Amazon Prime 4K HDR-grey letterbox

[dylan_t_jones]

I have a Sony 49XD7004 TV

When I play 4K HDR content from Amazon Prime (I don’t have access to other 4K HDR content yet),  the black bars at the top or bottom of wide screen (letterbox) programs are grey and not black (eg Goliath and Transparent) .  On normal 1080p, they are black.  This is slightly off-putting.  I've tried to change the settings, but they are still grey.

Any idea if this is a bug?

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Are you able to take a photo of this (the grey bars) as well as a photo in comparison to 1080p (black bars).

Cheers

[GD1001]

I too have this problem on my 43XD8088. The HDR is great but the problem comes with a grey border which is rather distracting. I have provided a picture of each of the HD vs HDR UHD files.

Both images are taken from the same show 'Goliath' (Different scenes, but the issue is persistent throughout). Shows without a border in HDR UHD look great, like 'The Grand Tour'. The problem comes when there is a letterbox present.

Any possible solutions? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Thanks for the pictures - it demonstrates the issue clearly.  I have reported this issue to Sony and am awaiting information.  Will post back if/when more info comes available.

Cheers

[dylan_t_jones]

Sorry for not having the time to post photos.  The photos posted by GD1001 is the same as my problem.  Any updtaes as to why it does this?

[royabrown]

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@dylan_t_jones wrote:

Sorry for not having the time to post photos.  The photos posted by GD1001 is the same as my problem.  Any updtaes as to why it does this?

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If you look in the front of your Sony manual, it will tell you not to watch 4:3, due to long-term differential screen burn between the picture part and the unused black parts.

The same issue, potentially, can happen above and below pictures that are (16+):9, as many modern series are,

i have long thought that the answer is to send an average grey, instead of black, to even things out.

And perhaps this is what is happening here.

(Though having see your examples, I'm not so sure it is the answer, unless that apparent slight magenta cast is an artefact of the screenshot, and not apparent on the actual showing).

[Anonymous]

Hi All

Sony is indeed aware of this issue and have requested that Amazon make a change within the app itself to overcome this.

Cheers

[GD1001]

Awesome. That's great to hear. Hopefully it is a speedy release. Thanks.

[dylan_t_jones]

Thanks.  That good news.  Is this an Amazon problem only?  I have not tried  UHD HDR bluray films yet.  

[Anonymous]

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@dylan_t_jones wrote:

Thanks.  That good news.  Is this an Amazon problem only?  I have not tried  UHD HDR bluray films yet.  

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The problem is specifically between the TV and the Amazon app.  For example, Netflix 4K-HDR does not exhibit this issue.