How to Turn HDR On on Vizio TVs

Evan Gower January 15, 2020

Your dream has come true, and you’ve finally bought a 4K TV. It’s big, it’s beautiful, and it’s all the things you wanted it to be. You’re so thrilled to watch some of your favorite movies and sports in 4K now. But for some reason, despite the TV costing you a small fortune, the images displayed on your new device is not on par with your expectations.

Don’t worry, all new TVs – and especially the 4K ones – need calibration to produce the best picture quality. So, in case you’ve bought a new Vizio 4K TV and aren’t happy with the result, we’re here to help you.

What Is HDR?

With Vizio offering some of the most economical 4K TV options in the market, we wouldn’t blame you for choosing the brand over the likes of Samsung or LG. The good news is, Vizio’s HDR display is considered fantastic in its price range. But what is HDR?

HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is the buzzword in the 4K TV market right now. You might’ve seen an HDR filter on your smartphone camera, and that is a good way to think about it. Originating from photography, HDR increases an image’s dynamic range, which is the contrast between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites.

By turning on HDR, we allow our TVs to strike up nuance in the picture. In any 4K TV, we’d always recommend you to turn on the HDR mode, and Vizio is no different.

Turning On HDR on Your Vizio TV

Most Vizio 4K TVs support three different types of HDR. They’re Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG, respectively. So, to get a crispy image with an increased contrast ratio, you’d need to turn on one of the three standards mentioned here.

But one extremely important thing that consumers tend to forget is that HDR will only work with 4K content. Unless your content streaming platform provides HDR content, there’s no point switching it on. To sum it up, HDR only matters if the content supports it.

Given that your content streaming platform supports HDR, how do you get to switch it on your Vizio 4K TV? Well, it’s quite simple. Just follow the steps below.

Step One

The first thing you’d need to do is locate an HDMI port that supports HDR on your TV. Note that not all HDMI ports on a 4K TV support it. If you’re unsure, please check the device manual that came with your TV. On its website, Vizio maintains that the 2016 and 2017 D, E, and M-series models support HDR content on the HDMI port 1.

However, if you own a newer Vizio TV, the chances are that it belongs to the P-Series or later. In these models, all the HDMI ports support HDR content except HDMI 5. However, if there’s no HDMI port 5, no need to worry about it.

Step Two

After making sure that you’ve connected your content streaming platform to an HDMI port capable of HDR, select the Menu option on your Vizio remote. Now select Input Settings and then select the HDMI port your device is connected to. Finally, turn on the Full UHD Color option.

That’s it. HDR content on your Vizio 4K TV is now enabled.

But HDR Still Doesn’t Work

If the High Dynamic Range on your Vizio 4K TV is still not working as expected, there could be many reasons. You need to make sure that your content streaming platform supports 4K. Older versions of Roku or Apple TV won’t necessarily support HDR. So, you might be blaming your new TV for the problem when, in reality, the problem lies elsewhere.

It could also be that the movie or show you’re watching is not available in 4K. Remember that not ALL content on web streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix I available in HDR. You’d need to check the title card of a particular movie or show to see if it supports HDR. Usually, streaming platforms would attach an HDR badge to content that supports 4K streaming.

Finally, there’s the possibility that your HDMI cable is old. Old HDMI cables are not fast enough to transmit HDR without glitches. You might have to purchase a Certified Premium HDMI cable to connect your content streaming platform to your Vizio TV.

vizio

Enjoy 4K Content on Your Vizio TV

You’re all set to start enjoying HDR content on your Vizio 4K TV. There are many apps and thousands of videos on YouTube which support HDR viewing, so there will never be a dearth of options.

We’d love to hear your views on watching HDR content on your Vizio or other 4K TVs. You can give us your opinion in the comments section below.