# Question about a 50" Samsung HDTV, need to stop games from auto-dimming



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

So, something about a 50" TV we have has been pissing me off, like, it's hard to explain but in games where there's a dark dungeon, the TV itself will lower the brightness, and will brighten up every time a text box pops up, then back to the weird lowered brightness. Same happens in battles or menus or the like, it will be dark in some menus, but not in others. It will darken in the game seemingly in dark places and brighten up when text boxes appear, this happens for every game I play on the TV, not random. Does this make sense? All Eco features on this Samsung TV are disabled, I've tried adjusting HDMI Black Levels, Dynamic Contrast, enabling/disabling Game Mode, changing pic mode to Dynamic. No dice, I can't seem to find any way to disable this seemingly automatic brightening/dimming when I go to from room to room, encounter battles, text boxes. 

The specific model of TV is a Samsung UN50H6203AF or the UN50H6203 if that helps, not sure if there's a way to use a new firmware update to enable the feature to stop this automatic adjustment of brightness depending on if I'm a dark room in the game/TV show, etc.  Just to be clear, it's not the feature that adjusts brightness depending on how much ambient light there is in the living room, but in the game or how dark a game is. I hope this makes sense, and it's annoying and I can't find anything to prevent this from happening, no matter what games I play. Again, all Eco features are disabled, game mode is on, nothing I do prevents the TV from dimming the game I play depending on where I am in the game. It's really really annoying. 

If this is in the wrong topic, I apologize, there's no dedicated section for TVs.


----------



## Deleted User (Mar 27, 2019)

I don't know why auto-dimming is such an important feature on most TVs nowadays, but it really pisses me off when I'm playing games


----------



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

kikongokiller said:


> I don't know why auto-dimming is such an important feature on most TVs nowadays, but it really pisses me off when I'm playing games



Like again, the Eco features are off, but when I play games, it auto dims the games in dark places, brightens up when text box (like FF7, inside a dark shop, when a text box opens, it brightens up), then once gone it goes back. Supposedly people have solved this on a Samsung H6203. It's pissing me off. Some say to rename the HDMI input to PC or using Movie Mode? I'm so baffled by this, my PC monitor sure doesn't  have this issue, but every TV I've used has.


----------



## Armadillo (Mar 27, 2019)

Renaming the hdmi to pc (used to only work with hdmi 1 , might work with them all on later tvs) pretty much disables all processing, so gets rid of nonsense like that, that's why people suggest it. Movie mode apparently lacks the auto dim as well.

Other than that, it's service menu to disable it.

If you have the option, then it's ce dimming to get rid.

https://old.reddit.com/r/techsuppor...ung_un55j6200_tv_has_automaticdimming_anyone/

Others, more messing around, https://www.avforums.com/threads/samsung-global-dimming-game-mode-fix.2170862/, exactly what hides in the service menu seems to depend on exact model.


----------



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

Armadillo said:


> Renaming the hdmi to pc (used to only work with hdmi 1 , might work with them all on later tvs) pretty much disables all processing, so gets rid of nonsense like that, that's why people suggest it. Movie mode apparently lacks the auto dim as well.
> 
> Other than that, it's service menu to disable it.
> 
> ...




The model is a Samsung H6203, it seems there's a firmware update for H5xx to H6xx models on their site from 2018, so maybe I can try that as well? I'm not sure if my TV can let me rename the input to PC, and Movie mode I'd imagine would introduce significant input lag I'd think.  I feel a bit wary going into the service menu, first I'll try renaming the input I use for Switch to PC, then update the firmware and see what I can do. Service menu would be a last resort, but if it's clear and easy to get to, I'll do that.

Wouldn't disabling the post-processing be a bad thing or affect its lifespan?


----------



## Armadillo (Mar 27, 2019)

Shouldn't cause any issues, you are just turning off all/most of the processing the tv does to the picture before displaying it. Can't even adjust the brightness/contrast in pc mode (at least on older samsung tvs, dunno about newer ones, as you are suppose to do it pc side). Can at least just use it to test if it sorts the brightness issue, even if you don't want to run like that permanently.


----------



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

Armadillo said:


> Shouldn't cause any issues, you are just turning off all/most of the processing the tv does to the picture before displaying it. Can't even adjust the brightness/contrast in pc mode (at least on older samsung tvs, dunno about newer ones, as you are suppose to do it pc side). Can at least just use it to test if it sorts the brightness issue, even if you don't want to run like that permanently.



I think it was a very stupid thing to include the auto/local dimming into their TVs. I mean I guess it works in some cases, but for gaming, it kinda, well...makes it feel weird. I hope I can at least adjust the brightness and backlight so I don't wear the thing out faster.


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

the_randomizer said:


> The model is a Samsung H6203, it seems there's a firmware update for H5xx to H6xx models on their site from 2018, so maybe I can try that as well? I'm not sure if my TV can let me rename the input to PC, and Movie mode I'd imagine would introduce significant input lag I'd think.  I feel a bit wary going into the service menu, first I'll try renaming the input I use for Switch to PC, then update the firmware and see what I can do. Service menu would be a last resort, but if it's clear and easy to get to, I'll do that.
> 
> Wouldn't disabling the post-processing be a bad thing or affect its lifespan?


Your probably in standard picture mode. Go to advance settings and turn off motion lighting to stop the brightness problem.

For color accuracy movie mode is best and it turns off most post processing. You would need to turn off extra post processing in picture options like auto motion plus to get 60fps without artificial frames. And remember to set picture size to screen fit, not 16:9, to get 1:1 picture ratio.

To rename to PC press source on the remote then hold down the select button. It should turn off a lot of processing and reduce input lag. This mode is preferable for games.

Any of the modes besides game mode and pc mode has input lag. I don’t like game mode on this tv because it has the brightness problem your talking about.

Picture options
HDMI black level

Low = limited range
Normal= full range

So match your switch rgb range with tv’s rgb range to avoid black crush and washing out of image.

Switch limited range + Samsung low

Switch full range + Samsung normal


----------



## FAST6191 (Mar 27, 2019)

If the above does not work there are things that will stick some kind of signal on top of the HDMI signal (clocks, RSS feeds, logos, something more fancy...) and should not add much to the latency. You might then be able to stick some kind of white pixel or something in the corner and have it hopefully dodge the auto dim.

I don't have a link to or name for any that are popular right now but know there are such things out there. Logo stuff should be available for the video editing set, the rest will probably start with something like https://www.adafruit.com/product/609 (NeTV, there is a second model that had a successful crowdfunding thing done but is not out yet) but there might be cheaper stuff out there.


----------



## BORTZ (Mar 27, 2019)

One of my friends had an issue like this. See if your TV has a "retail" mode or something along those lines. That should keep the picture at a static brightness.


----------



## linuxares (Mar 27, 2019)

Double check so you don't have "eco mode" active. Also make sure it doesn't have a "light sensor" on. My Philips had those options and it dimmed down so much, it just got annoying to use.


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

I wouldn’t recommend you to go into service menu because if you accidentally switch a bad option you can screw up your tv and won’t be able to fix it.


PC settings
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/h6203/settings


----------



## KiiWii (Mar 27, 2019)

SG854 said:


> I wouldn’t recommend you to go into service menu because if you accidentally switch a bad option you can screw up your tv and won’t be able to fix it.
> 
> https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/h6203/settings



Irony ¯\_(ツ)_/¯... anyway..

I’m following this thread as my LG 4K 60” does something similar.


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

KiiWii said:


> Irony ¯\_(ツ)_/¯... anyway..
> 
> I’m following this thread as my LG 4K 60” does something similar.


Service Menu and User Accessible  Settings are 2 different things. You need to input a secret code to access service menu.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

To access the service menu while the tv is off you need to input 

mute+1+8+2+power

But there is usually a common calibration option people accidentally select which screws up their picture. Which to fix you need display checkerboard test pattern and run the calibration to fix it.

There was someone recomending to go into service menu but by advice is not to, especially if you don’t know what your doing.


----------



## The Real Jdbye (Mar 27, 2019)

the_randomizer said:


> So, something about a 50" TV we have has been pissing me off, like, it's hard to explain but in games where there's a dark dungeon, the TV itself will lower the brightness, and will brighten up every time a text box pops up, then back to the weird lowered brightness. Same happens in battles or menus or the like, it will be dark in some menus, but not in others. It will darken in the game seemingly in dark places and brighten up when text boxes appear, this happens for every game I play on the TV, not random. Does this make sense? All Eco features on this Samsung TV are disabled, I've tried adjusting HDMI Black Levels, Dynamic Contrast, enabling/disabling Game Mode, changing pic mode to Dynamic. No dice, I can't seem to find any way to disable this seemingly automatic brightening/dimming when I go to from room to room, encounter battles, text boxes.
> 
> The specific model of TV is a Samsung UN50H6203AF or the UN50H6203 if that helps, not sure if there's a way to use a new firmware update to enable the feature to stop this automatic adjustment of brightness depending on if I'm a dark room in the game/TV show, etc.  Just to be clear, it's not the feature that adjusts brightness depending on how much ambient light there is in the living room, but in the game or how dark a game is. I hope this makes sense, and it's annoying and I can't find anything to prevent this from happening, no matter what games I play. Again, all Eco features are disabled, game mode is on, nothing I do prevents the TV from dimming the game I play depending on where I am in the game. It's really really annoying.
> 
> If this is in the wrong topic, I apologize, there's no dedicated section for TVs.


If there's a PC mode try toggling that. Having it enabled on my previous TV caused some weird behavior, but the reason I had it enabled was that it seemed to be the only way to disable overscan, it could solve some issues for you.
Maybe the thread belongs here? https://gbatemp.net/forums/books-music-tv-movies.191/


----------



## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 27, 2019)

The Real Jdbye said:


> If there's a PC mode try toggling that. Having it enabled on my previous TV caused some weird behavior.
> Maybe the thread belongs here? https://gbatemp.net/forums/books-music-tv-movies.191/


That section is for media only, not tech issues. 

Regarding the problem, as mentioned a few times PC mode usually fixes something like this since there's no extra processing usually associated with it. Otherwise, it's likely you'll need to go into service mode to fix it if the options in the normal user settings don't seem to work/aren't available (though usually they are, but I've seen a lot of TVs with user settings that just don't work for whatever reason).


----------



## The Real Jdbye (Mar 27, 2019)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> That section is for media only, not tech issues.
> 
> Regarding the problem, as mentioned a few times PC mode usually fixes something like this since there's no extra processing usually associated with it. Otherwise, it's likely you'll need to go into service mode to fix it if the options in the normal user settings don't seem to work/aren't available (though usually they are, but I've seen a lot of TVs with user settings that just don't work for whatever reason).


Maybe there should be a section for general tech discussion that doesn't fit in the other categories. Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc. discussions could also go there, or even much broader stuff like cars, advances in technology, whatever Elon Musk is up to and so on. A section for science could be good too. Maybe a 2-in-1 as "Science & Technology"? I'm sure there's enough content to warrant them having their own sections, or at the very least a 2-in-1.


----------



## ryguy2010 (Mar 27, 2019)

Try putting that source into game mode. It should turn off the auto dim.


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> That section is for media only, not tech issues.
> 
> Regarding the problem, as mentioned a few times PC mode usually fixes something like this since there's no extra processing usually associated with it. Otherwise, it's likely you'll need to go into service mode to fix it if the options in the normal user settings don't seem to work/aren't available (though usually they are, but I've seen a lot of TVs with user settings that just don't work for whatever reason).


Newer TVs give enough options to users to adjust, especially this specific model he’s talking about. And the options on this tv works as intended.

For older TVs the only way to access settings like white balance adjustment only service menu had them, but this is not an issue with newer TVs, so it’s best to avoid service menu.


----------



## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 27, 2019)

SG854 said:


> Newer TVs give enough options to users to adjust, especially this specific model he’s talking about.
> 
> For older TVs the only way to access like white balance adjustment only service menu had them, but this is not an issue with newer TVs, so it’s best to avoid service menu.


Not necessarily true. I've used a few smart TVs that have no options to adjust certain features without going into a service mode, and that have options in user mode that just don't function at all. My parents have a JVC "smart" TV from 2016 that lists settings for the user to adjust, but don't actually do anything. Eco mode is one of these, they can turn it off/on but it doesn't have any noticeable difference on picture quality like it's supposed to and would always look dim. Going into service mode and adjusting some settings there fixed it.

Obviously this TV doesn't appear to have those options, in which case service mode is the best bet (unless, as noted, setting it to PC does nothing).


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> Not necessarily true. I've used a few smart TVs that have no options to adjust certain features without going into a service mode, and that have options in user mode that just don't function at all. My parents have a JVC "smart" TV from 2016 that lists settings for the user to adjust, but don't actually do anything. Eco mode is one of these, they can turn it off/on but it doesn't have any noticeable difference on picture quality like it's supposed to and would always look dim. Going into service mode and adjusting some settings there fixed it.
> 
> Obviously this TV doesn't appear to have those options, in which case service mode is the best bet (unless, as noted, setting it to PC does nothing).


Let me rephrase that. Higher range TVs have options that are adjustable. Lower range ones don’t. I forgot to type this.

Your right sometimes even higher range TVs settings don’t work as intended, I’ve seen calibrators complain about this. But it seems less and less of an issue nowadays.

I have the exact specific Samsung model he’s talking about. So I know this tv inside out, and he doesn’t need to be in the service menu. This tv has all the options he needs.


----------



## DeslotlCL (Mar 27, 2019)

This might sound off topic but why bother creating a new thread just for this:

What is actually better to reduce latency in games on tvs? Changing the input to pc mode or using the built in "gaming mode"? Especially talking about modern days smart tvs (a samsung model probably from last year idk).


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

DeslotlCL said:


> This might sound off topic but why bother creating a new thread just for this:
> 
> What is actually better to reduce latency in games on tvs? Changing the input to pc mode or using the built in "gaming mode"? Especially talking about modern days smart tvs (a samsung model probably from last year idk).


The game mode on this tv sucks because it locks you in a specific audio settings that you can’t change. And it has the brightness problem he’s talking about. Pc mode is better for low input lag because it doesn’t have these problems.

It depends on tvs you would need to measure input lag to see which mode is better. On this tv both modes are about the same.


----------



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> Not necessarily true. I've used a few smart TVs that have no options to adjust certain features without going into a service mode, and that have options in user mode that just don't function at all. My parents have a JVC "smart" TV from 2016 that lists settings for the user to adjust, but don't actually do anything. Eco mode is one of these, they can turn it off/on but it doesn't have any noticeable difference on picture quality like it's supposed to and would always look dim. Going into service mode and adjusting some settings there fixed it.
> 
> Obviously this TV doesn't appear to have those options, in which case service mode is the best bet (unless, as noted, setting it to PC does nothing).



It does have game mode, and it is on, but doesn't fix the ridiculous dimming issues when the games or movies show dark rooms/text. I just barely woke up and will try out the PC mode, but for service menus, no idea how to get to that on this model. Would rather not screw with the service menu, I shouldn't need to do.



SG854 said:


> I wouldn’t recommend you to go into service menu because if you accidentally switch a bad option you can screw up your tv and won’t be able to fix it.
> 
> PC settings
> https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/h6203/settings



I'll check that out



DeslotlCL said:


> This might sound off topic but why bother creating a new thread just for this:
> 
> What is actually better to reduce latency in games on tvs? Changing the input to pc mode or using the built in "gaming mode"? Especially talking about modern days smart tvs (a samsung model probably from last year idk).



Yikes, how was I supposed to know that my making this thread would upset people?   There was no definitive solution and I wanted to ask people for help, clearly that was a crime in your eyes.



SG854 said:


> The game mode on this tv sucks because it locks you in a specific audio settings that you can’t change. And it has the brightness problem he’s talking about. Pc mode is better for low input lag because it doesn’t have these problems.
> 
> It depends on tvs you would need to measure input lag to see which is better. On this tv both modes are about the same.



I don't even use TV speakers, most of them suck ass, I use Logitech speakers on it, so it's a nonissue. I'll use the PC renaming method. Most game modes on TVs suck, I've yet to see a perfect iteration of that.



The Real Jdbye said:


> Maybe there should be a section for general tech discussion that doesn't fit in the other categories. Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc. discussions could also go there, or even much broader stuff like cars, advances in technology, whatever Elon Musk is up to and so on. A section for science could be good too. Maybe a 2-in-1 as "Science & Technology"? I'm sure there's enough content to warrant them having their own sections, or at the very least a 2-in-1.



Dammit, I figured my asking for TV help would be an issue for the mods. Not my fault there isn't a tech section for TVs and the like.


----------



## DeslotlCL (Mar 27, 2019)

the_randomizer said:


> Yikes, how was I supposed to know that my making this thread would upset people?   There was no definitive solution and I wanted to ask people for help, clearly that was a crime in your eyes.



No no, you misunderstood my point xD I used your thread for the opportunity to ask that question, so i wouldnt have the need to create a new thread with perhaps a similar problem. All in all, i thank you for the thread because i now know that my tv sucks lol.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



SG854 said:


> The game mode on this tv sucks because it locks you in a specific audio settings that you can’t change. And it has the brightness problem he’s talking about. Pc mode is better for low input lag because it doesn’t have these problems.
> 
> It depends on tvs you would need to measure input lag to see which mode is better. On this tv both modes are about the same.


Well frick, never knew samsung were this bad for games :/

Thanks for the reply.


----------



## SG854 (Mar 27, 2019)

DeslotlCL said:


> No no, you misunderstood my point xD I used your thread for the opportunity to ask that question, so i wouldnt have the need to create a new thread with perhaps a similar problem. All in all, i thank you for the thread because i now know that my tv sucks lol.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


There are some Samsung’s that has low input lag and not as bad. Sony’s are pretty good when it comes to input lag.


----------



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

DeslotlCL said:


> No no, you misunderstood my point xD I used your thread for the opportunity to ask that question, so i wouldnt have the need to create a new thread with perhaps a similar problem. All in all, i thank you for the thread because i now know that my tv sucks lol.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...



The TV I have actually has really good input lag as in, it's very good for gaming and I've had zero issues with response time, it's just the auto dimming is a pain in the ass. Luckily I found I can enable a PC mode, most TVs nowadays can double as PC monitors. So with that, it's calibrated to be used for PC gaming as well, low lag and little post processing crap. I'll test it and get back to guys, no hard feelings, just a bit stressed lately.


----------



## the_randomizer (Mar 27, 2019)

Double post, sorry, but the issue has been resolved: 

Renaming HDMI 2 as HDMI 2- PC (using the Tools button on the remote) has completely eliminated the post processing crap. However, I am forced to run the game at its original aspect ratio, even with 16:9 on, but it looks far better than using the TV's 4:3. I'll live with it.


----------

