Sony KE48a9 Dimming Issues When Watching Football

[Toastybits]

Hello. This is the second post about this tv and so far Im not very impressed. Has anyone else experienced their picture dimming when watching football ? I watched a Euro 2020 game this afternoon and initially the settings were fine up until the game kicked off. Within a few minutes the picture had dimmed so much the match looked as though it was being played during the evening. I found it unacceptable. Can anyone relate to this ? Thanks

[Joe_Dohn]

I haven't heard of the dimming being this drastic, though it happens to protect the OLED panel from the static backdrop since otherwise it would cause burn-in.

That said, if it is so drastic, there's a possibility it could be a glitch, so make sure you have the latest software version and try it out in the next kick off.

Hope this helps!

- JD

[CyberWoogy]

@Toastybits This wouldn't happen to be your first OLED would it per chance?

From your description it sounds like the ABL is kicking in, which is perfectly normal, in order to protect the screen.

What preset are you using and do you have the ambient light sensor enabled?

If you use a preset such as standard or vivid, you're very much likely to see the ABL kick in more, especially if you have the brightness set high.

[Toastybits]

@CyberWoogyyes it is.I dont have the ambient light sensor enabled but I do have the gamma/peak luminance set to max. Its the standard preset. It looked better yesterday, the darkness issue occured when the stadium was half lit by the sun whilst the other half was in the shade. I think its something I'll have to live with and hope it doesn't happen too often. Darkness seems to be an issue with OLED tv's overall and it beats me why they develop a technology that has a pretty big design flaw. Probably something I'll learn to live with.

[Toastybits]

Thanks for the help

[graham13]

Sony KD48A9 OLED with software update.

Hi, I posted this last Thursday.

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Hi Guys,

Having a problem with the picture brightness. Switching the TV on to watch a live program such as Euro 2020, This Morning, The One show etc, I am noticing that after a short while the screen goes dim. Flicking to another channel and then returning brightens the picture for a while before it dims again.

I have checked eco, and ambient light settings and they are set to off. I cannot find anything else that could cause this. Have I got a rogue ambient light setting, or is auto brightness control playing tricks? 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Graham

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It's still doing it and it's now p*ssing me off big time! I understand how the Auto Brightness Limiter works but it's going beyond acceptable.

Toastybits's description of how the football match looked, as if it was being played during the evening, is spot on. As he rightly says, It's unacceptable. It's not just football either, as I mentioned in my post.

I paid £1,600 for my TV and it's performance is not a good as a TV costing half the price. I did complain to Sony about how aggressive the ABL was but they weren't interested. They told me it was normal. 

Even though I have had the TV for more than 30 days I'm contacting my retailer again tomorrow to take it further and to request a replacement of some sort.

[graham13]

Hi, I posted this last Thursday.

----------------

Hi Guys,

Having a problem with the picture brightness. Switching the TV on to watch a live program such as Euro 2020, This Morning, The One show etc, I am noticing that after a short while the screen goes dim. Flicking to another channel and then returning brightens the picture for a while before it dims again.

I have checked eco, and ambient light settings and they are set to off. I cannot find anything else that could cause this. Have I got a rogue ambient light setting, or is auto brightness control playing tricks? 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Graham

---------------

It's still doing it and it's now p*ssing me off big time! I understand how the Auto Brightness Limiter works but it's going beyond acceptable.

Toastybits's description of how the football match looked, as if it was being played during the evening, is spot on. As he rightly says, It's unacceptable. It's not just football either, as I mentioned in my post.

I paid £1,600 for my TV and it's performance is not a good as a TV costing half the price. I did complain to Sony about how aggressive the ABL was but they weren't interested. They told me it was normal. 

Even though I have had the TV for more than 30 days I'm contacting my retailer again tomorrow to take it further and to request a replacement of some sort.

[rooobb]

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@Toastybits  ha scritto:

@CyberWoogyyes it is.I dont have the ambient light sensor enabled but I do have the gamma/peak luminance set to max. Its the standard preset. It looked better yesterday, the darkness issue occured when the stadium was half lit by the sun whilst the other half was in the shade. I think its something I'll have to live with and hope it doesn't happen too often. Darkness seems to be an issue with OLED tv's overall and it beats me why they develop a technology that has a pretty big design flaw. Probably something I'll learn to live with.

---

@Toastybits are we talking about HDR/HLG broadcast if you have peak luminance set to max?

[graham13]

Hi Rooobb

My settings are standard with just peak brightness set to high. Ambient light is turned off.

During football, even when the ground is all in shadow, it does the same thing. It does the same on other TV shows. During a chat show the whole program goes dim. Then when I flick to another channel and flick it back it brightens up but then darkens again. 

It's the same whether it's through my Virgin V6 box or through the TV itself via the TV ariel and You View.  

[Toastybits]

@rooobb  No its not the HDR broadcasts, I haven't really engaged with them too much. I have chosen the standard setting (for regular tv), with the gamma and peak luminance set to max, with a 98 contrast setting and black level set at 62. It's been a lot better over the last week, slightly darker but nowhere as bad as the match I mentioned in my earlier post. Its not perfect but its improved. 

[Toastybits]

I dont use the ambient light sensor but instead set the brightness to 25/30 when it grows dark