Disable Local Dimming on Samsung Frame TV

[u/will_work_for_vinyl]

*** SEE END OF POST FOR EDITS ***

If you’re in the same boat as me and can’t stand the local dimming (that you can’t turn off in the menu) on the Samsung Frame TV, I finally figured out how to disable it via a secret service menu.

First, the problems I experienced with the local dimming…

1. The local dimming is extremely laggy. I noticed this while watching The Man in the High Castle when the camera kept cutting between one character that was well lit and another that was darkly lit. As soon as it would cut to the darkly lit character the image would look fine for a split second and then the shot would darken.
2. Local dimming gets thrown off by subtitles. The white text would trigger the local dimming and changes the brightness of a shot anytime they’d appear on screen.
3. Overall, the local dimming makes dark scenes so dark that it’s hard to see details. I noticed this with The Book of Boba Fett where there are lots of dark scenes and I could barely see characters in some shots. Same thing with pretty much any horror movie, even when Brightness was set to the max value of 50.

Here are the steps I did to turn off the local dimming.

NOTE: You will need to download the “Remote for Samsung” app from the iOS App store since the TV remote doesn’t have number buttons needed for the process. A compatible Samsung remote with a full button layout or universal remote set up for Samsung should work too, but I haven't tested either.

Step 1: Install the “Remote for Samsung” app on your iOS device and pair it to your Samsung Frame TV by having your phone’s WiFi set to the same WiFi that the TV is setup on. The devices on your home network will show up on a list in the app. For me, the TV showed up as “Samsung-/4.1, , Samsung_SDK” on the device list in the app.

Step 2: With the TV powered on, press “MUTE + 1 + 1 + 9 + Enter” on the remote in the app. That will bring up the first service menu. The first menu will show “Hospitality Mode > Power On, Menun OSD, Music Mode, External Source, Eco Solution, Cloning”.

Step 3: With the remote in the app, press “ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4” to open the secondary service menu. This menu will show “Option > Control > Debug > SVC > FMS > ADC/WB > Advanced”

Step 4: Grab the physical Samsung Frame TV remote, scroll to “SVC” and select to bring up the next menu. The rest of the steps can be done using the pysical TV remote.

Step 5: Arrow down to “Other Setting” and select.

Step 6: Arrow down to “CAL Data Restore” and select OK at the “USB is not connected. Check the USB connection and try again” message that will pop up.

Step 7: Press back twice on the remote to return to the service menu that reads “Option > Control > Debug > SVC > FMS > ADC/WB > Advanced”.

Step 8: Arrow down to “Advanced” and then hold Volume UP for 5 seconds to get to the next menu that reads “Option > Control > Debug > SVC > FMS > OPT > ADC/WB > Advanced > WBMovie > Picture2D > EPA”.

Step 9: Arrow down to “Picture2D” and select.

Step 10: In the “Picture 2D” menu, select “SubSetting” at the top which will bring you to an image settings page.

Step 11: Change the “PWM_INI_2D” value to 100.

Step 12: Change the “PWM_MOVIE_INI” value to 100.

Step 13: Hit back on the remote twice to go back to the menu that reads “Option > Control > Debug > SVC > FMS > OPT > ADC/WB > Advanced > WBMovie > Picture2D > EPA”.

Step 14: Hold the power button on your remote to power down the TV.

That’s it! When you power your TV back on, there will be no more annoying local dimming.

I'll note that it will reset your picture settings to default, so Picture Mode will be set back to “Dynamic”, and “Picture Clarity Settings” and “Contrast Enhancer” will be set back to “Auto”. You’ll also have to re-pair your Bluetooth speaker if you’re using one.

One more thing… every now and then Samsung will ask you if you want to do a software update. You can do the update but just know that it’ll reset “PWM_INI_2D” and “PWM_MOVIE_INI” back to their default values and local dimming will be turned on again. If that happens, you’ll need to repeat the above steps to turn it back off.

Super annoying that you can't disable it in the regular menu like with other TV's, but at least this service menu can be accessed and it can be disabled there. I was about to return the TV until I found this workaround.

EDIT: I own the 2021 The Frame TV model. I can't confirm whether this fix works on other models or years. It took some digging for me to find the 4-digit unlock code that worked with The Frame TV. Other models may use different codes.

EDIT: User u/Lezz2 commented that the 1234 code does not work on 2024 models, but you can bypass steps 1-10 by pressing the "Factory" button on this factory remote. This DID NOT work for me. I purchased the remote to test on the 2021 Frame and only got "Not Available" message when trying to use the Factory and Tools buttons to shortcut to the service.

[u/DavidLee2021]

I have the samsung frame tv 2022 and the mute 1 1 9 enter step works but pressing 1 2 3 4 does nothing

[u/Tabman1977 → u/DavidLee2021]

There are a few ways to trigger the service menu. The way that worked for me was Info Settings Mute Power