Apple TV 4K + Sony OLED TV flickering and image noise in dark scenes

[intstar]

I have two Sony OLED TV’s but both behave not the same in dark scenes with Dolby Vision or HDR10 content although they are using exactly the same settings.

Watching HDR10 / 60Hz content with Disney+ or Netflix on Apple TV 4K (Frame Rate + Color Space pass through activated) then it behaves as:

• Sony KD-65AG9: The image flickers partially in dark grey scenes even when the video is paused.
• Sony KD-55A1: Everything looks just awesome. No flickering.

Watching in a completely dark room Dolby Vision / 60Hz content and having a scene where the screen is completely black with Disney+ or Netflix on Apple TV 4K (Frame Rate + Color Space pass through activated) then it behaves as:

• Sony KD-65AG9: The image is not fully black, more like a super dark grey (or 98% black). And unfortunately I can see image noise (sitting close to the TV) even when the video is paused.
• Sony KD-55A1: Everything looks just fine. The image is 100% black.

I’m curious, what’s wrong here? With the first generation of Sony’s OLED A1 everything seams to work just fine. And with Sony’s best OLED TV in 2020 nothing is working as it should. Do you have similar experience/issues? Is my TV damaged or broken? Is it a software bug of the Apple TV? Or do you have a tip on how I can fix this?

[rooobb]

Do you have the same effect if you use the tv corresponding app directly on the AG9? BTW why do you use the Apple TV app instead of the ones on the TV?

[intstar]

Hi @rooobb, when watching HDR10 / 60Hz on the built-in Netflix or Disney app the effect of partial flickering does not appear. Funnily when I disable the frame rate pass through on the Apple TV and force it to use always 60Hz then it works too but then I have jittering with native 50Hz video content. Seems like a bug with the software of the Apple TV?

Regarding Dolby Vision content and Sony AG9, there's no difference between Apple TV or built-in Netflix/Disney app. In both cases a fully black video scene is not 100% black and it's possible to see image noise when the room is completely dark. What I do not understand why this does not occur on my Sony A1 with exactly the same technical setup and configuration. The only difference is that the AG9 has Dolby Vision bright and dark as picture mode while A1 only has Dolby Vision. Might this be the issue somehow?

Regarding your question why I use the Apple TV instead of built-in apps,… my digital eco-system at home is using Apple products which work together seamlessly (e.g. Siri of my HomePod can control my TV and can be used as wireless Speaker of the TV). In addition the User Experience of the Apple TV ist just so much better than everything else and the thin and simple remote control of the ATV is just awesome to use.

[rooobb]

Regardless your personal preference, probably this has something to do with different and summed pull-down detection from the devices. The content should be probably on the source a 24p, than the apple-tv should convert it to 50 or 60 hz and the tv detect or not tha right 24p cadence to avoid stuttering. You may try playing with film-mode on the if it affects the way the tv recognize the 50 hz source.

A1 and Ag9 have a different panel from LG that since 2018 seems to have some problem with near blacks flashing not totally solved by fw intervention. Maybe this is the problem against the A1, but I have only the A1

[intstar]

Yeah maybe that's the issue but then I'm wondering why it's not the same with my A1. Anyway film-mode didn't help but gaming-mode did. Unfourtentaly gaming-mode does not support motion flow configuration, so that's also not really an option. What I did for now is forcing the Apple TV to pass Dolby Vision as color space to the AG9. Of course then I don't have the correct color space but at least the flickering is gone.

Then the only issue left is that Dolby Vision content (doesn't matter if it's real DV content or fake DV) black is not 100% black. If that's an issue since 2018, and all the TV producers are advertising with their brilliant OLED TV's and the most benefit to have a real black image why isn't this fixed after 2 years?

[rooobb]

Dolby vision raised black is an issue of th apple tv

[intstar]

Might be one issue but that's not quite correct because I'm also experiencing this issue of raised black when using built-in apps of AG9 when watching Dolby Vision content?