On today’s You Asked: How do you safely clean a QD-OLED screen? Should you still get a 4K Blu-ray player? And how to make sure your A/V receiver isn’t messing with your picture quality … again.
Best source signal?
Jack writes: With your encouragement about how good modern sets are, I recently upgraded from a Panasonic plasma to an LG G4, and it’s spectacular. However, I’m wondering if I’m getting the best source signal into it. I have a Denon AVR X6300H. I run my cable box, Amazon Fire TV Cube, and an Oppo 203 through it and I wonder if the receiver is passing the highest signal generated by these sources? When I use the TV’s UI for sources like YouTube, Netflix, etc. they seem to look better.
First, congratulations on the TV upgrade. I’m always happy to hear from folks who are thrilled with the upgrade from plasma TVs, which were awesome in their day and are still lovely to watch. However, as I’ve said before, many of today’s TVs are objectively superior by many meaningful metrics, but perhaps not all metrics – I know plasma TV motion is still very enjoyable, but for contrast and color, we have leapt well ahead of plasma.
I covered this before, but I think it bears repeating: If you are passing a video signal through an A/V receiver, I highly recommend turning off the receiver’s video processing. This is far from the first time I’ve heard someone complain that their in-TV apps look better than their other sources. However, that’s not the only reason the signals coming through the receiver may not look as good.
If you go into your Denon’s video section in the user menu (I think you want Video Mode) you should be able to make a selection for “passthrough” or “off.” This will send an unaltered signal to your TV.
Some TVs do require you to enable enhanced color for HDR for specific HDMI ports. On your LG G4, go to Settings, then General, and then HDMI Deep Color. Make sure the HDMI port you’re using for your receiver – likely the eARC port – has HDMI Deep Color turned “on.” This will enable HDR, so any HDR signal sent through the receiver will be displayed in HDR – mostly HDR content from your Fire TV Cube. Then, make sure your picture settings are similar for that HDMI port to what they are for streaming. Remember: On LG OLEDs, you have to adjust the settings for each HDMI port, and HDMI picture settings are separate from streaming apps and Home Screen picture settings. (This is one of my few lingering complaints about LG TVs; otherwise, I love them.)
Backlight bleeding blues
Dhruva writes: How much backlight bleed is acceptable in an LCD panel? I just got a 75-inch Bravia 3 as I wanted to prioritize size over picture quality (letting go of OLED). When I received it, I noticed major backlight bleeding from the top right corner. I’m disappointed and just wanted to know how much of this issue is acceptable.
Sorry you’re having trouble. Nobody wants to be disappointed with a new TV purchase.
When I read that you had moved to a Bravia 3 from an OLED, my first thoughts were that this was a big move and of course you had a backlight complaint. That’s a big swing, but the photo you sent tells me the whole story.
(Note: If you think a photo might help me understand a problem, send it. A picture will almost always help, plus I never mind getting pics of your A/V gear.)
In your photo I noticed that the upper right hand corner of the TV is much different than the others. That’s not right. It could be a quality control issue, but more likely that corner took some kind of hit in shipping, unboxing, or setup.
This is not how the TV should perform – there’s something going on there that shouldn’t be. I suggest getting the set replaced. All corners should look the same.
Set it and forget it
RB writes: I recently purchased a Hisense 75U8N 2024 and I’m loving it. Dumb question? When switching from cable to streaming to Blu-ray do I have to manually switch back and forth from SDR to HDR? Is there any bad effect on my TV if I leave the setting on HDR?
This is a great question. When you enable deep color or HDR for an HDMI input, you aren’t at risk for messing up SDR content going to that HDR port. Generally, seeing SDR in an HDR container – or Rec. 709 in a DCI-P3 container or BT.2020 container – is no problem for TVs to handle. It’s when you somehow force an HDR signal onto a TV that is fixed at SDR that you get a washed-out, hypercolor mess. In short, you’re fine.
OK to buy Blu-ray?
Norm from Canada writes: Last fall, I upgraded from a 55-inch TCL 6 series to a 65-inch LG C3. I absolutely love the OLED (my first). I want to add a Blu-ray player and wonder: Should I spend the extra money for the 4K player or would a regular player (along with the TV’s upscaling) be sufficient? Note: I do have a PS5 that can play my 4K discs but when I do, the TV defaults to Game mode instead of Movie or Filmmaker modes.
First I want to call attention to the fact that Sony has released a new 4K Blu-ray player, which is exciting.
With Best Buy pulling Blu-rays from stores, there has been talk of the player going away. Yet, discs are still being made, high-end brands like Magnetar are making new players, and now Sony has come out with a refreshed model of its UBP-X700. It’s called the UBP-X700K and is very similar to the version released in 2018, but with no internet connectivity or streaming apps.
The day the disc dies? I will be very sad. I know that high-quality streaming could deliver quality just as excellent as disc one day. However, I still like having the physical copy.
As good as it can look, upscaled 1080p Blu-ray is no substitute for a true 4K Blu-ray. If you’re going to buy a new player, buy a 4K Blu-ray player and 4K discs. The reason it’s so much better isn’t down to the resolution; it’s the higher bit-rate and bit depth. It’s so much cleaner, the HDR is excellent, and there’s little to no color banding. Also, a standalone player will have better overall picture quality than the PS5, although it’s not a night and day difference – some folks wouldn’t even notice.
However, you don’t have to put up with the PS5 forcing Game Mode on you. It shouldn’t happen when you’re not playing a game. If you want to have control over your Picture Mode, turn off Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) in the PS5’s menu. Go to Settings, navigate to Screen and Video, select Video Output, and turn ALLM off. Just a tip.
TV says “no” to video files
Maulik writes: My LG G2 OLED TV suddenly cannot detect any video files from any of my hard disks or thumb-drives (input to the USB port). It could before, and even my old TV can still access and play the video files. How could I fix this problem? Basically all the folders and pics show up, but the video files are non-existent when I try to browse them on the TV. When I plug the hard drive into a laptop or old TV, I can see and play the videos.
I’m afraid I have no idea what’s going on here. If I had to guess, I’d say a firmware or software update may have borked the onboard player. Clearly, the USB interface is still working, but the fact that the TV doesn’t recognize the video files tells me it suddenly doesn’t like the file type, and that points to an unintended consequence of an update. It’s possible the next over-the-air update will fix it.
Settings switcheroos
Gabriel writes: I’m reaching out because I’m experiencing an issue with controlling my home entertainment setup using a single remote. I have a 65-inch 2022 Samsung The Frame paired with an Apple TV 4K (3rd gen, 128GB). The only connection to the TV is the Apple TV, apart from my soundbar in the eARC input. While the Apple TV remote successfully turns both devices off, it’s problematic when powering them on. The Apple TV always turns on, but the TV sometimes switches to the Apple TV input as intended, and other times it switches to the TV source, as if there’s an antenna or cable connected – even though there isn’t. This forces me to use the Samsung remote to manually change the source, which defeats the purpose of a single remote control setup. I’ve tried adjusting settings on both the Apple TV and the TV without success. Is there any configuration or workaround that could resolve this issue, or is it simply inherent to the pairing of the Samsung The Wall and the Apple TV?
That is indeed frustrating, and while I can’t say with certainty what may be causing it, I have also experienced it. Recently, when testing a 2024 Samsung TV, I noticed that it kept returning to Samsung TV Plus and auto-playing content when I didn’t want it to. It happened about every fourth or fifth time – not every time – I turned on the TV. It might be baked into the TV to do this, but I’m not sure.
However, there’s good news. While recently testing out some Samsung 2025 TV models I noticed a new and obvious setting that lets you tell the TV exactly what to do when you turn it on. If it hasn’t rolled out to your TV via an update, try this out:
Go into Settings, then General, then Smart Features. Turn off “Autorun last app.” Then go back to the main Settings menu (which may be under General or Privacy). Find Start Screen Options and turn off “Start with Smart Hub Home.” Then see if the TV doesn’t always just turn on to your last-used input, which should be the Apple TV once you’ve selected it.
Clean your screen the right way
Cristian writes: Not so long ago I bought a 55-inch Samsung S90D OLED TV (all thanks to you) and I’ve been loving it. This is my first time owning an OLED TV and, in this case, one with an anti-glare coating. Fast forward to some time later when I noticed a fingerprint on my screen. I tried cleaning it using a microfiber towel gently on the screen. At first glance I thought I had cleaned it, but on closer inspection I saw that it left a blue smudge that I can’t seem to get rid of. Is there a safe way to clean this screen or should I just ignore it since I don’t want to cause some scratches? Any help is appreciated.
Similarly, Monir writes: I recently purchased a S90C 65″. I have many cats, which, unfortunately, like to sneeze in front of the screen. I went to clean a spot with alcohol – which I now understand was a bad idea – and that made the anti-reflective coating disappear from the cleaned area. Is there a way to fix this, perhaps by reapplying the affected area with anti-reflective coating with a spray or something?
I am sorry but I don’t know of any way to restore removed anti-reflective coating. Perhaps it hasn’t been removed and you’re seeing something similar to what Cristian noticed (blue smudge)?
And now a PSA: Folks, if you have a QD-OLED TV – and really, this goes for any TV – never, ever use alcohol or a glass cleaner with alcohol or ammonia when cleaning the screen. Different TV makers use different kinds of anti-glare and anti-reflection coatings, and there’s just too much risk of damaging the screen.
When cleaning a TV screen, all you need is distilled water and microfiber cloth, preferably low-lint. You can use regular water, but I don’t like anything with minerals in it.
If you have a heavily soiled screen – like gloops of matter – the best way to clean it is to spray it with warm water and let it sit to loosen up, then wipe it away. Then let it dry. Your screen will not be clean yet, just be free of debris. Then use a micro-mist of water, wipe gently, allow to dry, and use a dry cloth to buff it out.
See if that helps. I hope it does.