screen dims on dark scenes - samsung tv

chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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does anyone know how to turn off the function where a samsung tv dims the screens when a scene is dark?

it's most noticeable when the credits are played if it's white text on black background.
if i press the sky remote when this happens so the now/next banner appears then you can see if brighten up again, and then dim again when the now/next banner disappears.

i've turned off every possible picture setting that i can find but none disable this annoying dim feature (even the energy saving features).
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  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,463
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    Presumably it's the backlight dimming that gives the set good contrast ratios?, it's probably not possible to turn it off?

    Have you tried adjusting the backlight setting?, turning that full up 'might' prevent the auto dimming?.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    not sure if it's backlight or not.
    it actually makes the image worse when it does it, as it dims everything. if anything you'd think it would be the opposite to make dark scenes more watch-able.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    If the entire screen is going darker then I would say it is almost certainly the backlighting.

    If you had a really sophisticated telly it could have one LED backlight per pixel and vary the level of each pixel backlight depending on the colour value of the pixel, in theory at least. Might cost a quid or three more for a display panel like that though :)
  • jjnejjne Posts: 6,580
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    It should be possible to turn this feature off -- it is on my Panasonic.

    It's a bit of a rubbish feature -- to try to hide the poor-quality black rendering of an LCD screen by dimming the whole screen on dark scenes.

    You could turn the brightness down permanently -- but then the "superior brightness" of LCD screens would be lost.
  • evil cevil c Posts: 7,833
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    Hi chenks, I've got an older Samsung TV (2011) and it sounds like either Motion Lighting or LED Motion Plus, although I'm pretty sure it's the former. Try the main Picture Menu then Advanced Settings, and it should be in there. I've got them both turned to Off.

    If you can't find it then tell us the model.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    evil c wrote: »
    Hi chenks, I've got an older Samsung TV (2011) and it sounds like either Motion Lighting or LED Motion Plus, although I'm pretty sure it's the former. Try the main Picture Menu then Advanced Settings, and it should be in there. I've got them both turned to Off.

    as i said, everything that can be turned off is turned off.
    Samsung UE32D5520
  • grahamlthompsongrahamlthompson Posts: 18,486
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    My 40" Sony used to do that when connected via my Denon AV amp. The solution was to reduce the hdmi output from 16bit to 12 bit output (in the amp setup settings)
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    My 40" Sony used to do that when connected via my Denon AV amp. The solution was to reduce the hdmi output from 16bit to 12 bit output (in the amp setup settings)

    no amp involved.
  • evil cevil c Posts: 7,833
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    I've has a quick look at the Advanced Settings for your TV and it is the Motion Lighting (my TV is a D model too). I reckon it must be faulty. I suppose you could try Reset Picture although you would lose all your settings. Failing that if you have a 5 year guarantee now's the time to contact the retailer.

    Just thinking about it you could also try one of the two Picture Modes that don't give you the option of changing the Advanced Settings, namely Natural and Dynamic.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    evil c wrote: »
    I've has a quick look at the Advanced Settings for your TV and it is the Motion Lighting (my TV is a D model too). I reckon it must be faulty. I suppose you could try Reset Picture although you would lose all your settings. Failing that if you have a 5 year guarantee now's the time to contact the retailer.

    Just thinking about it you could also try one of the two Picture Modes that don't give you the option of changing the Advanced Settings, namely Natural and Dynamic.

    the first thing i do with any TV is turn off/disable all of the picture and audio "improving" settings.
    i prefer to have the image and audio untouched.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    evil c wrote: »
    I've has a quick look at the Advanced Settings for your TV and it is the Motion Lighting (my TV is a D model too). I reckon it must be faulty. I suppose you could try Reset Picture although you would lose all your settings. Failing that if you have a 5 year guarantee now's the time to contact the retailer.

    that setting being off makes no difference.
    it still happens on or off.

    reset picture makes no difference as it happens with any of the settings on or off.
    it's not a fault, it's a feature of these samsung TV's.
    i have 2 samsungs (different models) and they both do it.
  • evil cevil c Posts: 7,833
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    I have a UE40D6530 and there's no screen dimming problem at all. I do however get a momentary period of extra brightness when I bring up the EPG. I think this could the problem, and it would explain why it's happening with both your TVs. It would have been helpful if you had mentioned it was happening with both TVs in the OP.

    You need to play around with the picture settings a bit more so when you see the extra brightness it's too bright, rather than just right. Choose your favourite picture mode (not Dynamic) then turn the colour all the way down to b&w and adjust the backlight, contrast, brightness and sharpness to optimise text and high contrast. Also adjust the Gamma in the Advanced Settings sub-menu.

    I've done a lot of adjusting in the last 3 years and perseverance and patience is the name of the game. At the moment, in the evening when it's still light outside, I watch TV in Standard mode and when the lights are on at night I turn down the Brightness from 11 to 9 or 8 or even 7. I leave the other settings alone though, except now and then I turn the Colour up for some TV movies.

    When I'm watching the F1 in summer during daylight hours I do use Dynamic mode, that I avoided like the plague until this year, because everyone says don't use it. At night with the lights on it admittedly it looks horrendous so it's a definite no no and back to Standard mode.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    evil c wrote: »
    I have a UE40D6530 and there's no screen dimming problem at all. I do however get a momentary period of extra brightness when I bring up the EPG. I think this could the problem, and it would explain why it's happening with both your TVs. It would have been helpful if you had mentioned it was happening with both TVs in the OP.

    it's not extra brightness.
    the screen is not getting brighter, the screen is dimming when the majority of the screen is black (most noticable during end credits etc).

    if i bring up the EPG during other times there is no increase in brightness.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,463
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    chenks wrote: »
    it's not extra brightness.
    the screen is not getting brighter, the screen is dimming when the majority of the screen is black (most noticable during end credits etc).

    Like I said, it's dynamic dimming of the backlights, used to increase the contrast ratio.

    I can't say I've ever seen a noticeable effect on the picture though.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    Like I said, it's dynamic dimming of the backlights, used to increase the contrast ratio.

    yes i know, but i want to disable it.
    as it is not enhancing the image at all, it's making it duller
    I can't say I've ever seen a noticeable effect on the picture though.

    it definitely is noticeable.
  • -GONZO--GONZO- Posts: 9,624
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    I don't think it's possible to turn off Auto dimming via the settings menus, however the 2009 Samsung LED models had a hidden service menu which you could disable auto dimming, but there's some caution to going into such menu as you could completely knacker up your tv if you weren't careful.
    Whether or not your tv has a similiar menu I couldn't say.
  • mac2708mac2708 Posts: 3,349
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    evil c wrote: »
    .............

    I've done a lot of adjusting in the last 3 years and perseverance and patience is the name of the game. At the moment, in the evening when it's still light outside, I watch TV in Standard mode and when the lights are on at night I turn down the Brightness from 11 to 9 or 8 or even 7. I leave the other settings alone though, except now and then I turn the Colour up for some TV movies.

    When I'm watching the F1 in summer during daylight hours I do use Dynamic mode, that I avoided like the plague until this year, because everyone says don't use it. At night with the lights on it admittedly it looks horrendous so it's a definite no no and back to Standard mode.

    That may suit your particular viewing requirements but I would imagine that most people just want to switch the TV on and watch.
    Personally I couldn't be doing with all that hassle. Still, horses for courses etc.
  • ianradioianianradioian Posts: 74,860
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    Only got this as a suggestion for you. Does the set have an energy saving mode? Have you also turned this off? (If possible) .On my panasonic its off as it caused this.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    Only got this as a suggestion for you. Does the set have an energy saving mode? Have you also turned this off? (If possible) .On my panasonic its off as it caused this.

    it does, and they are both turned off.
  • GroutyGrouty Posts: 34,020
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    Switch the picture mode to Movie. :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 72
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    chenks wrote: »
    does anyone know how to turn off the function where a samsung tv dims the screens when a scene is dark?

    it's most noticeable when the credits are played if it's white text on black background.
    if i press the sky remote when this happens so the now/next banner appears then you can see if brighten up again, and then dim again when the now/next banner disappears.

    i've turned off every possible picture setting that i can find but none disable this annoying dim feature (even the energy saving features).

    I had this exact problem with my Samsung UE32F6800. While I didn't manage to completely remove the dimming effect on dark scenes, I did manage to get it down to a level where it doesn't cause a problem.

    I changed loads of settings, but not sure exactly which one did the trick.

    Under the "Picture" menu, I have the following set:

    Picture Mode --> Standard
    Advanced Settings -->
    . Dynamic Contrast --> OFF
    . Black Tone --> OFF
    . Motion Lighting --> OFF
    Picture Options -->
    . Motion Plus --> CLEAR
    . Black Optimiser --> OFF

    Then under the "System" menu, I have the following settings:

    Eco Solution -->
    . Energy Saving --> OFF
    . Eco Sensor --> OFF

    As I mentioned, this combination of settings hasn't completely eliminated the dimming effect, but it is no-longer a problem for me.

    Hope this helps.
  • David (2)David (2) Posts: 20,632
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    As per a previous post, try selecting the movie mode.
    My last Sony LCD did the same thing on film credits, but not on anything else. And by playing the movies in the Sony theatre mode stopped the screen going light-dark on the credits.

    Not seen it on this newer model though (at least not yet).
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    Fingerbobs wrote: »
    I had this exact problem with my Samsung UE32F6800. While I didn't manage to completely remove the dimming effect on dark scenes, I did manage to get it down to a level where it doesn't cause a problem.

    I changed loads of settings, but not sure exactly which one did the trick.

    Under the "Picture" menu, I have the following set:

    Picture Mode --> Standard
    Advanced Settings -->
    . Dynamic Contrast --> OFF
    . Black Tone --> OFF
    . Motion Lighting --> OFF
    Picture Options -->
    . Motion Plus --> CLEAR
    . Black Optimiser --> OFF

    Then under the "System" menu, I have the following settings:

    Eco Solution -->
    . Energy Saving --> OFF
    . Eco Sensor --> OFF

    As I mentioned, this combination of settings hasn't completely eliminated the dimming effect, but it is no-longer a problem for me.

    Hope this helps.

    all my settings are already like that with the exception of motion plus, which is set to off.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    David (2) wrote: »
    As per a previous post, try selecting the movie mode.
    My last Sony LCD did the same thing on film credits, but not on anything else. And by playing the movies in the Sony theatre mode stopped the screen going light-dark on the credits.

    Not seen it on this newer model though (at least not yet).

    movie mode does all sorts of other things to the image though.
    i don't want any digital improvements at all.
  • Deacon1972Deacon1972 Posts: 8,171
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    Sounds very much like Samsung's "micro dimming".

    Similar to local dimming but Samsung don't actually dim the LED'S but artificially tries to create a similar effect by controlling the contrast in different areas of the screen.

    As far as I know it can only be switched off via the service menu.

    Sets with micro dimming also have CE Dimming, this does dim the LED's, apparently this can not be switched off in the service menu, but I have come across some sites that say it can.
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