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?

[johbaker6]

Not just an Amazon issue.  I recently got an XG83 series TV and I to get grey bars on some HDR content.  

Amazon Goliath I have actually found looks fine but the movie Venom has grey bars, made more apparent with deep blacks in the main picture.  Ive tried other streaming sources and see grey bars also. Though Netflix seems fine. 

Sony really need to look at a fix for this issue as it is really distracting and spoils an otherwise great tv.

[Kuschelmonschter]

The problem is detailed here.

[Luxauferre]

Please fix this fault.
We have had this fault for several years.
New TVs also come with the same fault.

The fault is in Sony TV hadware decoder .
If I turn off hardware decoder in VLC for Android, the black fields appear as black.
When I turn on the hardware decoder again, black fields become gray.

The fault occurs when HDR video is Cropped (typical resolution = 3840x1600).
The black fields that appear gray are not part of the encoded video.
Sony's hardware decoder does something wrong when it comes to adding the black fields so they turn gray instead of black.

If the black fields are encoded in video (resolution = 3840x2160), the fault will not occur.

To see the fault on your Sony TV.
Launch YouTube app on Sony TV and watch HDR videos below.

Use link or search on: Ready Player One: "The Oasis" | UHD 4K HDR
Use link or search on: Real 4K HDR: Cosmos Laundromat in HDR

Use link or search on: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - Trailer #1 [4K HDR] - High Dynamic Range, HDR10

Use link or search on: Fast and Furious 9: The Fast Saga (2020) - Trailer #1 [4K HDR] - High Dynamic Range, HDR10

Typical picture of the fault below.