Horizon 40: very dark image

Hi. From the moment I bought the Horizon 40 for its appealing design, I am having issues with finding suitable picture settings. In this specific case I am wondering that when it's bright, during the day, I almost can't watch TV on that thing, because the image is too dark or faded. Even though I rarely use it during the day, this is absurd for such an expensive device.

Is there any way to brighten up the picture? I've tried various settings already, including some in the hidden Customer Service Menu. None of them do really change anything notable.

Thanks for any advice.

Ben

I suspect you won't find a solution I'm afraid.

The Horizon, and BV14 too, were different panel tech from the Avant's that preceded them.

They are both backlit (in theory good), but globally dimmed (in practice bad).

I returned my BV14 for these reasons - the image was way too dark, and close to unwatchable for many movies with dark scenes.

In the end, LED/LCD's are pretty imperfect, unless you go for a really top end model (backlit and with lots of dimming zones).

 

You can change the active light adjustments. It is true that the Horizon is not perfect in showing dark scenes but what you describe can be adjusted.

You have to get into the advanced setup menu. Cannot try it right now but from top of my mind, go into the menu and go to the last sub menu (where you can check updates), press red button before selecting this last sub menu and then a hidden menu is shown. From there you can find the sensor sensitivity for the light adjustments. Try what suits your situation the most.

If this will not work I will check my Horizon upcoming days and try helping you.

I do not have your problem as I’m sure it is fixable.

Good luck

Well, that's a real shame for such an expensive device. Too bad I didn't really notice in the beginning. The device is two years old now.

What is your backlight level setting in the hidden customer menu?

Mine is set at max level and if I lower it the screen really gets dark. Maybe this helps.

What is your light sensor reading? During the day mine reads 35lux, evening around 10lux. If the light is too dark in my room the tv gets dimmed a bit too much. I selected room adaption setting level 2.

Overall changing the multiple settings will have noticeably effect in my Horizon.

If you do not notice anything there might be something wrong with your TV. The bad dark scenes is another type of problem to my opinion.

Hope this helps.

Hi there Fansastic

Where do you find the “Room Adaption setting level”?

I have a BV14. I have used the Picture corrections menu in the sources I use to increase the brightness and that has fixed it for me.

But, I was interested to read your instructions on getting into the secret menu. I could not see the Picture Adaption Level.

And, are there any other menus like this?

cheers

Scott

ScottMacK:

Hi there Fansastic

Where do you find the “Room Adaption setting level”?

I have a BV14. I have used the Picture corrections menu in the sources I use to increase the brightness and that has fixed it for me.

But, I was interested to read your instructions on getting into the secret menu. I could not see the Picture Adaption Level.

And, are there any other menus like this?

cheers

Scott

Hi,

To get into the hidden customer service menu:

- Select settings

- scroll to service menu (do not press select yet)

- press red button and select service menu

- the customer service menu is available

- multiple sub menus to select and to adjust

- under picture you find the room adaptation, max backlight, light sensor and others.

I’ve switched off backlight dimming as I feel this helps the detail in dark scenes. Also set the max backlight to full to have the best picture during the day. With the room adaptation levels I searched for the best result during the night. The sensor / picture take a few seconds to adjust.

Hi Fansatic,

I've already tried around various settings in both the Customer Service Menu as well as the usual picutre settings. My current settings are (settings are translated from my German TV, so might not match literally):

Customer Service Menu:

> Backlight dimming: ON

> Room adaptation: LEVEL 2

> Max background light: 255

> Whitepoint Offset: 00 / 00

> Gamma: 0

(Normal) picture settings for "General" profile:

> Color saturation: 25

> Color temp.: 72

> Background lighting: 30

> Contrast enhancement: Minimum

> Sharpness: 5

> Noise reduction: Medium

> Gamma: 22

> Judder Cancelation: Adaptive

> Room adaptation: OFF

 

With these settings, it's nearly impossible to watch TV at daylight, no matter if cable or AppleTV/Netflix etc.

Do you have any more suggestions regarding the settings?

Hi I’ve put my settings next to yours:

Customer Service Menu:

> Backlight dimming: ON (OFF)

> Room adaptation: LEVEL 2 (Level 2)

> Max background light: 255 (255)

> Whitepoint Offset: 00 / 00 (00/00)

> Gamma: 0 (-10)

(Normal) picture settings for "General" profile:

> Color saturation: 25 (40)

> Color temp.: 72 (95)

> Background lighting: 30 (40)

> Contrast enhancement: Minimum (minimum)

> Sharpness: 5 (8)

> Noise reduction: Medium (low)

> Gamma: 22 (21)

> Judder Cancelation: Adaptive (adaptive)

> Room adaptation: OFF (ON)

And extra settings under Sourcelist-TV:

> picture modes: general

> picture corrections:

— brightness:

— 30 contrast: 35

If you try this settings and you still cannot see a clear picture during the day, there might be something wrong. I will try to make a picture of the tv during the day for your reference.

My guess is that you have to switch on the room adaptation. After switching on give the tv some time to adapt.

Hope this helps!

Thanks. I was particularly happy about the extra adjustments in the Source List menu. Didn't know they existed. It seems to work a bit better now, couldn't test under brighter circumstances yet, though.

The new settings seem to have revealed another problem with my Apple TV 4K. I am observing excessive screen noise now, especially on light gray backgrounds, as well as screen bleed, for example when moving a selection bar in a menu. Could this have something do to with the settings? Or does that sound like an individual issue?

Hope you will find a good setup and you can enjoy the Horizon. Despite negative feedback around the forum it is a very nice tv to look at (switched on and off). The Android system is now 99% stable and picture is crisp. Very dark scenes is not handled well but with my settings I find it quite acceptable (switched off the back light dimming).

Regarding apple tv, first check the setting under the apple tv source (hdmi x, as you found for the tv as well).

Second check the general settings / hdmi ultra hd setting / hdmi x : uhd 4.4.4/4.2.2

Third check apple tv settings / video and audio :

> structure : 4k sdr

> hdmi output : YCbCr

> chroma : 4:4:4

This should help, I had a bit of a struggle too for the apple tv to work nicely.

Hopefully you are out of the woods now!

@Fansastic: Final feedback: I have everything sorted out now and I have much improved the situation! Thanks again. Cheers.

👍🏻

By the way, I set the option "Room Adaptation" under General settings back to OFF, because at night the screen got far too dark again, regardless of the Room adaptation level. With OFF I now have fixed picture settings, independent of the daylight.

bib_gourmand:

By the way, I set the option " Room Adaptation" under General settings back to OFF, because at night the screen got far too dark again, regardless of the Room adaptation level. With OFF I now have fixed picture settings, independent of the daylight.

In my night situation, to let the screen get not too dark I have to have some lamps active. In a complete dark room the screen is too dark, and adaptation levels have not a big effect. But I like the adaptation as the screen is not too bright. It all depends on your individual situation and likings.

In short, I can confirm the ambitious adaptation of the TV