4K disappointment

Tony the Hornet

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Hi all
Purchased the Sony AG9 (55 inch) at the end of last year. And have been disappointed ever since. Weather I'm streaming Netflix or Disney plus, Sky Movies UHD ( via Virgin V6 box) I always feel the image is below my expectations. Occasionally the main focus of the image has great detail but I always see the background images attempting to form. I guess it's proper name would be pixelating or noise. I've increased my internet speed to 350 MPs I usually get around 270. I've changed all my HDMI leads too. I'm having the same trouble with 4k discs. I have the Sony UPB X700. Most 4K discs are below what I was expecting. The only disc that really looked good was Terminator 2 which I purchased recently. The Jurassic Park 1 2 3 collection I just got looks really poor. Anyone else feeling the same ? Or am I making some basic mistakes? Amy advice would be greatly appreciated .
 
I've got a 65'' OLED (Panasonic) and it was certainly a step forward image wise over my previous 50'' plasma, also a Panny. I don't think you can really judge a 4K image from streaming services, the only exception may be those that have HDR where the actual colours come alive. Some are really poor that you have to ask yourself if you really are watching a 4K programme.

On basic non HDR 4K content from across the suppliers then it does fall short of what a 2K blu ray will provide when being upscaled by the TV. As for 4K content via a disc player (Pioneer LX500) then they can really pop off the screen with greater detail, better black levels and the obvious boost in colour and that is certainly a step up. All in all I'm really happy with 4K.
 
I've been blown away since I've upgraded my set up to 4k...a LG 55B7 oled tv with a Samsung HW-N950 7.1.4 Dolby atmos/DTS-X soundbar...I changed all my hdmi cables to Belkin...and got sky Q once again,a sony upb 700 4k Blu-ray player...xbox one-x ps4 pro,Apple 4k tv box.ive been impressed but the biggest thing is getting the performance right by setting up the picture modes that makes all the difference in how people percive the finished product...taking time in getting your set up right makes the whole experience a night and say difference.
 
Picture settings? You should be getting great performance according to the reviews?
 
I noticed the same watching Blue Planet 2. The image in the center is fantastic, but the surround and background looks like an 90s video game - very blocky and 2d looking.
 
try changing to Dolby vision dark mode or bright mode the dark mode looks best on my LED Sony XH95 set.
 
Thanks for the input peeps. I've tried a large amount of changes to the settings of the TV, Dvd player and Virgin V6 box (after extensive reading of forums for all 3 devices) alas I remain underwhelmed. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I've stopped upgrading my favourite films to 4k because of this (for now).
 
Maybe you just don't like film grain, which can make the image look "noisy"/pixelated? Might explain why you like how T2 looks, as that was heavily DNR'd, so it looks very clean, albeit a lot of people hate it for the opposite reasons, in that it no longer looks so much like film, especially for the era it was shot.

You could try using the noise reduction settings I suppose, if you're happy to trade the grain/fine picture detail for a smoother/cleaner look to your films.
 
SimonST, I'm cool with film grain, but I wasn't expecting to see it anymore. Perhaps that's where my expectations were different to what I was actually going to see. When researching what TV to buy I wasn't reading anything about what I'm currently seeing in the background images. But as I type I'm watching Man of Steel on Sky UHD. Even my 9 year old Son just commented on the image quality. I'm starting to think I have an interference problem or something serious enough to interfere with the picture. Thank you for input, much appreciated.
 
SimonST, I'm cool with film grain, but I wasn't expecting to see it anymore. Perhaps that's where my expectations were different to what I was actually going to see. When researching what TV to buy I wasn't reading anything about what I'm currently seeing in the background images. But as I type I'm watching Man of Steel on Sky UHD. Even my 9 year old Son just commented on the image quality. I'm starting to think I have an interference problem or something serious enough to interfere with the picture. Thank you for input, much appreciated.
Have you ever watched the 4K Blu ray of The Revenant? If not, get hold of a copy. It should look sharp and detailed enough to cut your fingers on - if it's not, then there is something wrong with either your TV or your set up.
 
Sky, Netflix etc are all heavily compressed. If you can, try some 4K Blu-ray's or even grab a full one online (huge files, expect 50-100GB) and try that.

Also, turn off all processing in the settings to get the raw image.

If you still have issues with image quality, it may well be you have a faulty set.
 
Hi all
Purchased the Sony AG9 (55 inch) at the end of last year. And have been disappointed ever since. Weather I'm streaming Netflix or Disney plus, Sky Movies UHD ( via Virgin V6 box) I always feel the image is below my expectations. Occasionally the main focus of the image has great detail but I always see the background images attempting to form. I guess it's proper name would be pixelating or noise. I've increased my internet speed to 350 MPs I usually get around 270. I've changed all my HDMI leads too. I'm having the same trouble with 4k discs. I have the Sony UPB X700. Most 4K discs are below what I was expecting. The only disc that really looked good was Terminator 2 which I purchased recently. The Jurassic Park 1 2 3 collection I just got looks really poor. Anyone else feeling the same ? Or am I making some basic mistakes? Amy advice would be greatly appreciated .
I have an AG9 and been impressed with it overall: HD content is decent (depends a bit where from), Netflix UHD/Blu-rays are very good, and UHD of Blue Planet was incredible. Watched it on a X800M2: so I guess similar to yours.

Can only repeat what has been said above; try a few UHD sources or guess you may have a faulty set.
 
I think a 55inch tv is on the cross over point regarding benefits.65inch and upwards tell is needed. Old schools discs are by far better than Netflix etc.
 
Film grain can’t be removed from source. It can be smoothed but that looks awful. I have two 55” 4K high end Sony TVs and they look amazing. I will say though that turning off all the gradation and noise reduction features makes a difference to the sharpness (for the positive).
Also, how far away are you sitting? Anything more than about 2m and the effects of 4k are negligible - the main purpose of it is that you can either sit closer and still see great detail or buy bigger than you would normally.
 

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