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How to Disable and Turn Off HDR Mode on a TCL Roku TV

TCL Roku TVs come with High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities that can enhance picture quality when viewing HDR content. However, HDR may not always be desirable, especially if the lighting conditions are too bright. Fortunately, TCL Roku TVs allow you to disable HDR through a secret menu.

What is HDR and How Does it Work?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It expands the range of brightness levels and colors that a TV can produce, resulting in more vivid and lifelike images compared to standard dynamic range (SDR) content.

With HDR, you get:

  • Brighter whites and deeper blacks – This leads to a higher contrast ratio and more “depth” to the image. Details in shadows and highlights are more visible.
  • Wider color gamut – HDR TVs can display a wider range of colors, allowing for more realistic and accurate color reproduction. Reds, greens, and blues appear more vibrant.
  • Greater bit depth – HDR uses 10-bit or 12-bit color depth versus 8-bit for SDR. This reduces color banding effects in gradients and smooth transitions between colors.

When to Disable HDR on a TCL Roku TV

Here are some situations when you may want to turn off HDR on your TCL Roku TV:

1. Viewing in a Bright Room

If your TV is placed in a room with a lot of sunlight or ambient light, an HDR picture can look dull and flat. Disabling HDR may help the picture “pop” more.

2. Watching Older Non-HDR Content

Trying to upconvert standard dynamic range content to fake HDR can actually make the picture quality worse in some cases. Turning off HDR can improve the viewing experience for non-HDR content.

3. Gaming Issues

Some game consoles may have issues detecting HDR properly on TCL Roku TVs, leading to incorrect picture settings. Turning off HDR may resolve such problems.

How to Turn Off HDR on TCL Roku TV

Follow these steps to disable HDR on your TCL Roku TV:

  1. Turn on your TCL Roku TV.
  2. On the Roku remote, press the Home button rapidly 5 times in a row.
  3. Press Rewind once.
  4. Press Down once.
  5. Press Fast Forward once.
  6. Press Down once.
  7. Press Rewind once.

This will bring up the secret menu with advanced options.

  1. In the menu, select “Change HDR Mode”.
  2. Choose the “Disable HDR” option.

HDR should now be turned off on your TCL Roku TV across different inputs and apps. Keep in mind that this is not a permanent setting – a future TV software update may re-enable HDR automatically.

Alternative: Disable HDR Per Input

Instead of fully disabling HDR TV-wide, you can also turn it off for specific device inputs:

  1. Go to Settings > TV inputs
  2. Select the input device (HDMI port) you want to disable HDR for
  3. Change the “HDMI Mode” setting to “HDMI 1.4” to disable HDR support for that input

Conclusion

While HDR can enhance picture quality given optimal conditions, it may be preferable to disable it in certain situations like bright room viewing. TCL Roku TVs provide a handy secret menu to turn off HDR completely or on a per-input basis. Disabling HDR is simple and can often resolve display issues with games, older content, or overly bright lighting.

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