Paramount +

[comfortably_numb]

A quick Internet search shows a number of people complaining that the WebOS version of Paramount+ does not have HDR support, or it doesn't work correctly. I won't speculate whose fault it is.

Doesn't work on the Roku stick plugged into the LG either.

 

[ncted]

Doesn't work on the Roku stick plugged into the LG either.

Hmmm...I checked my AppleTV & Roku Ultra. I don't see Dolby Vision available on Matlock, but I do see it on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. I played both and got DV on the movie but not on the TV show. The TV show is in UHD, but no HDR. Does that match what you're seeing?

 

[comfortably_numb]

The TV show is in UHD, but no HDR

Yes

 

[Bruce]

Hmmm...I checked my AppleTV & Roku Ultra. I don't see Dolby Vision available on Matlock, but I do see it on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. I played both and got DV on the movie but not on the TV show. The TV show is in UHD, but no HDR. Does that match what you're seeing?

I just checked again, the Smart HDR pops up for Matlock, not DV, I put on CNN via YTTV, no Smart HDR option.

This is using Google TV via the TV, which is only a few months old, my Roku is not hooked up right now, bought a new stand, so everything is taken apart until I redo everything.

 

[ncted]

Yes

What about the movie? Is it available in HDR on your LG TV or Roku?

 

[ncted]

I just checked again, the Smart HDR pops up for Matlock, not DV, I put on CNN via YTTV, no Smart HDR option.

This is using Google TV via the TV, which is only a few months old, my Roku is not hooked up right now, bought a new stand, so everything is taken apart until I redo everything.

If my 2020 Sony hadn't become unusable as anything but a dumb TV, I might be able to see if I get the same thing, but alas.

 

[Bruce]

What about the movie? Is it available in HDR on your LG TV or Roku?

For me, when I started playing that awful movie, all 3 options for DV popped up, DV Light/Dark/IQ, but not Smart HDR.

 

[ncted]

For me, when I started playing that awful movie, all 3 options for DV popped up, DV Light/Dark/IQ, but not Smart HDR.

Does your TV remote have a Display button? That is what I press to see what is actually being displayed on the screen. It looks like maybe SmartHDR is just what you have your TV set to. SmartHDR appears to mean "let the TV choose the best possible Dynamic Range mode from the available options." Maybe? My Sony is just set to "Auto" for the HDR mode.

 

[Bruce]

Does your TV remote have a Display button? That is what I press to see what is actually being displayed on the screen. It looks like maybe SmartHDR is just what you have your TV set to. SmartHDR appears to mean "let the TV choose the best possible Dynamic Range mode from the available options." Maybe? My Sony is just set to "Auto" for the HDR mode.

Smart HDR is a option only when HDR is present, like when I watch upconverted 4K Sports on the Fox Sports app.

It does not show up in the options when I watch non 4K, like YTTV, same for DV also, it is not there.

I also own ( have digital rights) all the older James Bond movies in 4K SDR on Vudu, no HDR or DV, the Smart HDR option does not show for them either, not there at all.

 

[navychop]

If my 2020 Sony hadn't become unusable as anything but a dumb TV, I might be able to see if I get the same thing, but alas.

Please elucidate.

My 2018 Sony XBR900F still works with most of its apps. A bit slowly and sometimes a quirk or two, but mostly useable. I find it odd that an external Roku Ultra gives better PQ than the TV does with its own built in apps.

What model do you have? Why down to “dumb?”

 

[comfortably_numb]

What about the movie? Is it available in HDR on your LG TV or Roku?

I will check when I get home

 

[ncted]

Please elucidate.

My 2018 Sony XBR900F still works with most of its apps. A bit slowly and sometimes a quirk or two, but mostly useable. I find it odd that an external Roku Ultra gives better PQ than the TV does with its own built in apps.

What model do you have? Why down to “dumb?”

I have the 65" XBR-950H. Sony released two updates in 2024. With each update, the usability of the TV as a Smart TV has declined. It started out as apps crashing and sluggishness with the first update. The second update brought the inability to launch apps altogether. I have tried factory resets and a variety of other things recommended by helpful folks online, but the results were the same. There were some things we would use the built-in apps on the TV for because they seemed to work a bit better than the AppleTV apps at the time (YouTube and something else I can't remember at the moment -- maybe Peacock?), but we've given up at this point.

I really don't mind at this point. The TV still has a great picture, and I actually find I prefer using AppleTV to Android (or the current Sony implementation of it anyway). I was a Shield user for a while, and I really liked that, but they also made some changes a while back that impacted usability for my wife and me. That is when we switched to AppleTV, which is not perfect by any stretch, has provided a simple, mostly trouble-free experience so far.

 

[navychop]

Sigh. The end is near.

I updated mine a few days ago. Surprised they are still sending out updates.

But now that the Roku Ultra is working, we don’t even need the Harmony any more, except for Dish. The Ultra remote turns on and controls the whole HT.

 

[ncted]

Sigh. The end is near.

I updated mine a few days ago. Surprised they are still sending out updates.

But now that the Roku Ultra is working, we don’t even need the Harmony any more, except for Dish. The Ultra remote turns on and controls the whole HT.

Maybe. It seems to be a crapshoot. Lots of people report no issues after updating.

I am actually looking at an LG (or maybe Samsung) OLED for my next primary TV after decades of buying Sony. Sony's lack of support for HDMI QMS is disappointing. I am just waiting for the 2014 XBR-850B in the workout room to die (it has been getting real dim and flickering at times), so I can put the 950H up there and then get a new TV for the living room.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I've always used external streamers, even on my smart TV's. I just don't find the UI's to be consistent across smart TV's, and their apps are often slow and clunky.

 

[ncted]

Smart HDR is a option only when HDR is present, like when I watch upconverted 4K Sports on the Fox Sports app.

It does not show up in the options when I watch non 4K, like YTTV, same for DV also, it is not there.

I also own ( have digital rights) all the older James Bond movies in 4K SDR on Vudu, no HDR or DV, the Smart HDR option does not show for them either, not there at all.

OK. Well, I'm not sure then. Maybe it is like Amazon Prime Video where DV is only available on certain platforms? Maybe non-DV HDR is only available on Paramount+ shows on certain platforms?

 

[Bruce]

OK. Well, I'm not sure then. Maybe it is like Amazon Prime Video where DV is only available on certain platforms? Maybe non-DV HDR is only available on Paramount+ shows on certain platforms?

Who knows.

I have read certain TVs/devices will do some apps correctly, but some will not.

For example, on the Movies Anywhere app on the TV, only get HDR/DD+ on movies that should have DV/Atmos, but that same app on my Roku Ultra works perfect.

 

[b4pjoe]

My bedroom TV is an LG 4K set and it always tells me when a program is HDR (an icon appears in the upper right of the screen). I have never seen my TV register anything on Paramount+ as HDR. The content may be 4K, but my TV doesn't detect any HDR.

The Paramount+ app shows 4K for several shows on the LG app and the Apple TV app but the episodes that are supposed to be 4K do not come through the app with HDR. They come though as SDR. On my Fire TV Cube the app doesn't even show "4K" for the shows that are 4K and they also come through the Paramount+ app as SDR. It seems HDR only works through a Roku device. I can force HDR through the Fire TV Cube and the Apple TV by setting the video to 4K HDR and turning off Match Dynamic Range and Frame Rate but that HDR is created by the device and not from the stream being supplied through the Paramount+ app stream.

In my case the HDR works on all other apps that has 4K content through the Fire TV Cube app, LG apps and the Apple TV apps so the problem is with the Paramount + app and not with your TV or streaming device.

 

[comfortably_numb]

It seems HDR only works through a Roku device

Not mine!

 

[b4pjoe]

Not mine!

I don’t have a Roku to test. I was just going on what Bruce said about his Roku. Which Roku device do you have?