Weird Blue Line Down Middle of Screen S9 Plus While Watching Netflix

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

• #1

Okay, im losing my mind with this problem. Watching videos on new S9 (Pie) on netflix is so dark i barely can see anything happening around. I have changed adaptive display, video enhancer but they do little or not anything at all. While Netflix is dark af Youtube on the other hand works perfectly fine regular and HDR content and yes, i have the 'best' netflix plan.

Comparison against ip8+: https://i.imgur.com/TNhg6WQ.jpg

Using search bar i can see what is happening but during playback no: https://i.imgur.com/azR7fGa.jpg

Any ideas? Has this been this bad whole year?

Dec 5, 2011

10,513

2,857

Durham

• #2

Tried an older version of the Netflix app ?

• #3

Tried an older version of the Netflix app ?

I have not but i tried subscribing into beta version and it did not solve this. Is there easy way to do that or should i just download some random apk from somewhere?

Okay found it from apkmirror, will try now.

Last edited: Jan 29, 2019

• #4

Tested on three different version. One from mid december and one from november. Third one was so old (from march) that it directly said i need to update my Netflix app in order to proceed.

No luck with these, same problem persists.

Dec 5, 2011

10,513

2,857

Durham

• #5

Tested on three different version. One from mid december and one from november. Third one was so old (from march) that it directly said i need to update my Netflix app in order to proceed.

No luck with these, same problem persists.

Says they are currently investigating the bug
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/100220

• #6

Says they are currently investigating the bug
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/100220

I saw the same thing but that feels like generic notification or old. Could have been there for months.

I try to contact the chat support if i get anything out of there and post the info back here. I use netflix daily (talk about addiction) and i cant live with this issue

• #7

Okay, problem was my settings or viewing habits after all. I had to disable adaptive brightness and pump the brightness quite high which makes using the phone before sleep in bed quite horrible experience but when doing that the issue goes away most of the time. I need to check if changing colors to more yellow tint helps to overcome this new issue i just generated. Maybe i'm to used to use IPS/LCD displays which are bright but not like flashlight into eyes like HDR/Amoled.

• #8

In your display settings you have to turn in your AOMLED to Cinema mode when watching movies on Netflix and turn the contrast on high. Best results I've found this far.

• #9

Turn on video enhancer under advanced features. It works! I have a Note 9.

• #10

Temporary Fix

I was able to view content again that was not too dark to watch by uninstalling latest Netflix app and then installing v4.12.2 from apkmirror.

• #12

Thanks jsomby and iskidoo2. So glad to know I'm not alone. I spent hours faffing around in my S9 settings (blue light filter, brightness, adaptive brightness, screen modes, etc, and Netflix subtitles on or off) and no combination of settings made a meaningful difference

I called Netflix support from the app yesterday and today about this.

Yesterday the agent was very nice but got stuck into the advice for "screen is black but I hear sound" which wasn't really the correct category.

After that call and learning from this thread about how to get older versions of apps, I tried two Netflix 6 versions which made no difference (current Play Store version is 7.26.1). Then I spotted iskidoo2's suggestion of 4.12.2. It worked! Thank you for giving me Netflix back!

I then took some pictures comparing the ancient Netflix app with the current one, even demonstrating the way the inset preview image is much less dim than the film itself when you're moving the red dot on the progress bar....

I called Netflix again today to be told it's a known issue with the S9 and streaming HDR titles, and they're working on it. Since this thread is over 6 months old I'm not sure if they're working on it exceedingly slowly, or if it was never properly acknowledged as a bug until recently?!

TLDR: thank you for this thread. I registered here to say that.

• #13

Thanks jsomby and iskidoo2. So glad to know I'm not alone. I spent hours faffing around in my S9 settings (blue light filter, brightness, adaptive brightness, screen modes, etc, and Netflix subtitles on or off) and no combination of settings made a meaningful difference

I called Netflix support from the app yesterday and today about this.

Yesterday the agent was very nice but got stuck into the advice for "screen is black but I hear sound" which wasn't really the correct category.

After that call and learning from this thread about how to get older versions of apps, I tried two Netflix 6 versions which made no difference (current Play Store version is 7.26.1). Then I spotted iskidoo2's suggestion of 4.12.2. It worked! Thank you for giving me Netflix back!

I then took some pictures comparing the ancient Netflix app with the current one, even demonstrating the way the inset preview image is much less dim than the film itself when you're moving the red dot on the progress bar....

I called Netflix again today to be told it's a known issue with the S9 and streaming HDR titles, and they're working on it. Since this thread is over 6 months old I'm not sure if they're working on it exceedingly slowly, or if it was never properly acknowledged as a bug until recently?!

TLDR: thank you for this thread. I registered here to say that.

I didn't try the old version yet and some series are hard to impossible to watch in dim light (ie. bed) but i will look into that older apk. I also spoke with netflix support and 'solution' was to pump up the brightness but in bed that usually makes eyes hurt, otherwise no issues. There are couple of series in netflix that are pure agony to watch with this phone, one of these are 'The Ranch'. Colors are off and since are scenes are quite low contrast it makes watching really bad with S9.

Also there is this issue with blacks and how they leave trail when moving fast but that's for another topic and hw issue and not related no netflix only.

• #14

Here's the current app compared to the old one. I've not had to mess with any of my settings or adaptive brightness... the old one just works. Such a relief to suddenly see faces again rather than just lightbulbs surrounded by blackness.

• #15

Okay, im losing my mind with this problem. Watching videos on new S9 (Pie) on netflix is so dark i barely can see anything happening around. I have changed adaptive display, video enhancer but they do little or not anything at all. While Netflix is dark af Youtube on the other hand works perfectly fine regular and HDR content and yes, i have the 'best' netflix plan.

Comparison against ip8+: https://i.imgur.com/TNhg6WQ.jpg

Using search bar i can see what is happening but during playback no: https://i.imgur.com/azR7fGa.jpg

Any ideas? Has this been this bad whole year?

Hi Everyone,
Try

1) increase full brightness
2)start any videos on Netflix
3) click home button and you will get pop up netflix screen
4) now click full screen on netflix

• #16

Hi Everyone,
Try

1) increase full brightness
2)start any videos on Netflix
3) click home button and you will get pop up netflix screen
4) now click full screen on netflix

Wow! You are a hero! It really works!

• #17

THANKS!! Finaly I have Netflix back...by using Netflix 4.12.2 from ApkMirror

Last edited: Oct 21, 2019

• #18

I had the same issue with samsung note 10+. The screen went dark. Then I installed netflix 4.12.2 from apkmirror. The brigtness came back. Then update the app back to latest version from playstore. The latest version started working fine with proper brightness.

• #19

Ok guys. Netflix is incompetent. Here is a fix until the retards get it fixed. It's an HDR streaming problem. Brightness controls and what not seem to have little effect. Start a Netflix show that has this problem them picture in picture your netflix. While inpic in pic go to display settings and turn adaptive display on then turn brightness to high. Your netflix should be better now but still not how it should be in HDR. For some reason Netflix HDR is using adaptive brightness settings automatically and screwing things up

• #20

I had a similar problem with Netflix playback on the Android app being very dark and discovered that there is a brightness control in Netflix. When you are playing back a movie tap the screen to bring up the play/pause controls and on the left side is a brightness slider. This fixed the problem for me.

Similar threads

richardsonflarapt.blogspot.com

Source: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/netflix-is-super-dark-on-s9.3894920/

Share this post