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PS5 does not display SDR content correctly (update: option to have the system engage HDR only if the content supports it now live)

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LebGuns

LebGuns

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,127
I saw these tweets earlier today by the Digital Foundry folks and it felt like my eyes were validated and I wasn't going crazy.

When you leave HDR on, you get the auto HDR/auto tonemapping on SDR content running on the PS5, which doesn't look good. The workaround was always thought to turn HDR off from automatic to display SDR correctly, but that causes black level and color problems. I've noticed that myself in all the SDR games I've played, and always wondered why they looked so much better on PS4 pro, and chalked it off to my perception being off. It was most evident on the PS5 menus where the black background and colors look washed out and faded when HDR is off.

Posting this on here in case anyone on here for awareness and validation if anyone else noticed this too! This really really needs to be fixed soon, as there is no proper way to play SDR content on PS5 currently.






April 14, 2021 Update: an option to automatically detect HDR, and switch to SDR when no HDR image is detected has been added.

 
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dallow_bg

dallow_bg

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,629
texas
Has anyone tested with movies?
Playing a BD always turns the system into SDR only mode regardless of system setting.


8byte said:
I swear there's been a thread on this already...
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That was the thread about there not being a way for the system to auto switch between HDR and SDR content.

This is basically saying SDR mode is essentially broken.
 
EatChildren

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,029
I think EvilBoris talked about this here when the console launched, and how the PS5 doesn't ever turn off HDR but instead repackages the SDR into a container on the same signal, resulting in highly inaccurate output.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,361
I think we all saw this with Control UE (that doesn't support HDR). I played both, PS5 was totally crushed blacks. Had to raise the brightness about a third higher than on Series X otherwise it was hard to see in any areas with shadows (a lot in Control).
 
aevanhoe

aevanhoe

Slayer of the Eternal Voidslurper
Member
Aug 28, 2018
7,328
While I personally don't care that much, I do hope they fix it for people who have a problem with this. I guess they will get around to it at some point.

Btw, I never minded the switching between SDR and HDR on PS4, it also allowed me to have two settings on my TV for two different modes.... I get why they changed it, but I actually preferred it before.
 
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LebGuns

LebGuns

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,127
EatChildren said:
I think EvilBoris talked about this here when the console launched, and how the PS5 doesn't ever turn off HDR but instead repackages the SDR into a container on the same signal, resulting in highly inaccurate output.
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You are correct. This is saying even when you turn that container off, the SDR is even more broken.
 
BarringGaffner

BarringGaffner

Member
Nov 11, 2017
2,249
'SDR in HDR container is better here'

not sure if serious. That washed out image looks so much worse than having crushed blacks and would completely ruin the tone of the game. Edit: wait is the washed out image sdr? :0
 
Terbinator

Terbinator

Member
Oct 29, 2017
10,245
Honestly I think HDR itself is broken too. GoT in HDR on PS5 has banding *everywhere* - I had to turn the in game brightness to about 70 to make it visible and you can see the dithering around the sky and any light sources as well as looking washed out. GOW also similar.
 
Lkr

Lkr

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,519
i'm playing the order 1886 and kinda going crazy. disabled HDR on the system, and the shadows/lighting look awful. wasn't sure if it's the game or an overall system thing
 
JohnnyToonami

JohnnyToonami

Member
Dec 16, 2018
5,471
Earth
BarringGaffner said:
'SDR in HDR container is better here'

not sure if serious. That washed out image looks so much worse than having crushed blacks and would completely ruin the tone of the game.
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It looks horrible but also it depends on the TV itself. The switching from SDR to HDR was never an issue except for those that for some reason had a deep hatred for that couple second black screen that would appear when it was switching.
 
Mullet2000

Mullet2000

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,906
Toronto
'SDR in HDR container is better here' is an interesting comment because at least for me, SDR in an HDR container looks awful and way more washed out than it should look. :/

So both SDR and HDR are bad, great. Sony please fix this.
 
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Lukemia SL

Lukemia SL

Member
Jan 30, 2018
9,384
This is horrible, they really should look into fixing this. It seems like something they'll leave as is and hope no one cares enough for them to fix
 
k1x-

k1x-

Member
Oct 28, 2017
199
Terbinator said:
Honestly I think HDR itself is broken too. GoT in HDR on PS5 has banding *everywhere* - I had to turn the in game brightness to about 70 to make it visible and you can see the dithering around the sky and any light sources as well as looking washed out. GOW also similar.
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Strange. I dont have banding issues with GoT HDR on PS5. Or do you mean the very few, pre rendered cutscenes?
 
grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,292
Germany
I tried playing Bloodborne both with HDR on and off and I thought it looked very different than what I remembered playing on my old LED TV.

I thought I was imagining things. How can you fuck this up?
 
yalk_dx

yalk_dx

Member
Nov 3, 2020
1,346
on bluray discs (twin peaks the return) and other SDR-only games, i've never had issues. for video apps and games without hdr support, leaving the HDR setting on automatic does affect the way the image looks but everything looks fine when i turn HDR off.
 
canderous

canderous

Prophet of Truth
Member
Jun 12, 2020
8,691
Yikes. This has gotta suck if you don't have a HDR TV, or your have a cheaper HDR TV where the HDR is garbage and SDR looks better. They need to fix this and also add auto switching between SDR and HDR while they're at it.
 
More Human than Human

More Human than Human

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,961
Terbinator said:
Honestly I think HDR itself is broken too. GoT in HDR on PS5 has banding *everywhere* - I had to turn the in game brightness to about 70 to make it visible and you can see the dithering around the sky and any light sources as well as looking washed out. GOW also similar.
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I've seen a lot of people complain about this issue but I've been playing GoT for the past month and have no issues with banding whatsoever. Using a C9, with DTM on and in game brightness on the default 50. I wonder what causes it.
 

bes.gen

Member
Nov 24, 2017
3,351
ghostcrew said:
I think we all saw this with Control UE (that doesn't support HDR). I played both, PS5 was totally crushed blacks. Had to raise the brightness about a third higher than on Series X otherwise it was hard to see in any areas with shadows (a lot in Control).
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weirdly control itself got an update recently for fixing this,
maybe they compensated for the underlying issue
 
Ferrs

Ferrs

Avenger
Oct 26, 2017
18,829
This always HDR container on PS5 is some baffling dumb shit. I don't know wtf was Sony thinking.
 
smuguire

smuguire

Member
Oct 27, 2017
591
canderous said:
Yikes. This has gotta suck if you don't have a HDR TV, or your have a cheaper HDR TV where the HDR is garbage and SDR looks better. They need to fix this and also add auto switching between SDR and HDR while they're at it.
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Might not be a problem with non HDR TVs? No idea how that would work really, but here's a photo I just took of the same screen on my 9 year old Panasonic Plasma.

Seems fine to me.

 
EagleClaw

EagleClaw

Member
Dec 31, 2018
10,691
Never have experienced that myself.
Also no DF video with a detailed 400x zoom ever mentioned that.
Maybe there are some lucky people that don't have that problem, and i'm luckily one of them.

Sorry to hear that a lot of other user experience that problem.

EDIT:
I understand that this is a problem if you set HDR on automatic to use the HDR function in supported games.
I hope they fix that until i get my HDR TV.
 
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Ogni-XR21

Ogni-XR21

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,390
Germany
When I set up my PS5 I thought something was off with SDR content. I never could get PS4 SDR games to look right. Good to know I wasn't imagining things.
 
Diogo Arez

Diogo Arez

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 20, 2020
17,645
Weird, I haven't noticed anything strange about it in the 2 months I've had the console
 
EvilBoris

EvilBoris

Prophet of Truth - HDTVtest
Verified
Oct 29, 2017
16,683
EatChildren said:
I think EvilBoris talked about this here when the console launched, and how the PS5 doesn't ever turn off HDR but instead repackages the SDR into a container on the same signal, resulting in highly inaccurate output.
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Yeah this is true, but what DF are saying is that games which are natively SDR - even in BC mode are coming out darker than they should be in their captures - when HDR is disabled
I've not investigated it/seen it. but it's plausible that there is a bug somewhere or something else by design is causing this.


I'll have a think about what is the best way to figure it out is.
 
Lord Error

Lord Error

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,368
I don't think this problem exists on older TVs that doesn't support HDR. I haven't noticed anything particularly wrong (or different than PS4 which I also have plugged in) on mine anyway. One instance that I noticed to be wrong was Control UE dark crush which seemed like a game-thing rather than a console-thing. It was possible to correct it with in-game brightness.
 
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canderous

canderous

Prophet of Truth
Member
Jun 12, 2020
8,691
smuguire said:
Might not be a problem with non HDR TVs? No idea how that would work really, but here's a photo I just took of the same screen on my 9 year old Panasonic Plasma.

Seems fine to me.

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The guys from DF are saying blacks are crushed, so what you're looking for is a lack of shadow detail. But without side by side comparison you may never know. They only notice it because they're constantly capturing the same game from both consoles. The image in the OP with raised blacks is some other issue I think.



 

bes.gen

Member
Nov 24, 2017
3,351
remember one of the df guys mentioning this happened after a system update in control thread.
so they'll patch hopefully. i hate that always hdr container, patch that out as well please.
 
hey it's that dog

hey it's that dog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,103
Lord Error said:
I don't think this problem exists on older TVs that doesn't support HDR. I haven't noticed anything particularly wrong on mine anyway. One instance that I was noticed to be wrong' was Control UE dark crush which seemed like a game-thing rather than a console-thing. It was possible to correct it with in-game brightness.
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This mirrors my experience with my 2014 Sony TV. I've replayed a few PS4 games on PS5 and didn't notice anything glaring, but there could still be a difference, I couldn't say.

Is this something that can be fixed in firmware? I do plan on getting a new TV in the next couple years.
 
Biggersmaller

Biggersmaller

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,966
Minneapolis
Damn...I have no choice...
tenor.gif


(Seriously, I hope a patch corrects for this.)
 
Pachinko

Pachinko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
958
Canada
I saw these tweets this morning and ... I dunno I've got a 2012 model Plasma TV which of course means 0 HDR support for me. I've never really noticed crushed blacks OR washed out colours and the console would be set to OFF in my case. Game mode on too (which produces a brighter image in general no matter what console I've got plugged in).
 
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