LCD TV loses brightness when a dark image is displayed

[Shark]

Hi guys!

I have an unusual problem with my Philips 23-inch LCD TV (1080p). It all started when it accidentally fell on the floor from a short stand (I know, I know, should have been more carefull ...  )
It works okay, picture is okay, not distorted in any way, full colors. The only issue I'm having since the drop is that when picture displayed is dark (e.g. a dark scene of a movie), the LCD suddenly loses brightness, but only for the duration of the dark scene (you could say that a dark scene becomes even darker). After the dark scene is over, it resumes with normal brightness.

Any ideas what it could be, suggestions on what I could check?

Thanks!

[mtbolha]

Maybe try to reset to factory settings, it maybe will calibrate everything from start. Don't know for sure, did not have any philips TVs.

This is how to do it:

Hope it helps

[gregallenwarner]

I have no idea what would have caused that to start after a fall like you mentioned, but it's been my experience that whenever an LCD TV is darkening the picture during dark scenes, the culprit is the "Dynamic Contrast" mode.

I'm not sure what that mode will be called on your TV, but basically, in order to trick your eyes into seeing a wider range of darks to brights, the manufacturers have your TV dim the backlight when the image processor detects an overly dark scene. This grinds my gears to no end, because it washes out the colors when it does that. It's a stupid trick, in my opinion, and that feature should be immediately turned off from every TV. You might check to see whether this got turned on for some reason, and try it again with the feature turned off.

[wraper]

I think it's dynamic contrast/eco setting, not fault at all. It lowers backlight brightness on dark scenes. Disable it in settings.

[Jonny]

I would tend toward the dynamic contrast setting as well. I have a Philips 19" for my PC that does this to. I can't think why a fall would have triggered this. I don't think it would have ambient light sensor in the front edge somewhere but if it does maybe the shock has done something to it?

[urbis]

I think it's dynamic contrast/eco setting, not fault at all. It lowers backlight brightness on dark scenes. Disable it in settings.

My LG and Sony sets are very much the same for this.

Some TVs refer to it as DCR.

[Shark]

Thanks to all that contributed, surprised with the big response I got!

I never would have thought that it was a settings issue, but in fact, it is.

My Philips has a feature SmartContrast that is advertised as:

SmartContrast is a Philips technology that analyzes the contents you are displaying, automatically adjusting colors and controlling backlight intensity to dynamically enhance contrast for the best digital images and videos or when playing games where dark hues are displayed.

Well, it certainly made my LCD black haha. And yes, as mentioned, it seems to be associated with Economy mode.

Turning this feature off solved my problem Thanks a lot!

[gregallenwarner]

Great going! Glad it's working for you. Yeah, about the advertisement:

...controlling backlight intensity to dynamically enhance contrast...

Decreasing backlight intensity, by definition, decreases color contrast! Why can't these TV manufacturers see that their "enhancements" make the picture look like s***!!!