You must have gotten a bad set or I got lucky. The tv has frame dimming so blacks are dark. I did same black screen and it is dark not blue. I did a YouTube tube test for nits and it showed 1000 nits and I have a hard time believing it but I know it is higher than you state as Dolby Vision or regular HDR doesn’t dim the set. I had a LG6090 50 before and it was terrible on HDR. I put same movie on both sets and dark scenes on LG you see actress only and on Sony 55 x80j you not only see actress but the trees and the birds flying. I watch lots of Dolby Vision and this tv is just as bright as SDR. Colors are great out the box just turn off energy saver. Watched a movie in dark and couldn’t see top or bottom bar. Other reviews state this TV for it’s price is a bargain as they compared it to TVS costing twice as much and I have to agree with them. Are there times when it’s not black but dark gray yea but again I got it for 650 on sale from original price of 949.