Some information for 2017 LG OLED owners

[gadgtfreek]

I have been doing a lot of research on the 2017 Sony and LG models for a friend and came across the following cal document. I confirmed with a calibrator. Keep in mind this applies to 2017 models ONLY, I think the Active HDR is a menu option for 2018, wherein 2017 they hid it. 2016 does not have it at all, tone mapping is different in those models.

Evidently, LG's plan was for Active to be on ALL the time, but then punted and hid it in a Nintendo cheat code... Also, the following only applies to your HDR10/HLG mode, DV mode should generally be left alone unless you get a pro cal and they know how to update the mapping engine.

• During HDR calibration, disable ‘Active HDR*’ (self generated dynamic
tone mapping) by setting the ‘Dynamic Contrast’ setting in the Expert
Picture Mode Settings to ‘Off’
• After calibration, for best results, re-enable ‘Active HDR*’ by setting the
‘Dynamic Contrast’ setting in the Expert Picture Mode Settings to ‘Low’
• The ‘Edge Enhancer’ setting in the Expert Picture Mode Settings does
not increase sharpness; the default ‘On’ setting is a bypass function, and
is therefore recommended

 

[gadgtfreek]

*LG’s ‘Active HDR’ function analyses content on a frame by frame basis in real time, to
determine metadata for the scene. This information is then used to adjust the HDR tone-curve
to match the content, on a frame by frame basis.
?
Control of the ‘Active HDR’ feature is found in the ‘Dynamic Contrast’ setting in the Expert
Picture Settings menu. In HDR mode, the Dynamic Contrast settings are defined as follows:
• Off - Active HDR Disabled / Contrast Enhancement Disabled
• Low - Active HDR Enabled / Contrast Enhancement Disabled
• Medium - Active HDR Enabled / Contrast Enhancement Low
• High - Active HDR Enabled / Contrast Enhancement High
The default setting of ‘Low’ is recommended for accurate content reproduction

 

[harshness]

Is this something LG does to compensate for the fact that they don't cover the brightness range?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Yes. It is basically their version of what Dolby Vision would do, but for HDR10. it works well according to professionals.

If you run them with Active HDR OFF, 4000 nit UHD blu-rays can appear a bit dim say compared to the Sony A1E, because the Sony doesn't try and tone map it all, it just clips after a certain point. With Active Off, the LG tries to tone map it all so you get the detail, but it reduces the average picture level. Using Active HDR is a nice in the middle kinda thing, since it is adjusting frame by frame in a sense.

LG chose to keep more detail, lowering the APL, where Sony chose to stay brighter and clip. Just depends on which one you like, but in the UK and US shootouts, most prefer the LG version.The A1E is a nice display, the video processing on the Sony X1 Xtreme chip is excellent. I am just not a fan of the kickstand. The 2018 A8F model will be nice, it has a tradition stand.

My 940E has about 1300 nits of output, and using patterns, it clips everything over about 1300 in Cinema Pro. Using the same patterns with a 2017 LG, with Active Off, you see it try and tone map all the way up to 4000, if you turn Active On, it clips down some to maintain more brightness.

 

[gadgtfreek]

BTW, Dolby Vision will be the bees knees on a LG OLED, since you can fully cal that mode if you have calman and the right gear, the brightness issue from HDR10 will be moot. I hope we see more DV discs this year.

And when I saw the LG is dimmer, its not bad. Just hard to compete with 8 million zero black zones when it comes to contrast ratio.

 

[harshness]

Active HDR seems like a moving target to me. It isn't what the content provider intended and it likely varies with implementation.

The big question for me with regard to CalMAN is what level will be required: can you get away with Home Enthusiast or is the CalMAN Ultimate going to be required? From there you get to decide whether you buy a $249 meter or a $7,000 meter.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Easier to order it calibrated or hire someone like Chad B for $425, really. Other than owning the meter and software, which I do, there are tricks to be learned on every display and sometimes it isn't very straightforward.

I like the concept of active hdr, why say a movie has a brightest bright of 1800 nits in one scene, yet run the whole movie that way? It should be frame by frame.

 

[harshness]

I like the concept of active hdr, why say a movie has a brightest bright of 1800 nits in one scene, yet run the whole movie that way? It should be frame by frame.

Is that not more an indictment of the OLED technology and not being able to produce 1,800 nits?

How do you answer what the content creators wanted versus what an adaptive scheme gives you? Do you use audio leveling when given the opportunity?

Are you sure that your CalMAN software is appropriate to handle the input of the TV?

 

[Foxbat]

And haven't we reached the point where we have more Dynamic Range in our homes than what's available for the majority of movie theaters? Maybe it's the Digital Projector that my local AMC theater has, but some scenes are not absolute black, but have a slight amount of light so you can make out the frame. Even film is not 100% opaque, so are we exceeding what the Director can expect?

 

[harshness]

Even film is not 100% opaque, so are we exceeding what the Director can expect?

This doesn't help your argument in support of OLED. If the content doesn't feature black, why does the TV need to reproduce thousands of shades of black at the expense of the higher end.

Of course film is no longer a thing for most movie producers but even the best Cinema 4K cameras (4096x2160) fall off precipitously below a certain black level that is typically higher than that of film.

 

[tigerfan33]

My injured Samsung finally got replaced by 2017 LG OLED.
I notice while streaming Dolby Vision content the color gamut is locked in to extended but while streaming HDR10 content you have 3 options (wide, extended and auto). All three are different. Auto is a little flat while wide is too saturated. I know Dolby Vision and HDR10 are different animals but should I use extended also with HDR10?
BTW. Got a killer deal from Plasma’s.
The blacks are unreal and makes me miss my old Pioneer Elite....this is much better.

 

[gadgtfreek]

IIRC, you just use Auto.

 

[tigerfan33]

IIRC, you just use Auto.

Thanks. I figured you would know.
Do you know why Dolby Vision is locked in to extended?
It seems both are not using the same color gamut.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Most of the sets are setup when DV takes over you get locked out of a buncha stuff, DV wanted most control over the engine. To actually cal a 2017 DV mode, you have to have software on your generator to trigger it into DV mode, run the calibration with Calman, and then load the adjustments onto the engine with a special procedure. They were not nice enough to give you cal controls in the menu, instead Dolby locked them out. Not sure why it shows enhanced as it is grayed out, prob something to do with how they set up the DV mode on the LG. Maybe something to do with the 12 bit DV processing?

At least they developed a way for a calibrator to access it. People had some odd conclusion that DV mode would just be reference and never need calibration, which considering panel variance, was a bit misguided.

Sony went about it a little smarter. On a Sony, you cal SDR mode, and the Sony tv's actually take the SDR cal and map it to HDR and DV modes. More manufacturers should make it that easy.

 

[tigerfan33]

I added a Darbeevision 5000s darblet from my projector setup to help clean up some of the Directv compression.
Made a big difference. You can get those on eBay for about $110. I’ll buy another to add it back to the projector.
The Samsung Q7 I tried kept strobing once there was dark against light scenes in HDR10 or +.
I think the edge lighting of the panel couldn’t keep up with the hdr.
This OLED shows perfect scenes in the same scenario. I have it in my home office and I get a good picture no matter where I’m sitting.....unlike the Samsung.

 

[gadgtfreek]

The HDR pop on an OLED was pretty wild the first time I saw it. Something like a space shot with lights on ships, or stars, in HDR, is pretty wild.