Since the beginning of June, LG has been distributing firmware version 05.10.04 for OLED televisions of the 2019 generation, i.e. for the B9, C9, E9 and W9 series. The firmware causes an error in interaction with AV receivers, connected players and the HDR format Dolby Vision, which leads to strong image flickering.
At the request of heise online, LG stated that the error is known and that another firmware update for the affected OLED TVs with a fix is expected to appear next Monday, June 28, 2021.
The error occurs when the player, such as a Fire TV Stick, Apple TV or Nvidia Shield (or their 4K versions), is connected to the AV receiver via HDMI and this transmits the Dolby Vision image signal to the television. Nearly all AV receivers are reported to be affectedregardless of whether HDMI 2.0 or HDMI 2.1 is used. Only Pioneer has one According to the Reddit Post, its own firmware update has already been publishedwhich corrects the error on the part of the AV receiver. LG does not go into the cause – changes in the Dolby Vision profile would be possible.
Workarounds
Anyone who has already installed firmware version 05.10.04 can, as an interim solution, either display Dolby Vision or connect the player directly to the OLED TV and output the sound to the AV receiver via the HDMI ARC function (Audio Return Channel). In the latter case, however, depending on the configuration, sound quality is lost, for example, as Dolby Atmos is no longer output.
If the firmware has not yet been installed, the automatic updates can be deactivated in the settings. According to the changelog, version 05.10.04 only brings “minor bug fixes”.
(mmma)
