Any fix for "black bars" on VLC not really black?

by pawala7

Hi I have a TCL 43P8B and when playing theatrical aspect ratio movies on VLC the black bars aren't really black. They seem to be more of a navy blue. It's really obvious during fade to black transitions and during credits.

Is this by design, or is there something up with the local dimming on my TV? Does anyone know of a way to fix this without resorting to cropping? Thanks!

Edit: Added photo

Movie black (center) v.s. VLC black bars (top and bottom)

Also, tested playback from PC through HDMI, and bars were properly black. :/

sherl0k

sounds like a full/limited color range issue

fraseyboo

If your TV has a low number of local dimming regions it's likely that the navy blue is just the darkest your TV can produce whilst also having light parts on the screen (eg the credits where it's white text on a black background). Some TVs only have vertical zones which means you're out of luck in making the bars darker.

There isn't really a good solution to this as it's a physical limitation of the hardware, it's only really mitigated by buying a new TV with more dimming zones or ideally an OLED panel.

pawala7

Sooo, apparently nobody here has experience with this issue, so I'm just gonna give up on VLC for AndroidTV on this TV.

For anyone curious, here's the rundown of the situation after testing it with the same scenes of a 2.39:1 aspect ratio movie:

  1. The issue only happens on the VLC app for AndroidTV on TCL

  2. Media center actually uses proper black for the borders (no bright black borders)

  3. VLC on PC passed through HDMI also uses proper black for the borders

  4. 16:9 videos do not have this issue (no need for black borders)

Basically, it had nothing to do with local dimming or dynamic contrast, or anything of the sort.

erdricksarmor

Either your tv can't display true black or you need to play with the brightness/contrast. Or you can just buy an OLED and be happy.