Local ATSC 3.0 station looks washed out

[warhaver]

I'm thinking this issue is most likely the station itself, but I figured I would post my issue here just in case I'm overlooking something.

Here in Raleigh, NC my WRAL's ATSC 3.0 stream. Virtual channel 105.1 appears noticeably washed out compared to the ATSC 1.0 simulcast on channel 5.1, which displays correctly.

To rule out any issues on my end, I've tested with two different antennas and viewed the streams across multiple devices — the results are consistent. I'm receiving via an HDHomeRun Flex 4K tuner, and the ATSC 3.0 signal metrics are strong (76% signal strength, 75% signal quality, 100% symbol quality), so it doesn't appear to be a reception issue.

I have reached out to the station's support, but not sure how effective that will be.


Virtual Channel 105.1 WRAL*
Frequency 527.000 MHz
Program Number 1
Modulation Lock atsc3
Signal Strength 76%
Signal Quality 76%
Symbol Quality 100%
Streaming Rate 4.474 Mbps
Resource Lock 192.168.1.173



Virtual Channel 5.1 WRAL HD
Frequency 491.000 MHz
Program Number 3
Modulation Lock 8vsb
Signal Strength 100%
Signal Quality 100%
Symbol Quality 100%
Streaming Rate 8.601 Mbps
Resource Lock 192.168.1.173

[Cabal]

Shooting from the hip, could it be HDR video on a device that isn't (or can't) displaying HDR?

[nickk]

1) What app are you using that is washed out?

2) Check the TV "picture mode" while the washed out content is playing. The TV will maintain different picture modes for SDR and HDR and may still be set to "Eco" for HDR content.

[warhaver]

1) I'm using the HDHomeRun app. For the devices I've tried it on - Apple TV 4k (3rd gen), Macbook Pro M1 and Iphone 16 Pro Max. It's washed out on those devices. (Other ATSC 3.0 channels look fine. We have 6 or so that don't have DRM)

I just tried my LG CX TV's webOS app and it's not washed out, looks normal.

The TV using the Apple TV is an LG G4, but the webOS app isn't available to try on it.

2) I use the LG brightroom picture mode. I tried all the other picture mode options but they are all washed out for this single channel. Eco mode and AI settings are off. Using Rtings.com recommended settings.

[Saigova]

Awesome, I hope that channel or network's techs can help out. Maybe they were gonna offer ATSC 3 advertisers double the chroma signal instead of loud audio?

[nickk]

This is not a station problem... it may be a color conversion issue with the app on Apple platforms. We are investigating.

[warhaver]

Thanks, Nickk.

If you need anything else or more testing on my end, just let me know.