but accept it then? I've not noticed it on the TV in our lounge...

Re: Poor contrast / black levels from V+ (Samsung) box

Nothing you can do if you don't want to alter the TV settings specifically for the V+. I imagine the TV manufacturer can use a blacker black themselves because they don't need to ensure compatibility with other screens.

Re: Poor contrast / black levels from V+ (Samsung) box

Many new TVs have some very complicated setup options which can completely change the picture quality.

http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/beyond-basic-tv-settings/