50. Video - Why do some ATSC 3.0 channels appear to be washed out (All about HDR)?

In general if HDR is not enabled on your HDR capable TV, HDR channels will appear to have washed out colors.

On Sony TVs, the HDMI input needs to be set to Enhanced Mode for HDR to work. The HDMI inputs on Sony TVs (some models, at least) have a Standard Mode that allows for the most compatibility, and Enhanced Mode for 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, etc. To do this go to Settings->Channels & Inputs->External Inputs->HDMI Signal Format->Enhanced Mode

On LG TVs go to : Settings->General->External Devices->HDMI Settings->HDMI Deep Color->select "4K"

Some customers have asked if we plan on allowing HDR to be "turned off" in a future release. The answer is “No”. Android has two settings: "Always HDR" and "Adaptive HDR". It does not have a setting to disable HDR. ZapperBox uses Adaptive HDR so that HDR is only turned on when the incoming signal has HDR data and the TV supports that HDR mode.

This leaves the case when the incoming signal is HDR, but the TV is non-HDR. In our experience HDR programs do look a bit dull (but not washed out) on non-HDR TVs. 

There is also some confusion about Dolby Vision, and why our box shows HDR10 and not Dolby Vision. Dolby Vision requires special chips and additional royalty payments to Dolby. ZapperBox chose to not support Dolby Vision for these reasons. However, Dolby Vision has a mode called “ST 2094-10”. This mode allows Dolby Vision content (used primarily by NBC) to be displayed as HDR10.