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My new Samsung makes HDTV and movies look "British"

post #1 of 27
12/21/12 at 5:58am
Thread Starter 
Hi all.

Strange issue here: I recently purchased a Samsung UN46ES6100 120hz to replace my Samsung UN40C5000 60hz.

It's a beautiful TV, but for some reason, it makes my TV shows and movies (DVD or Bluray) look distinctly "British" -- by which I mean the colors look duller and grayer, much like British TV. For example, last night I was watching an episode of Law & Order SVU (S13E05) and everything had a grayish tint. It's hard to explain.

I know a little bit about PAL and NTSC issues (I live in Canada, which is NTSC), but I don't think this has anything to do with that because the same content looks "normal" to my eyes on the old TV.

I've tried playing around with the calibration settings without much luck.

Any suggestions? Does this issue have anything to do with 120hz vs. 60hz?
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post #2 of 27
12/21/12 at 8:42am
What picture mode are you using?

Movie mode will make the picture appear dull with less color saturation if viewed in a room with lighting.

Try other picture presets to see if it helps.
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post #3 of 27
12/21/12 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Aydu.

Yes, I have tried the various picture presets, which are identical to my old Samsung. I've also played a little bit with the Backlight and Brightness numbers, but the picture still looks "British"
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post #4 of 27
12/21/12 at 11:40am
turn up the "color" control.
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post #5 of 27
12/21/12 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm, doesn't seem to be related to the color setting. I've tried tweaking almost every setting and the TV still has that British tint. Very bizarre. frown.gif
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post #6 of 27
12/21/12 at 1:11pm
LCD displays are known for being anything but dull and colorless.

Make sure you have the energy saving settings turned off, as these save electricity at the expense of picture quality.

Not sure what is going on with your set. May have a defective display.
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post #7 of 27
12/21/12 at 2:09pm
Thread Starter 
I hope not. I'll give it a few more days and see if I stumble across some kind of setting that fixes this issue. (I upgraded the firmware, but that didn't fix it.)

I wish I could capture video of the screen so I could at least confirm that I'm not insane. Again, this was never an issue on my UN40C5000, which I absolutely loved. It was just a little small.
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post #8 of 27
12/21/12 at 3:16pm
So your saying that your Samsung TV is making everyone look like that they have big crooked teeth;)

P.S. Seriously though I'm sorry to hear about your samsung tv issues because I was planning on getting a samsung as well but now I'm not so sure about it.
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post #9 of 27
12/21/12 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
Honestly, it's still a beautiful TV. I'm hoping this is a user-related issue (i.e., I'm too dumb to figure out some setting) but that's looking less and less likely.

I just tried the movie Pitch Perfect on the UN46ES6100 and my old UN40C5000 ... the colors on the old TV are glossier and warmer, like I'm used to seeing on North American TVs. But the new Samsung still looks grayish and soft.
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post #10 of 27
12/21/12 at 4:25pm
1. You didn't mention Contrast. It controls the white value. Try increasing it. ( Brightness, which you mentioned, controls the black level.)

2. Try turning Dynamic contrast off.

You might have a bad set. These LED/LCD's usually have more than enough brightness and color and often have to be toned down.
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post #11 of 27
12/21/12 at 4:42pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the reply, DFP.

The contrast has been set to 95-100 on all settings I've tried. Brightness has been between 45-50. Dynamic contrast is off. The picture still looks grayish and cold.
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post #12 of 27
12/21/12 at 5:08pm
What kind of picture options do you have? I'm not familiar with this particular panel but do you see such things as, "Natural", "Standard", "Movie", "Cool" or "Game" settings/modes somewhere in your menu? If you're stuck in the wrong one of those, then even making changes to brightness, contrast, color, etc., will only go so far in changing the image you see. You might be set in some cool/bluer image mode when you were in a warmer mode, such as movie mode, before with your old set.
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post #13 of 27
12/21/12 at 5:18pm
Is there a "color temperature" setting?
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post #14 of 27
12/21/12 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I have tried calibrating the various picture modes (Movie, Standard, Dynamic, Natural) and playing with the color tones within those settings (Warm 2, Warm 1, Standard, Cool) and the picture invariably has a British look to it, and not the glossier American image quality that I'm used to.

I'm really stumped. I'm not a videophile and I'm usually content to make only a few basic changes to the presets, but this TV just doesn't agree with me. I don't know if it's a dud or if it's supposed to look this way.
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post #15 of 27
12/21/12 at 6:55pm
Big ears, weak chins, and bad teeth?
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post #16 of 27
12/21/12 at 8:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnoisewater View Post

Hi all.
Strange issue here: I recently purchased a Samsung UN46ES6100 120hz to replace my Samsung UN40C5000 60hz.
It's a beautiful TV, but for some reason, it makes my TV shows and movies (DVD or Bluray) look distinctly "British" -- by which I mean the colors look duller and grayer, much like British TV. For example, last night I was watching an episode of Law & Order SVU (S13E05) and everything had a grayish tint. It's hard to explain.
I know a little bit about PAL and NTSC issues (I live in Canada, which is NTSC), but I don't think this has anything to do with that because the same content looks "normal" to my eyes on the old TV.
I've tried playing around with the calibration settings without much luck.
Any suggestions? Does this issue have anything to do with 120hz vs. 60hz?

I think the ES has a matte screen, the C has a Ultra-Clear panel screen.

The C has a wider viewing angle=less washed out colors.

The ES picture processing is probably weaker (due to additional Smart Tv features).

I had a A850 with great PQ, then a D650 (lesser picture) , a D6900 (poor screen uniformity, less "pop") and now a ES7100 great PQ.
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post #17 of 27
12/22/12 at 5:30am
Thread Starter 
Perhaps the matte vs. glossy screen is what's throwing me off. Perhaps it's because much of the content I watch was given to me by my friend, and he downloads stuff from the Internet. (Although again, this same downloaded content looked fantastic on the old Samsung.) I watch the stuff he gives me on XBMC.

Whatever the issue is, though, I've decided to return this TV.

Can anyone suggest an alternate 46" LED? Perhaps one with a glossy screen? I love Samsung, but I'm reluctant to try another after this frustrating experience. I wish I could find a UN46C5000 here in Canada.
Edited by Mnoisewater - 12/22/12 at 5:40am
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post #18 of 27
12/22/12 at 5:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnoisewater View Post

Perhaps the matte vs. glossy screen is what's throwing me off. Perhaps it's because much of the content I watch was given to me by my friend, and he downloads stuff from the Internet. (Although again, this same downloaded content looked fantastic on the old Samsung.)
Whatever it is, though, I've decided to return this TV.
Can anyone suggest an alternate 46" LED? I love Samsung, but I'm reluctant to try another after this frustrating experience.

I just recently got a Samsung UN46ES7100 and its really good.
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post #19 of 27
12/22/12 at 5:55am
Thread Starter 
Funny -- that's the first alternative I started to look at.

If I were to PM you a small video file, would you be willing to test it out on your TV and tell me if it looks gray and "British" to you? It certainly looks that way on this TV, like it was shot in the 1980s. I'd be interested in learning if it's the content or the TV.
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post #20 of 27
12/22/12 at 7:03am
Is it safe to assume that you have more than one content source box connected to the Samsung and they're all manifesting this "british" tint?
Edited by CruelInventions - 12/22/12 at 7:10am
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post #21 of 27
12/22/12 at 8:59am
Thread Starter 
CruelInventions: My PVR isn't working at the moment (unrelated to my TV issues), so I've been watching all content on XBMC through my 2010 Mac Mini, which is hooked up to the TV through a mini DVI-to-HDMI adapter. This setup is identical to the one I used with my Samsung UN40C5000. I've tried two different HDMI ports on the TV with the same results.

I also tried putting some content on a USB stick and plugging it directly into the TV, and it still looks "British."
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post #22 of 27
12/23/12 at 11:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Forrest Gump View Post

So your saying that your Samsung TV is making everyone look like that they have big crooked teeth;)

"Oh, behaaaaaaave!!" biggrin.gif

// Sent from my mobile. Misspellings happen. //
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post #23 of 27
12/23/12 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnoisewater View Post

Perhaps the matte vs. glossy screen is what's throwing me off. Perhaps it's because much of the content I watch was given to me by my friend, and he downloads stuff from the Internet. (Although again, this same downloaded content looked fantastic on the old Samsung.) I watch the stuff he gives me on XBMC.

Whatever the issue is, though, I've decided to return this TV....

A-HA-HA! This could be the problem. Start with a Good quality blu-ray, I started with my 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY disc. Out of the box, looked like crap, the "soap opera" effect, looked great after applying lcdtvbuyingguide's settings to Movie. As I posted in the ES6100, thread, start there. Particularly, for your "greyed-out color" issue, DEFINITELY do the 10 pt white balance adjustments - big improvement there in my experience.

// Sent from my mobile. Misspellings happen. //
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post #24 of 27
12/23/12 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnoisewater View Post

CruelInventions: My PVR isn't working at the moment (unrelated to my TV issues), so I've been watching all content on XBMC through my 2010 Mac Mini, which is hooked up to the TV through a mini DVI-to-HDMI adapter. This setup is identical to the one I used with my Samsung UN40C5000. I've tried two different HDMI ports on the TV with the same results.

I also tried putting some content on a USB stick and plugging it directly into the TV, and it still looks "British."
Damn, not allowed to edit and combine posts. frown.gif

I believe HDMI1 is the one designed for HDMI/DVI input, keep your Mac on that.

Suggest you get a BD player from a place you can return to (buyer's remorse, no restocking fee, e. g. Costco), and plug into HDMI2, XBMC downloads are questionable and may not be consistent. That may not be the problem, it just makes comparisons difficult.

// Sent from my mobile. Misspellings happen. //
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post #25 of 27
2/6/13 at 7:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiratesCove View Post

I think the ES has a matte screen, the C has a Ultra-Clear panel screen.

The C has a wider viewing angle=less washed out colors.

The ES picture processing is probably weaker (due to additional Smart Tv features).

I had a A850 with great PQ, then a D650 (lesser picture) , a D6900 (poor screen uniformity, less "pop") and now a ES7100 great PQ.

Is the screen on the 7100 different than the 6500? I was in BB yesterday and seem to think so, but can't remember.
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post #26 of 27
2/6/13 at 7:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnoisewater View Post

CruelInventions: My PVR isn't working at the moment (unrelated to my TV issues), so I've been watching all content on XBMC through my 2010 Mac Mini, which is hooked up to the TV through a mini DVI-to-HDMI adapter. This setup is identical to the one I used with my Samsung UN40C5000. I've tried two different HDMI ports on the TV with the same results.

I also tried putting some content on a USB stick and plugging it directly into the TV, and it still looks "British."


Before you bother with a return and more frustration, a few thoughts. First, try a good dvd and try the settings from one of the official 6100 or 6500 owners threads. You need to remove the unknowns of using a mac or files from a usb stick. A blu ray dvd is the reference standard, all other sources can be questionable/unknown quality wise.

Also, buy the Disney WOW calibration DVD for less than $20. This provides tools and explanation for various settings, from beginner to advanced. It also contains something like 30+ movie clips from various disney movies. Having this disc means you have a stable reference point....for any tv.

I just bought the Samsung ES6900 LED and have spent some time tweeking it. To be honest, tweeking my Plasma was easier, as the settings on the Samsung are a lot more particular. And you have to jump back and forth between them because their inter-dependant.

Not questioning your sanity, just trying to make sure your going about this the right way.

Regards...
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post #27 of 27
2/6/13 at 7:42am
Since I last posted in this thread I helped a friend install a UN55EH6000 set because he wanted the most frills free lowest cost Samsung. He also wanted a matte screen since the set is sitting perpendicular to a large doorwall. The set looks very good, however, it doesn't have the "pop" of the glossy screen.

When I saw this thread pop up this morning, I knew that was your problem and I saw that Pirates Cove already mentioned it. Check out an ES model that has the Ultra Clear (glossy) screen.
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