How to improve contrast using local dimming on your Roku TV system
Some Roku TV™ systems have an advanced picture control setting called local dimming, or local contrast. Local dimming technology improves the contrast performance of your Roku TV system by dimming the parts of the screen that should be dark while not altering the parts of the screen that should be bright. Achieving more realistic blacks in this way causes you to see a sharper image with colors that appear more vivid and whites that seem brighter.
Note: Not all TV models support local dimming (or local contrast). Roku Plus and Pro Series TVs support local dimming. Refer to the manufacturer of your TV for details.
How local dimming works
The backlight structure behind the front LCD screen on your TV is divided into numerous zones of tiny lights, or LEDs. Each zone is dimmed or lit up individually depending on the contrast and lighting of each scene. When local dimming is enabled, the amount of dimming in each zone is automatic with dynamic scene-by-scene detection of brightness and contrast levels.
How to adjust local dimming on your TV
On TV models that support local dimming, the feature is available in the Advanced picture settings submenu of the Options menu. If the local dimming option is not listed in the Advanced picture settings submenu, then your TV does not support this feature.
To adjust local dimming, begin playback of a movie or TV show on a streaming app, or switch to the Antenna TV, HDMI, or AV input.
- After playback begins, press Star
on your TV remote to open the Options menu - Scroll and select Advanced picture settings
- Locate the Local dimming (or local contrast) selection.
- Choose the local dimming effect level using the directional pad on your TV remote.
Off: Local dimming turned off and backlight is no longer controlled individually by each zone.
Low: Local dimming enabled with small dimming range.
Medium: Local dimming enabled with medium dimming range.
High: Local dimming enabled with large dimming range.
Note: When Local dimming is enabled, the Dynamic contrast setting (if it exists on your TV) is off and disabled automatically.
Last updated at 2/24/2026 10:21:09 PM
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