Best HDMI 2.1 4K+ HDR TV for Consoles [2022]

[London Geezer]

I am confused with this. Isnt this a mechanism supposedly there to protect the screen from burning artifacts?
Also whats the difference between ASBL and ABL?
I also thought the TV had mechanisms to protect the screen only where static images are by shifting the pixels.

I have a B9 and wonder if the reason why my HDR colors dont pop out is because of this.
To turn it off in the LG C line of TVs it says to disable TPC and GSR but I am not sure if its a good idea

In simple terms, ABL is how the TV limits the brightness of the screen the more it shows bright things on screen - so for example a 50% white screen will be dimmer than an image with only 10% white. This is because of power consumption.

ASBL is when the screen dims when there are static elements on screen for too long, to avoid the risk of burn in - i.e. news channels, even gaming. HDTVTest's review of the A95K explains this in the very beginning and it's a great explanation, even I didn't know it was so bad on other TVs.

 

[Nesh]

In simple terms, ABL is how the TV limits the brightness of the screen the more it shows bright things on screen - so for example a 50% white screen will be dimmer than an image with only 10% white. This is because of power consumption.

ASBL is when the screen dims when there are static elements on screen for too long, to avoid the risk of burn in - i.e. news channels, even gaming. HDTVTest's review of the A95K explains this in the very beginning and it's a great explanation, even I didn't know it was so bad on other TVs.

Sucks.
I wonder if its worth turning ASBL off.

 

[London Geezer]

Sucks.
I wonder if its worth turning ASBL off.

If you do, then perhaps be wary of what you watch and how long static elements stay on screen - don't leave the TV on with CNN rolling for hours on end!

 

[RobertR1]

@Nesh https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/oled-dimming-confusion-apl-abl-asbl-tpc-and-gsr-explained Simon recently did a great job of explaining the different terms.

From a personal standpoint, I disabled TPC on my C7 as soon as it was discovered as an option. The C1 I had for a short period, I disabled TPC and GSR. On the S95B within 2 mins of it being powered on, I was in the Service Menu disabling it.

I have a very strong dislike for this feature. The worst part is that it's not even consistent as the programming seems to be changed not only year on year but also between models within the same year.

 

[Nesh]

@Nesh https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/oled-dimming-confusion-apl-abl-asbl-tpc-and-gsr-explained Simon recently did a great job of explaining the different terms.

From a personal standpoint, I disabled TPC on my C7 as soon as it was discovered as an option. The C1 I had for a short period, I disabled TPC and GSR. On the S95B within 2 mins of it being powered on, I was in the Service Menu disabling it.

I have a very strong dislike for this feature. The worst part is that it's not even consistent as the programming seems to be changed not only year on year but also between models within the same year.

Btw there is something else weird I ve noticed with my B9.
While playing games with HDR, when my screen is fully black or has a lot of black, they arent really black. If all lights are turned off in my room I see that the areas that should have been 100% black are actually greyish. This is apparent especially in FF7 Remake.
I tried Resident Evil Zero where you have the option to view the screen on its original ratio, and where are black boarders its pure black. But the square area where the game screen is rendered, is greyish when the screen goes fully black, like when there is a temporary loading.
This is reduced when I make some changes in the TV settings. I dont remember which, but I think its probably when I turn tone mapping on. Doesnt feel like this is how the OLED should have worked since blacks should be pure blacks. Unless the game sends a signal that this isnt real black.

 

[orangpelupa]

Btw there is something else weird I ve noticed with my B9.
While playing games with HDR, when my screen is fully black or has a lot of black, they arent really black. If all lights are turned off in my room I see that the areas that should have been 100% black are actually greyish. This is apparent especially in FF7 Remake.
I tried Resident Evil Zero where you have the option to view the screen on its original ratio, and where are black boarders its pure black. But the square area where the game screen is rendered, is greyish when the screen goes fully black, like when there is a temporary loading.
This is reduced when I make some changes in the TV settings. I dont remember which, but I think its probably when I turn tone mapping on. Doesnt feel like this is how the OLED should have worked since blacks should be pure blacks. Unless the game sends a signal that this isnt real black.

On my CX, the dynamic tone mapping made blacks no longer black.

So it's the opposite of your experience.

Btw pure black on lg oled is not good. You'll get posterization and black smear.

But it varies wildly from units to units.

As for your issue, maybe incorrect blacks from the game? Try using the console hdr calibration.

If on Xbox, press all shoulder button to show the calibration numbers. Everything should be 0 except for the max nits (should be the same as your TV max nits).

 

[London Geezer]

Btw there is something else weird I ve noticed with my B9.
While playing games with HDR, when my screen is fully black or has a lot of black, they arent really black. If all lights are turned off in my room I see that the areas that should have been 100% black are actually greyish. This is apparent especially in FF7 Remake.
I tried Resident Evil Zero where you have the option to view the screen on its original ratio, and where are black boarders its pure black. But the square area where the game screen is rendered, is greyish when the screen goes fully black, like when there is a temporary loading.
This is reduced when I make some changes in the TV settings. I dont remember which, but I think its probably when I turn tone mapping on. Doesnt feel like this is how the OLED should have worked since blacks should be pure blacks. Unless the game sends a signal that this isnt real black.

If on PS5, you may have to go into the video settings and re-calibrate the brightness and black point?

 

[RobertR1]

There's rarely a magic bullet since there's so many dependencies these days. Easiest thing to do is take some pictures of your current setting and then reset all devices to factory. Then, where I'd be looking:

- Making sure all power savings are disabled in all devices
- Making sure HDMI Deep Color/equivalent is enabled in the entire chain
- Make sure your HDMI black levels align. low/low, high/high, etc.
- Filmmaker mode (for now) since it'll be most accurate. If no issue there, copy those settings to game mode
- Making sure your consoles and devices are setup right in terms of clipping for white and black levels. When you do this, make sure Dynamic Tone Mapping is disabled

Blacks on oled should be black unless they're lifted purposely within the content.

 

[RobertR1]

Maybe the wrong thread to ask but I'd like to pick up a next gen console just play around with the TV as moving the PC over would be a pain. With that said, I'm happy to wait until EOY for potential mid gen upgrades. Are there strong rumors to support a mid gen release sometime within the next 6months?

 

[London Geezer]

Maybe the wrong thread to ask but I'd like to pick up a next gen console just play around with the TV as moving the PC over would be a pain. With that said, I'm happy to wait until EOY for potential mid gen upgrades. Are there strong rumors to support a mid gen release sometime within the next 6months?

There's rumours but totally unfounded. 99% of the games released today are still cross gen, and current gen machines are hardly being used to their full potential because of that. DF had a good video about this. no point releasing mid gen updates any time soon, when current gen isn't even being pushed that hard on the vast majority of games.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Btw there is something else weird I ve noticed with my B9.
While playing games with HDR, when my screen is fully black or has a lot of black, they arent really black. If all lights are turned off in my room I see that the areas that should have been 100% black are actually greyish. This is apparent especially in FF7 Remake.
I tried Resident Evil Zero where you have the option to view the screen on its original ratio, and where are black boarders its pure black. But the square area where the game screen is rendered, is greyish when the screen goes fully black, like when there is a temporary loading.
This is reduced when I make some changes in the TV settings. I dont remember which, but I think its probably when I turn tone mapping on. Doesnt feel like this is how the OLED should have worked since blacks should be pure blacks. Unless the game sends a signal that this isnt real black.

Weird it must be something with either the console you're using (dynamic tone mapping maybe?) or with the game (some developers choose not to use pure black).

On my CX connected to a PC, black is always pure black (easy to test since I have my desktop set to black) unless a game developer has decided not to have black in their game be pure black.

Regards,
SB

 

[RobertR1]

Why have you ruined my Thursday with the truth @London Geezer ?

 

[London Geezer]

Why have you ruined my Thursday with the truth @London Geezer ?

SORRY!! I mean, there were rumours about 2023 mid-gen releases! WTF are we going to do with that when most games are still coming out on PS4??

 

[RobertR1]

Yeah that's a good point. I haven't followed this gen closely as I moved back to PC gaming but I'd assumed by now, we'd be looking at refresh. I suppose given the massive supply issues, and continued previous gen support, yeah...it'd just be more console wars dick swinging while all looks the same on screen.

Mainly wanted to see what a juiced up Spiderman game looks on here but I'll just wait until it's on PC "soon" and drag it over.

Trying to play anything on the X1X from last gen is a painful experience given the HDD load times and the general massive drop in quality.

 

[London Geezer]

Yeah that's a good point. I haven't followed this gen closely as I moved back to PC gaming but I'd assumed by now, we'd be looking at refresh. I suppose given the massive supply issues, and continued previous gen support, yeah...it'd just be more console wars dick swinging while all looks the same on screen.

Mainly wanted to see what a juiced up Spiderman game looks on here but I'll just wait until it's on PC "soon" and drag it over.

Trying to play anything on the X1X from last gen is a painful experience given the HDD load times and the general massive drop in quality.

That's another good point. Sony/MS haven't even been able to produce enough PS5/Xs to meet demand, imagine them going back in, build new platforms we don't need, trying to build enough for whoever's interested, then trying to ship them anywhere in the current climate? Nope.

 

[Nesh]

Weird it must be something with either the console you're using (dynamic tone mapping maybe?) or with the game (some developers choose not to use pure black).

On my CX connected to a PC, black is always pure black (easy to test since I have my desktop set to black) unless a game developer has decided not to have black in their game be pure black.

Regards,
SB

Maybe the PS5 functions differently in gaming mode

 

[RobertR1]

look at that timing!

 

[Nesh]

If I knew earlier about these mechanisms I might not have bought a B9 in the first place. This is BS. This should have been mentioned in the initial reviews themselves.
Instead they were praising the picture quality, the HDR and low lag without mentioning anything about these mechanisms which kick in by default in pretty much every video game scenario and in a lot of movies.
I general these mechanisms go against whatever benefits of picture quality you were expecting to get from these OLED TVs which defeats the purpose and makes them pointless.

 

[RobertR1]

Yep. Thus I refuse to buy or recommend any TV that doesn't give an option to turn it off. S95B wasn't on the consideration list until the SM fix was discovered. Each his own though.

 

[orangpelupa]

yep they are annoying "features".

the auto dim when you are watching dim scenes are baffling tho. It is already displaying a dim screen. why the heck the tv need to make it even dimmer.

vincent't proposed solution seems to be good: there should be a brightness threshold for the auto dim to trigger