Terrible artifacts in 4K on Netflix App?

Retne

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Nov 13, 2009
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Hi folks.

So, as per this fine publication's recommendation (and because I really wanted Ambilight) I bought a Philips 9002 55" TV a few months ago.

It's now sat on my wall and the picture does look very nice indeed. There are, however, some issues with it and I'm not sure if it's my TV, or something else.

The main one is the subject line. If I'm watching, say, Daredevil from the included Netflix app I get two distinct types of artefact which can be distracting enough to take both my wife and I out of the story somewhat.

The first is in some dark scenes there's fuzz in the dark areas, a bit like the bad-weather fuzz in ye'oldy analogue days.

The second is more noticeable – in some scenes, from certain camera angles only (persisting after a cut away and back), there’s stuck on pixels. They’re not fully stuck on, as I’ve seen on other displays, but pixels that come and go while remaining statically placed, usually (always?) a single colour channel (not always white)

Does anyone else see this?

I don’t get it on the iPlayer’s 4k footy coverage, but that’s clearly not usually as black, so I may be missing it.

There’s some other issues I’m having with the TV and living with it that make me think What HiFi should consider a rethink of their recommendation – the sound frequently drops when changing channels, starting a new program (either tuner or flicking between shows on Netflix) (using ARC over HDMI and digital out).

I have child-things to do now, but I’ll try to post some screenshots or video somewhere and link later or tomorrow.

Cheers all, R
 
The fuzziness and blotchiness in dark scenes is compression. Despite the fact there doesn’t seem to be much on screen in darker scenes, they take up much more bandwidth than light scenes. The only way to improve this is for Netflix to put in place higher bit rate streaming services. This is a major area where streaming services lose out to physical media. This is a major thing for me as I watch a lot of thrillers and horror films, and they tend to have a lot of dark scenes, and it is why I don’t rely on these services - I prefer to own the disc to ensure the best quality.

The main issue I have with my TV is when it is doing the upscaling to 4K. Sometimes there’s a frame jump or a pause or something, and possibly something to do with your second issue, but I don’t quite fully understand your second issue, so can’t say for certain.
 

abacus

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The smart system on the Philips sets leave a lot to be desired so something like a Roku Stick (Or similar) may improve things, also make sure you internet (And Wi-Fi) is up to the job of providing 4K video, as if not the app will lower the bit rate causing compression effects which can become very noticeable, in addition make sure all movement processing is turned off.

You don’t say whether the pixel problem occurs on just the app or normal TV as well, if it’s just the app then see the answer in the above paragraph, but if it is on everything contact the dealer as there may be a fault. (If it’s a setting he will probably know about it anyway)

Bill
 

Benedict_Arnold

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We get it on our Samsungs too. Using a new Amazon Fire Tv cube on all our streaming services.

Its like a halo effect or cloudiness in the dark areas as described.

Watched Endeavor series 5 episode about the cinema murders, and at the end where the cinema is on for and our hero's are escaping along the corridors it was highly noticeable.

Stuck pixels I'm not so sure about.
 

Retne

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Thanks all, and sorry for the delayed response - quite a few things have come up which means I'll be away for a little while.

I had hoped to have grabbed some video to share showing what I meant - I'll do this later. But it is good (I think!) to know others have had similar issues. I appreciate the replies.

I get all sorts of things misbehaving on this set - such as

1) The iPlayer playing at the same time as Netflix (audo from both, pictures from Netflix if that's the order we've used the apps. We've not tried other apps to confirm if this is just iplayer.

2) iPlayer freqently doesn't start when clicked. It just loads to a blank black screen. This requires one (or more) restarts.

3) The sound can drop going into Netflix and even just chaning channels (going back and doing it again one or more times sees it come back - this is sound using the ARC from HDMI - I do mean to try using the optical or coaxial cable to check if it happens there, too).

4) Audio being out of sync, but not consistantly so (randomly from the tuner or apps).

Ah, the fun. ;)

I may still send it back as not suitable for the purpose it was sold - I know the apps aren't under warranty, but loosing the audio, sync issues and other bits like that can't really be argued against, I would hope.

Which is a pity - with a good picture it's great, and I love the Ambilight which I'd loose.

It does make me wonder if this is a bad example or if What HiFi's tests may need to be updated slightly? I don't say that with any prejudice, though.

Anyway, thanks for the updates, I'll investigate when back in a few weeks. I have ordered a Fire TV w/ network adaptor (I wanted to buy a Roku streamer but also wanted a wired streaming stick, and Roku only do wired in the States. The TV is wired to some handily placed RJ45 ports, btw)

Thanks again everyone,

R
 

Benedict_Arnold

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I'm sorry, but are you trying to watch video from Netflix and listen to audio from iPlayer AT THE SAME TIME???

If so no wonder you're having problems.

If not, apologies.

Voice synch on TV's and AVRs can usually be adjusted in the audio settings. Just a case of working through the menus.
 

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