Tearing my hair out now - Dolby Vision on HDMI3 on AF8

[Mchaggis69]

Ok so I had a bit of a nightmare trying to get Dolby Vision up and running on my AF8 TV.

I have a NVidia Shield attached via a Marantz receiver to the TV.

The Shield can output Dolby Vision but I could only get it to work on HDMI 2 input on the TV.

HDMI3 (which is the preferred input due to ARC) was giving me sparkles on screen and picture drop outs.

I even bought a new AV receiver thinking that was the problem.

Anyway - a software upgrade of the TV seemed to fix this and I closed and open ticket I had with Sony.

Tonight - the issue has re-appeared.

Screen is unwatchable using Dolbyvision on HDMI3 - thousands of ‘sparkles’ on screen.

Switch to HDMI 2 and its fine.

I am gutted this has re-appeared as I thought it was resolved. Any clues out there?

Video of whats happening - choose 1080p quality to see it properly https://youtu.be/iM-btPADgHU

[HannahEd01]

Hi Mchaggis69, did you get any update on this?

[Mchaggis69]

I get an email from Sony support about once a week asking me to be patient - no solution yet. Latest one was actually today.

The other day the sparkles appeared again and they were awful, had to turn off dolbyvision again.

If I could pinpoint when and how it happens that would help, but its random and inconsistent.

When I turn off Dolbyvision on the Shield then turn it back on again its fine. Or alternatively, if I plug the shield off HDMI3 on the TV and into HDMI2 during the sparkles, it also solves it.

[Bat_Rick]

Hi Mchaggis69,

Guess you'll have to wait for the engineers response, in the mean time you can continue doing the workarounds.

[Mchaggis69]

OK -

Update.

Sparkles appeared again yesterday and have remained until this evening on my NVidia Shield with DOlbyvision enabled.

My son brought down his appleTV box and we unplugged my shield and tried the AppleTV in its place.

As soon as the AppleTV booted it offered to enable Dolbyvision and there we go - a screen full of sparkles.

This proves its not the Nvidia box that has an issue. Its also NOT my AV unit as I’ve tried two different models.

The TV HDMI3 is faulty. 100%.

Now just to understand if its a software fix or a replacement TV I need.

(The AppleTV also tested the HDMI cables and found no issues - they are expensive 8k cables so unlikely to be a problem).

The TV is out of retailer warranty but in the UK I think I have up to 6 years if I can show it was faulty at the point of sale (which it clearly was). Lets see how Sony respond when I update my ticket.

I’m really fed up - anyone any advice on how I just get the TV replaced for one that works 100%?

[QuinnDexter]

Seriously I feel your pain.  As with my original post I have a similar issue with Dolby Vision on the kd48a9 OLED. Where by, when fed a 4k Dolby Vision stream through every HDMI except 3, I get a random vertical  sparkling which comes and goes but only on the left side of the screen. I did the usual self diagnosis of buying new HDMI cables and, credit to John Lewis, replacement players.  

I eventually upgraded to the top of the range UBP-9000 and for a short while no sparkles appeared.  But they came back.  So John lewis replaced the TV.  And this one has just started with the sparkles on every Dolby Vision Disk.  HDR 10 is fine, DV can sparkle. But not all the time.

Coupled with an annoying audio vibration from the chassis, I am losing faith with these "Master series TVs."  1500 quid for multiple defective sets is quite annoying.

[HannahEd01]

Hi, Sony just released an update that's addressing many issues, try it and let us know the outcome: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/oled-tvs-android-a8f_af8-series/kd-65af8/software/0026249...

[Mchaggis69]

Yeah -

I got an update on the day the firmware was released from Sony.

Its installed and working. I need to give it time to see what happens, but so far with DolbyVision enabled I have seen no problems. What was slightly concerning is I didn’t see any reference to Dolbyvision in the release notes for the firmware update - which were very short.

Sony have actually closed my support ticket, but will re-open if the sparklies return.

I think one month without sparklies and I will consider this ‘fixed’.

If this *is* a firmware fix, it kind of brings into sharp focus the troll who infested this thread with abuse and wild allegations that it was me who didn’t understand how to setup my kit that was the problem. 🤔

[HannahEd01]

Hi Mchaggis69, of course it needs time. I also recommend performing a factory reset after the update for it to settle in..

[Mchaggis69 · Accepted solution]

OK - its been >2 weeks now and *no sparklies* at all.

It looks like the firmware update has fixed this so I will close this thread on that basis.

It remains a frustrating event. I spent a LOT of cash (and time) trying to resolve the issue and following up advice from many sources including Sony. Essentially a couple of new high end HDMI cables and I even replaced completely my amp when it appeared that was the issue. Neither were needed and it seems faulty firmware in the Sony TV was at fault all along.

Glad to see it fixed but its left a slightly bitter taste.

[Mchaggis69]

Just by way of update.

This turned out not to be a solution after all.

Sparklies did re-appear, although its a longer period between TV resets before they do.

£2,600 on a TV that doesn't handle Dolbyvision properly (unless you're prepared to reset the TV once a month) and only has an in-built 100Mb network card.

As it happens I've sold my house and as part of the deal the TV is getting left on the wall.

This TV has ultimately been a real disappointment and I won't be buying Sony again. One look at this forum tells you all you need to know about bugs. Its a shame because the picture (when not ruined by sparklies) is stunning.

Will make up my mind what to buy in the next month or two when we move out.