4K TV picture quality differences?

[The Gauge]

Can anyone please explain the different picture quality options when watching different content on different apps using different devices?

I have a Panasonic JZ1500 OLED 4K TV with its native apps such as Prime Video etc, and I have Apple TV 4K and Firestick 4K connected giving me a choice of options for how to watch different apps like Prime Video etc. But each device seems to advertise the same programmes as having different picture quality, and when playing them the TV tells me it's playing in yet another picture quality...

Lets take Prime Video app and Clarksons Farm 2 playing on different devices..

TV native app advertises it as UHD HRD10+

Firestick 4k advertises it as 4K UHD. Playing it I get 1080p HDR10+. So what's happening here, is it 4K UHD or 1080P?

Apple 4K TV advertises it as UHD HDR. Playing it I get 3840x2160 Dolby Vision.


I find it confusing as to what device does what with each app, and which gives the best picture.

[heisthegaffer]

Go with whatever your eyes says is best picture I'd say.

[The Gauge]

Yeh, but Im just wanting to understand how each setting differs.

[Lucid_AV]

It's fairly common for TVs to have a mix of capabilities on their HDMI inputs. I haven't time to look at the specs of your Panny, but with mine there are options to switch on/off support for HDR10+ and the same for DV. Why you'd want to, I'm not sure, but there it is so it's worth checking.

Second, 'HDR' is an umbrella term that covers basic HDR10, Samsung's open standard of HDR10+, and top of the shop DV. They're all HDR then, but different levels of it. HDR isn't limited to 4K video. We could have had 1080p with HDR10/10+/DV as the next evolutionary step up from SDR 1080P, but the powers that be decided that the successor to 1080p BD would have 4K UHD resolution. It's entirely possible then to have 1080p with HDR.

The onscreen graphic from the TV telling you the resolution, refresh rate, and whether the picture has a flavour of HDR doesn't lie. What you have to bear in mind is that some programme or film might be advertised as 4K Dolby Vision, but whether that resolution and dynamic range info makes it to the screen is a different matter. For example, someone with a Samsung TV won't get Dolby Vision. That's because Samsung doesn't support DV. It will play back as HDR10. LG TVs don't support HDR10+, so anything with that flavour will play back as HDR10 also. Your Panasonic TV should have the full complement of HDR standards supported, but things such as connections and input settings can get in the way.

You've also noticed that the streaming services carry different quality versions of the same film. Yeah, that happens too.

[The Gauge]

Thanks for the explanation.

I sometimes find myself checking out the same programme on different devices, so playing say a Netflix via my TV's app, Apple TV 4K and Firestick 4k just to try and see if there is any difference in picture quality. Whilst they might all look good, I'd rather know I'm watching a film in its best picture resolution than not.

eg - Netflix film Extraction 2 on my ATV4K shows on my TV as 3840x2160 Dolby Vision. But playing it on Firestick 4K shows on my TV as 1080P Dolby Vision.

So it seems i'm getting 4K when watching it via my ATV4K but then when I watch Sky News on my Sky Q HD box that shows on my TV as 3840x2160 too?? So my TV showing 3840x2160 doesn't mean i'm getting a 4K image?

[TEKNOPUG]

The Gauge said:

Thanks for the explanation.

I sometimes find myself checking out the same programme on different devices, so playing say a Netflix via my TV's app, Apple TV 4K and Firestick 4k just to try and see if there is any difference in picture quality. Whilst they might all look good, I'd rather know I'm watching a film in its best picture resolution than not.

eg - Netflix film Extraction 2 on my ATV4K shows on my TV as 3840x2160 Dolby Vision. But playing it on Firestick 4K shows on my TV as 1080P Dolby Vision.

So it seems i'm getting 4K when watching it via my ATV4K but then when I watch Sky News on my Sky Q HD box that shows on my TV as 3840x2160 too?? So my TV showing 3840x2160 doesn't mean i'm getting a 4K image?

SKY has poor support for UHD, especially with apps. No UHD in iPlayer, no DV support etc. You set the SKY to 2160 UHD max output even though the content may not be. Generally SKY should be your last choice for UHD if you have other devices. The exception being SKY's own UHD productions - like F1, football etc.

My Phillips TV has a good suite of UHD apps and will play all the HDR formats. I find that the Firestick 4k Max default is DV (certainly the TV automatically switches to it whenever I switch it on) so that's usually my go to source for HDR content.

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Thursday 7th December 13:04

[Lucid_AV]

The Gauge said:

Thanks for the explanation.

I sometimes find myself checking out the same programme on different devices, so playing say a Netflix via my TV's app, Apple TV 4K and Firestick 4k just to try and see if there is any difference in picture quality. Whilst they might all look good, I'd rather know I'm watching a film in its best picture resolution than not.

eg - Netflix film Extraction 2 on my ATV4K shows on my TV as 3840x2160 Dolby Vision. But playing it on Firestick 4K shows on my TV as 1080P Dolby Vision.

So it seems i'm getting 4K when watching it via my ATV4K but then when I watch Sky News on my Sky Q HD box that shows on my TV as 3840x2160 too?? So my TV showing 3840x2160 doesn't mean i'm getting a 4K image?

What you're talking about here it the film's original (native) resolution and a device upscaling the image.

The Sky Q main box upscales all to 4K output. It's a lesson they learned with Sky+HD. You see, tye old HD boxes were okay until it came to upscaling. They were quite poor. It was possible then to set the boxes to output SD and HD at their own resolutions. Techy folk like me were happy. Our TVs, video processors, and projectors had better upscaling than a Sky box, so it was better for us if we got an unmolested signal. The catch was the delay in a TV or projector resyncing each time the source signal resolution changed. Channel surfingbwas often met with a blank screen for a couple of seconds. Ordinary folk hated that. Sky learned: Let the box do all the upscaling, even if its not very good at it. At least the TV picture stays on.

[conkerman]

I have a firestick 4k it would not play in 4k until I bought the ethernet adaptor,

There is dolby visio/atmos demo in the firestich available in the settings. See if that works OK.

[The Gauge]

I think I was really just trying to find out which format gave the best picture quality, with their being different levels of quality and with different apps on different devices often giving different options..

UHD
HDR
HDR10
HDR10+
Dolby Vision

From what I have read, HDR10+ gives the best picture quality, along with Dolby Vision but thats not always available as film makers/streaming services have to pay for a DV licence to use their software whereas HDR10+ is free for them to use so might be more widely available.

I had thought that Dolby Vision was a certain type of 4K/UHD but it's actually a method of adding colour improvements to the picture and is sometimes applied to HD content and not just 4K.

I'm informed that i'm best to use my Panasonic OLED TV's native BBC iPlayer app for the best picture for when their content is available in UHD, such as Planet Earth 3 as the Apple TV 4K box can't give the best picture on iPlayer. Otherwise the ATV 4K should be the best option for anything else.

I've also learnt that Sky Q upscales picture to 4K.

Edited by The Gauge on Friday 8th December 21:13

[Lucid_AV]

Trying to make sense of it is fine but there are a lot of additional variables. You see, what's top on paper might not be what gives the best looking picture in real world conditions.

Just running through the basics of your list, UHD is picture resolution - the number of pixels. You can have an outstanding UHD TV, or a crappy UHD TV. The only common thing is the number of dots making the image. UHD also applies to the video resolution of a signal.

HDR is the umbrella term for everything with a bigger contrast ratio (dynamic range) than standard video. HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision are all HDR formats.

HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are both HDR systems that use dynamic metadata. That's a fancy way of saying that they adjust the available dynamic range to suit each scene, frame by frame. What they don't tell you in the reviews and opinion pieces is that the TV needs to be able to output a health increase in brightness over its Standard Dynamic Range performance. Lower- and mid-range TVs struggle with this and with reproducing a convincing black level without crushing out shadow detail. The result is often an image with a washed out look and lacking the pop that you'd expect from these higher-end formats.

HDR10 is a fixed metadata HDR format. It doesn't ask quite as much of the display, and so it can end up looking better or at least as good as HDR10+ and DV depending on the TV used.

HDR10+ may be royalty free, but that doesn't make it more popular. If anything, between the two formats, there's more DV material available.

From what I have read, HDR10+ gives the best picture quality, along with Dolby Vision but thats not always available as film makers/streaming services have to pay for a DV licence to use their software whereas HDR10+ is free for them to use so might be more widely available.

[The Gauge]

Thanks for the explanation Lucid_AV

I have a Panasonic JZ1500 OLED TV, Panasonic UB820 4K player and ATV4K so can generally get a really nice picture, but sometimes I'll watch something that is HDR but the picture looks no better than 1080p, so then I go searching for that same programme but using a different app or device to se if it can be improved. I've got a better understanding now of what all the different picture types mean.