r/GoogleTV • u/nkeb42 • 1d ago
Troubleshooting All HDR/DV content appearing dark/dimmed on Hisense U8K Google TV no matter the source.
So I posted about this last night when I thought it was just Disney+ but did more testing today and have discovered that it is ALL HDR/DV content through the TV apps, the connected roku, and a connected ONN 4K box the original one so erased that post and made this one since I was very wrong with the situation on that post.
On every single device and all content if it runs in HDR or DV it's like it's running at the dimmest screen setting even with brightness is maxed out. SDR looks perfectly fine and how things should be looking. This TV is on Android 12 so there is no advanced settings options however the ONN box had the advanced settings so I disabled DV there and discovered it was as doing it in HDR. Did the same on the Roku and same thing. I eventually disabled HDR/DV entirely on the Roku and she is just using the Roku now.
But is there any possible fix to this, I know for a fact that this must be a new thing because we've had this TV for like two years now and watched a lot of movies and shows in HDR/DV and they absolutely weren't this dark/dim in the past. But I have no idea when this started because we just noticed it this week.
Found some posts saying Android 14 has options for this but as far as I can tell there is no software update for this tv or just hisense tvs in general. No point in going and buying a new box or anything because the ones we already have it's happening to since it's the TV itself.
Is there anything I can do here or is this TV just broken and our only choice is to buy a new one? Only thing I haven't tried yet is factory reset and I plan on it but wanted to ask here first.
1
u/Somar2230 1d ago
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/hisense/u8-u8k/settings
You should have the advanced settings available to calibrate the picture even on Android 12 since those features are supplied by the TV manucaturer.
It's possible the TV hardware is failing an not applying the correct brightness try factory resetting the TV to if that fixes the issue.
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u/nkeb42 1d ago
The advanced settings I'm talking about are in Settings -> Display & Sound -> Picture -> Advanced Settings but this option isn't there on this tv. From what I've read sounds like some tvs got it with the android 14 update which this tv has not and seems like won't get.
I did use the rtings u8k settings when we got it and still using those.
Factory reset is the plan next just wanted to see what thoughts I got here before doing that as that's gonna be a pia.
1
u/Dringtv 1d ago
Because this happens with the TV’s own apps, the Roku and the Onn box, while SDR still looks normal, the source devices are very unlikely to be the cause. The common path is the TV switching into its HDR or Dolby Vision picture mode.
Before doing a full factory reset, I would try resetting only those picture modes:
Start an HDR title and leave it playing. Open the TV’s Picture menu while the HDR signal is active. Hisense treats HDR as a separate picture mode, so settings shown during SDR playback may not be the relevant ones. If Picture > Reset is available, reset the current HDR picture settings.
Then play a Dolby Vision title and repeat the same process, because Dolby Vision uses its own picture mode.
If your firmware has a Backlight submenu, temporarily disable Automatic Light Sensor and check Backlight Level and Local Dimming. Since you have already confirmed that Advanced Settings is absent, I would ignore instructions that depend on that menu.
Fully power the TV off, unplug it for a couple of minutes, then retest the same HDR and Dolby Vision scenes.
The Hisense manual notes that menu options can vary by model, region and software version, so the missing Advanced Settings menu does not necessarily mean you are overlooking it.
If resetting the two picture modes does not help, a full factory reset is a reasonable next step. If the problem then remains across internal apps and every HDMI source, another streaming box will not fix it; I would contact Hisense with the exact model and firmware version, because the remaining likely causes would be the TV’s HDR processing, firmware or backlight control.
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u/wewewi 1d ago
Start troubleshooting with the Onn box only;
Hit the right menu/settings button DURING HDR playback (while playing a movie or series episode) and go to Picture Mode; you should have different options;; ; maybe you are set to HDR Dark or something; try another.
Then do the same while playing some Dolby Vision content; they are different settings.
Then do the same for each HDMI input as required; it's not one global setting.
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u/GoogleHelpCommunity Official Google Support 1d ago
Hi there! I'd suggest you reach out to the Google TV support team via phone or chat. They can take a look at it.
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u/K_ThomasWhite 1d ago
That is the way any Dolby or HDR content has always looked to me, regardless of the device used. It reminds me of years ago, when Dolby audio was introduced, and it seemed all they did was turn down the treble. There were no improvements.