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KS8000 settings for gaming at 4k/HDR

Garwoofoo

Neo Member
I'm seeing no difference in the HDR brightness on 1180.5. The TV still doesn't switch automatically and HDR is still "dim" compared to normal viewing even with the Backlight at 20. You'll still need to use Dynamic Contrast or the Gamma setting to lift the brightness in that mode if it bothers you.
 
I've used the squares from the LCD test and with 8 bit I can see every square. With 10 bit I can't see like the first 20.

Pardon my ignorance but which test pattern are you referring to?

And is there something I can hit on the remote to see if HDR is on and what resolution the tv is running at?

I have a universal remote that came with my cable box that I use and it has an "Info" button that brings up the banner with information. I think the TV remote has an "i" button? I don't use it and I'm not 100% sure the button always works in game mode. I seem to recall some circumstances where the info button did nothing.

Is there any official change log ?

No, Samsung doesn't supply those.

How does this tv do as a couch gaming pc tv?

I find it to be pretty great, actually. Great for playing games and content, anyway. Low lag. It supports 4:4:4 for better text and it's clear enough but I still wouldn't use it for doing word processing or actual work, I'd rather use an actual monitor for that.
 

Samus4145

Member
One annoying thing on the new firmware was the removal of the HDR notification on a HDR source, the banner doesn't show anymore.

Okay, this was exactly what I was looking for. Was going crazy and thought hdr broke in the update since the banner no longer appears.
 
Pardon my ignorance but which test pattern are you referring to?



I have a universal remote that came with my cable box that I use and it has an "Info" button that brings up the banner with information. I think the TV remote has an "i" button? I don't use it and I'm not 100% sure the button always works in game mode. I seem to recall some circumstances where the info button did nothing.



No, Samsung doesn't supply those.



I find it to be pretty great, actually. Great for playing games and content, anyway. Low lag. It supports 4:4:4 for better text and it's clear enough but I still wouldn't use it for doing word processing or actual work, I'd rather use an actual monitor for that.

They say:

- Model : KS8000, KS800D, KS8500, KS850D, KS9000, KS900D, KS9500, KS950D, KS9800, KS9810, KU7000, KU700D, KU7500, KU750D
- Version : 1180.5
- Improved usability 1. Improved browser performance 2. Improved app performance 3. Improved stability 4. Improved usability of input devices
 
YUV422 - you get the same color quality, but things seem to look sharper with better color separation.

I was using 420 for a long time like an idiot not knowing that RGB auto corrected to 422, or that there even was a 422.

I just leave it locked on RGB for everything, never switch back to Auto, though some people use Auto. I just like to be certain.

Wish my JS9000 didn't have horrible color banding (skyboxes mostly) in YUV422, specifically MLB The Show 17.
 

dcx4610

Member
Does anyone know if the TV supports the Xbox One controller with Bluetooth? I'm having the TV scan for Bluetooth devices and it can't find anything.
 

Maximos

Neo Member
The steam link beta is really cool!

My DS4 that I usually use for big-picture mode won't sync with my computer with the DS4 controller adapter because it's too far away from my KS8500. I know with the standalone Steam Link device you can sync a controller to the device, but it doesn't look like you can do that in this app.

Anyone have any solutions for controller use in the new Steam Link Beta app?
 

ss_lemonade

Member
The steam link beta is really cool!

My DS4 that I usually use for big-picture mode won't sync with my computer with the DS4 controller adapter because it's too far away from my KS8500. I know with the standalone Steam Link device you can sync a controller to the device, but it doesn't look like you can do that in this app.

Anyone have any solutions for controller use in the new Steam Link Beta app?
Just pair it normally to the tv before using the app. I think the pairing option is under System > Input Device Manager > Add Bluetooth Device
 

Garwoofoo

Neo Member
So, um, I think I might have been wrong about using Dynamic Contrast with HDR after all.

It certainly gives a very appealing, superficially attractive picture and gets rid of the "dull grey filter" that HDR seems to have by default. For a while I loved it. But even with it set to Low, I found myself becoming increasingly dissatisfied with it. It just wasn't quite right. FFXV was too bright. Ratchet & Clank was too oversaturated. Caves in Elder Scrolls Online that were meant to be dimly lit were instead lit up like a nightclub. And when I watched a UHD movie (in this case Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them) it was just slightly off - skin tones not quite right, certain things overlit. It was becoming clear that DC wasn't giving the right effect.

So, after much playing around, I've found that turning DC off and setting Gamma to 1 instead has completely transformed my picture. The Gamma setting also lifts the brightness of HDR and gets rid of the "grey filter", but otherwise leaves the picture untouched without any of the general processing fuckery that DC does. And suddenly I get what HDR is all about. I still get the vivid bright highlights that I loved before but now they're set against real blacks instead of the whole picture being artificially brightened. I've discovered the Range part of High Dynamic Range. Wow.

So - is there any downside to changing the Gamma setting? The picture doesn't seem washed out in any way, I'm still getting deep blacks and bright highlights, so I'm fairly happy. I might bump Color up a few notches, not sure yet, need to watch a few more movies I'm familiar with, but generally this is the best I've seen the picture. Strange how I've never seen this held up as a solution to the "dark HDR" problem that a lot of people seem to complain about with this set.
 

Aske

Member
So - is there any downside to changing the Gamma setting? The picture doesn't seem washed out in any way, I'm still getting deep blacks and bright highlights, so I'm fairly happy. I might bump Color up a few notches, not sure yet, need to watch a few more movies I'm familiar with, but generally this is the best I've seen the picture. Strange how I've never seen this held up as a solution to the "dark HDR" problem that a lot of people seem to complain about with this set.

My man, increasing gamma is what I've been saying all along. There's no downside to it. I only need to increase it with Netflix HDR content, because everything else looks perfect (I don't need the backlight at more than 6 for non HDR viewing, so I don't have the jarring decrease in backlight that happens with HDR for some people); but yes, I initially thought turning on DC was the only way to fix Netflix.

Santa Clarita Diet is a great test, because it should be a bright, vibrant show (unlike something like The OA). It's almost unwatchable with normal HDR settings, but bump up the gamma, and it's perfect. DC has a similar effect, but as you've seen, it comes at the cost of colour gradation and shadow detail.

Thanks for posting this update, by the way. I had to make a similar post when I realised I was wrong about needing to go above 0 sharpness for an accurate picture. We're all just trying to help each other get the most from this TV, and that's awesome.


Regarding my only problem with the TV - that fucking ad - I think it is a bug, because I can consistently fix it by going into the Terms and Conditions menu, and switching Interest Based Advertisement on and off.

I'm glad it doesn't bother most people, but I'm also saddened that so many consider it acceptable.
 

ivanmark

Member
Is there any way to force YT app on KS7000 to use best video quality available?
For example Crash video is available in 1440p but YT play's it in 1080p.
 
Quick question, sorry if it's been asked before:

What is the KS8000 called on the German market? Same thing? Something different? I read somewhere that companies love to confuse people with different names for different territories.

Thanks for your help, GAF!
 

philm87

Member
Quick question, sorry if it's been asked before:

What is the KS8000 called on the German market? Same thing? Something different? I read somewhere that companies love to confuse people with different names for different territories.

Thanks for your help, GAF!

It will be the KS7000
 

philm87

Member
Is there any way to force YT app on KS7000 to use best video quality available?
For example Crash video is available in 1440p but YT play's it in 1080p.

Unfortunately not. Absolute pain. Most 4K videos work for me, but some don't. Doesn't even seem to be anything to do with my connection, just certain videos. Couldn't get the Champions League final in 4K because of this! There a 'stats for nerds' button, or something along those lines, on the youtube app that you can push whilst a vid is playing to be sure of the resolution that is playing.
 

WolfRathmA

Member
Finally, they fixed the auto switching when a source is powered on. It was really annoying to me. But theυ disable the HDR banner. What a waste... Why they do that? Disable the account log in when the TV is powered on also then! This is annoying, not the HDR banner.

Don't expect a fix on the HDR setting on Gaming mode.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Finally, they fixed the auto switching when a source is powered on. It was really annoying to me. But theυ disable the HDR banner. What a waste... Why they do that? Disable the account log in when the TV is powered on also then! This is annoying, not the HDR banner.

Don't expect a fix on the HDR setting on Gaming mode.

THEY DID? Where? My TV (United States) says no updates available.
 
Don't expect a fix on the HDR setting on Gaming mode.

Why? It's honestly a pretty big deal to me.
Quick question, sorry if it's been asked before:

What is the KS8000 called on the German market? Same thing? Something different? I read somewhere that companies love to confuse people with different names for different territories.

Thanks for your help, GAF!

KS7000, it's a little pricey lately though.
 

ditta

Neo Member
So, after much playing around, I've found that turning DC off and setting Gamma to 1 instead has completely transformed my picture. The Gamma setting also lifts the brightness of HDR and gets rid of the "grey filter", but otherwise leaves the picture untouched without any of the general processing fuckery that DC does. And suddenly I get what HDR is all about. I still get the vivid bright highlights that I loved before but now they're set against real blacks instead of the whole picture being artificially brightened. I've discovered the Range part of High Dynamic Range. Wow.

So - is there any downside to changing the Gamma setting? The picture doesn't seem washed out in any way, I'm still getting deep blacks and bright highlights, so I'm fairly happy. I might bump Color up a few notches, not sure yet, need to watch a few more movies I'm familiar with, but generally this is the best I've seen the picture. Strange how I've never seen this held up as a solution to the "dark HDR" problem that a lot of people seem to complain about with this set.

Interesting, I just changed the gamma to 1, and the picture has improved compared to putting dynamic contract on low. It seems to improve further if set the gamma to 3, but not sure if that will mess up the picture. What do you think?

Connected USB with HDR MP4 Forza trailer video seems to look better as well as other.
 
Geez Sammy what are you doing. I need that banner to tell me when I have to bump my brightness since you can't seem to figure out how to tell your game mode not to bypass its HDR process
 

WolfRathmA

Member
THEY DID? Where? My TV (United States) says no updates available.

I'm in Europe. But is out worldwide now. Check your local samsung site and download it from there. (fw 1180.5)

Why? It's honestly a pretty big deal to me.


KS7000, it's a little pricey lately though.

I think that everyone will appreciate to add that feature to this TV. Tizen OS can't support up to two special viewing modes at the same time. That's why it can't switch to HDR when gaming mode is enable.

I wish they will find a solution. But not soon...
 

ss_lemonade

Member
Geez Sammy what are you doing. I need that banner to tell me when I have to bump my brightness since you can't seem to figure out how to tell your game mode not to bypass its HDR process
What does this mean? Removing the HDR banner sucks though, what a dumb change lol. My ks9000 hasn't prompted me for an update yet so I guess I'll just disable auto updates for now
 

Garwoofoo

Neo Member
Interesting, I just changed the gamma to 1, and the picture has improved compared to putting dynamic contract on low. It seems to improve further if set the gamma to 3, but not sure if that will mess up the picture. What do you think?

Gamma 2 and 3 do definitely brighten the picture still further, but for me they start to look slightly artificial again, more like the effect you get with DC. For me the best balance sp far seems to be with Gamma 1 and maybe a touch or two of extra Brightness (say from 45 to 47). But YMMV of course.

I can certainly see the higher Gamma settings being useful for especially dark content like Netflix.
 

Tiberius

Member
Finally, they fixed the auto switching when a source is powered on. It was really annoying to me. But theυ disable the HDR banner. What a waste... Why they do that? Disable the account log in when the TV is powered on also then! This is annoying, not the HDR banner.

Don't expect a fix on the HDR setting on Gaming mode.
Is there an option anywhere ?
 

hesido

Member
What is the current state of HDR support on KS8500, is it broken by an update or was it broken always?

How do I test if I'm affected?
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
What is the color separation bug? If it's something like "if you see it, you can't unsee it", maybe warn me beforehand.
Basically this happens for a split second

1CaX0wX.jpg

I've only had it happen to me once but some people seem to have it frequently. If you're at 1165 or under though, consider yourself lucky.
 
Basically this happens for a split second



I've only had it happen to me once but some people seem to have it frequently. If you're at 1165 or under though, consider yourself lucky.

Oh yeah, I saw this too. Only happens for like a fraction of a second every other day though. Glad it's not my TV being broken.
 
I think that everyone will appreciate to add that feature to this TV. Tizen OS can't support up to two special viewing modes at the same time. That's why it can't switch to HDR when gaming mode is enable.

I wish they will find a solution. But not soon...

Hmm? Other modes don't have that problem.
 
If HDR is not available in gaming mode, have I bought trash?

HDR is available but you gotta increase brightness to 20 every time you switch from non-gaming mode as well as setting Smart LED to high which you probably don't have active in SDR. The TV has a terrific picture quality and supports all the latest stuff, don't worry about that too much. The software is a bit of a pain in the ass though.
 

Ryu Silveira

Neo Member
So I've been following this thread for about a month now. I couldn't post because I had to wait to get verified...lame...lol. Anyways, I purchased my 55" KS8000 off eBay and it came quickly and I set it all up and I absolutely loved it. I messed with the settings for a good week and landed on the settings I have now which I do love. Here is my situation though. I had a Playstation 4 Pro and it was perfect playing games on there, I knew which games had HDR and I would use the TV apps to watch my content because the Playstation didn't have the updates for 4K on Netflix, Amazon didn't have HDR, etc. It would do it automatically and I didn't have to do much but just turn on game mode...

I'm currently in the process of selling my Playstation 4 Pro and I bought an Xbox One S like 4 days ago. I hooked it up and the apps on here does support 4K, HDR, like Netflix, Amazon, & YouTube. So I downloaded all of those and had everything enabled in the display settings of the Xbox. Going into Netflix, I noticed it was dim, watching some shows I noticed it was darker than what I was use too on Netflix with the same settings, I realized that it was because I had "HDR on" in the Xbox display settings, so the internet tells me to just keep it off for viewing non-HDR content and for now that's how I have it...off. Netflix and my games that do not support HDR look great...

My issue is...Netflix on the Xbox doesn't show me what has HDR content and what doesn't like the TV app version did? Also, if I decide to get a game that does have HDR, I'll have to tweak my settings for HDR and then tweak it back if I play a game that doesn't support HDR? For instance, playing Forza Horizon III and then going back to playing Rainbow Six: Siege...

I was thinking about just keeping the HDR setting on the Xbox display to off and not even use HDR, I feel this is a wasted feature on my part that I'm not taking advantage of, but not sure if anyone can give me any ideas or recommendations. I know Sandy Wexler & Marco Polo were HDR from when I saw them on the Netflix TV app, now I can't see that anymore, but I still know, so when I click on Sandy Wexler to watch on the Xbox, I'll have to tweak my settings for HDR content...

I was thinking about tweaking my settings to what I originally use for HDR and just keep increase the backlight for when I watch HDR content and then just decrease instead of going more in depth...

If it makes sense, here are my settings...

Movie Mode

Backlight- 12 increase to 20 for HDR
Brightness- 45
Contrast- 84 increase to 98 for HDR
Color- 50
Tint- 50/50
Digital Clean View- Off
Auto Motion Plus- Off
Smart LED- Low switch to High for HDR
Dynamic Contrast- High switch to off for HDR
Color Tone- Warm 1
Gamma- 0 increase to 1 for HDR

Now what I was thinking about doing was just increasing my gamma, turning off Dynamic Contrast, turn Smart LED to high, increase the contrast to 98 and keep the settings like that for normal viewing and playing games and when I play HDR content for games and movies, I just turn up the backlight and decrease when I'm not viewing HDR content, make sense? I apologize for the lengthy wall of text, but I was trying to be as descriptive and precise with my situation...thank you all in advance for taking the time to reading this and helping a fellow out!
 

Haines

Banned
I Havent browsed this thread for a while. Played some horizon tonight and it just looked dim.

Oh goodie the old dynamic contrast arguement we spent months debating.

Check out the AVS thread for the tv and they still seem to swear by DC being at MED, or low.
So i suppose im going to give it a shot and see if it feels better to the eye.

I wish this tv just fucking worked without changing settings manually. One thing that makes me annoyed for early adopting but it is what it is.
 
Will there be better option later this year other than this 8000?
I'm buying a 4K HDR TV this November for sure, will there be a newer version of this TV coming out or will this still be my best bet?
 
What does this mean? Removing the HDR banner sucks though, what a dumb change lol. My ks9000 hasn't prompted me for an update yet so I guess I'll just disable auto updates for now

According to the Samsung forum, Game Mode completely bypasses the processes that handles stuff that is in relation to a certain picture quality that could add lag, like all game modes. Apparently the HDR auto uptick settings sit behind this, so they can't figure out how to not affect game mode but also have HDR auto settings kick in
 

Haines

Banned
According to the Samsung forum, Game Mode completely bypasses the processes that handles stuff that is in relation to a certain picture quality that could add lag, like all game modes. Apparently the HDR auto uptick settings sit behind this, so they can't figure out how to not affect game mode but also have HDR auto settings kick in

Oh wow so they finally answered why it doesn't auto switch? Sounds like we will never get it than.

Bouncing between horizon ratchet and witness I do tend to like the medium dynamic contrast.

It's clear. It makes everything pop. It looks correct imo.

What is the link to download the newest update and I just pop it on a sub and than plug that in my tv?

Never done it before but this new update sounds dope.
 

ss_lemonade

Member
So I just realized that I have been playing HDR games with the wrong black level setting for a week now lol. Did a bit of experimenting and it looks like the best setting that works is to just keep the TV's black level to auto and set the PS4 to full. It doesn't look like limited (PS4) and low (TV) works for HDR, eventhough that works fine with non-HDR content. Also make sure you don't touch the TV's black level again because that seems to break auto detection and turns auto into low giving you crushed blacks (you either need to turn the TV off and on or toggle your PS4's RGB range to limited, then to full again).

I guess HDR content requires full RGB and normal black level else you end up with an extremely dark image. This might be common knowledge but I always used limited on both display and console before. This is also on a ks9000 but I imagine it would apply to the ks8000 as well.

One thing I don't get is this only works for my PS4. If I set my xbox one to pc rgb (which I believe is it's Full RGB setting) or my ps3 to Full, my TV's auto setting treats them as limited and gives me crushed blacks. So for those 2 I have to set them to limited. Things work but that makes 0 sense to me lol
 

Heel

Member
Just to highlight how dumb the HDR in Game Mode thing is: When you start Nex Machina, you will get Samsung's "An HDR video is playing" banner for the game's intro, then it will go back to your default Game Mode settings when it gets to the menu screen and beyond. Why why why?
 

madmackem

Member
Just to highlight how dumb the HDR in Game Mode thing is: When you start Nex Machina, you will get Samsung's "An HDR video is playing" banner for the game's intro, then it will go back to your default Game Mode settings when it gets to the menu screen and beyond. Why why why?
Yep it's pretty dumb, tbh for third person action games lie horizon I've been using just movie mode, you don't notice the lag so much until you play a fps in movie mode, feels good hdr just working in that mode.
 
I explained this to you guys a while ago. It's the EOTF curve, its absolute. Check the bottom of the Rtings Q7/19TH review to see what it is. The KS8000 has a dip which has an affect on brightness.
 

ss_lemonade

Member
Just to highlight how dumb the HDR in Game Mode thing is: When you start Nex Machina, you will get Samsung's "An HDR video is playing" banner for the game's intro, then it will go back to your default Game Mode settings when it gets to the menu screen and beyond. Why why why?
Sorry if I misunderstood this: is the intro the only part of the game that's in HDR? What do you mean by default Game Mode settings? Afaik there is only one set of settings for both HDR and Non HDR content in game mode (which can be annoying). Is this the same problem you are talking about or is this something else
 

Heel

Member
Sorry if I misunderstood this: is the intro the only part of the game that's in HDR? What do you mean by default Game Mode settings? Afaik there is only one set of settings for both HDR and Non HDR content in game mode (which can be annoying). Is this the same problem you are talking about or is this something else

Pretty sure the entire game is HDR.

The intro is likely an HDR video file, which the TV will automatically set to 20 backlight, apparently even while in Game Mode. Once the video intro is over, the TV goes back to your default Game Mode backlight setting.

So yes, it's the same problem highlighted in a unique way.
 
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