Category Archives: XBox One

Enabling HDR for XBox One with Samsung 4K TV

(Skip to the bottom for the instructions after my tale of woe)

Yesterday I setup a new 4K Samsung UN65KU650D TV with HDR.

Of course the 1st thing I did was to hook it up to XBox One to see it in all its 4K HDR glory! Once I selected the correct HDMI input, XBox One automatically recommended switching to 4K (very cool!). I also wanted to make sure it was also displaying in HDR.

I went to Settings > All settings > Display & sound, then chose Advanced video settings > 4K TV details as described here (https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/console/checking-your-tv-4k-hdr-capabilities-on-xbox-one-s).

While 4K HDR was detected, HDR could not be found at any refresh rate and was therefore disabled for Video and Games. (Lots of yellows and reds, not nearly enough green checkboxes)

As you can imagine, my heart sank! But fear not, this is just some silliness on Samsung’s part, I imagine for compatibility with devices that don’t support HDR.

By default, this Samsung TV has HDR disabled for all inputs. To enable it for your XBox One (or other HDR device):

1) Turn on the TV and turn off whatever device will be using HDR.

2) Hit the Home button on your remote to bring up the menu
4khdr13) Choose the Settings icon (looks like a gear or cog)4) Choose Picture
4khdr35) Choose Expert Settings
4khdr46) Choose HDMI UHD Color
4khdr57) Choose the HDMI input you are using for your XBox One or other HDR capable device and select “On”.
Click “Close”
4khdr6 8) Turn your XBox One (or whatever) back on.
Go to Settings > All settings > Display & sound, then choose Advanced video settings > 4K TV details
It should now look like:
4khdr7
9) (Optional but highly recommended) Play Mass Effect: Andromeda in all its HDR glory!