XPS 15 9500 4k Video Playback Problems

This has something to do with the stupid UWP setting in the task manager that Dell doesn't allow us to turn off.  If you look in the task manager while attempting to play a Dolby Vision video, you will see "Dolby Vision Extensions" with a little green leaf next to it. This means the computer has "suspended the process to improve performance".  The green leaf should turn off when playing Dolby Vision, but for some reason it doesn't and  Dell isn't giving us the option of manually disabling it.  I found a temporary fix by toggling the refresh rate in the display settings.  Turn it to 48 and then back to 60.  This allowed me to play Dolby Vision videos in the Netflix app, but eventually I had to toggle the refresh rate again for it to play again.  When the video plays, look in the task manager and you'll see the little green leaf is no longer next to "Dolby Vision Extensions" . A permanent fix would be giving us the ability to turn off this stupid UWP process setting in the task manager.  It's more trouble than good. 

Thanks Joesha, 
When this problem was first identified, I did try changing the refresh rate to see if it made a difference. I've had another good play with it again today but at every setting (48 Hz, 59.93 Hz and 59.99 Hz) Netflix and Disney + Apps still won't play and throw up the same error code. 

I've just given it a go. Arcane info does show as Dolby Vision and it does play but it plays in 1920x1080 rather than 4k. I can play some Dolby Vision movies it seems but not the ones in 4k. 

One strange thing I did notice is that I have no issues playing certain animated Dolby Vision videos in Netflix.  I tried playing Arcane in the netflix app and it plays without any issues.  Very strange. 

I raised a case to the software team, even told them about this thread. They made me upgrade the video card drivers to the latest versions from intel and nvidia, no change.

They wanted me to waste more time trying things yesterday, I told them I wanted a hardware replacement since it’s the only thing known to work right now. They refunded my money for the call and told me to call the warranty team, give them the software support case number and ask for a hardware replacement. 

That team just made me do the same silly stuff like reinstall the latest bios update. And they wanted to keep me on the phone doing this stuff, no matter how many times I told them it’s a known issue. After about 6 hours in total of wasting my life on the phone with Dell support I told them I give up and don’t want there “help” anymore. 

It’s just ridiculous considering how expensive this laptop was and it can’t even do what basic off the shelf laptops can do without carrying an HDMI adapter and external monitor with it everywhere. What’s the point of a laptop? 

This will unfortunately be the last Dell I get thanks to this issue.  This used to work just fine and obviously it's something they changed because I don't think it's an issue with other laptop manufacturers.  

I've had an interesting week talking to Dell, I'm waiting to hear back from "insert some very important sounding team" and will provide a full update. It's quite interesting, I promise. 

So, after fighting with Dell for months, I'm waving the little white flag and calling it a day.

My last post was an update that Dell had basically thrown in the towel and sent the replicated laptop back to Intel to see if they could fix it. Since then, I have been in contact with Dell regarding updates.

I have been recently speaking to them via Twitter after I posted a question on Twitter asking if Dell had fixed their faulty XPS 15s.  We covered the basics and I asked them to look up my cases as starting to explain what’s going on yet again is just too painful. 

I received a call from Dell and was told that this situation was clearly a mistake and that Dell would do everything it could to fix this situation. They were now going to replace my laptop with a new one as they agreed waiting over 6 months for a fix was getting silly. I remind you this is not the first time I have been offered a replacement laptop by Dell, but I thought screw it, I’ll see if they actually follow through this time.

He said this was not being escalated to their “product specialist team” to make the arrangements.  Now as you know, by now I’ve been told that this case has been escalated to every bloody Team Dell seems to have but the result is the same, puff all happens.  Anyhow, they promised this time it would be different, and I should wait a few days to hear back.

After a lot more than a few days (no surprise there then) I got a response, and I quote.

“Hi, Hope you are doing well. We have received an update from the team. The team has confirmed the system is working as per the design”

After I finished laughing, I reminded them I was waiting for a replacement laptop to be approved so asked them to explain what had happened.  We argued for a while and I pointed out that the system was not working as designed and provided them with written proof that Dell accepted the laptop was faulty (and reminded them they had already sent out an engineer to replace the motherboard).

I asked him point-blank, “Wait, you are saying that the XPS 15 UHD screen laptop can't play 4k video and you just put that in writing?”

He replied “Yes, this has been confirmed with the product engineering team. We are sorry. We won't be able to provide a replacement system as the replacement system would have the same resolution.”

After pointing out that he was clearly wrong and very stupid for just putting something so completely incorrect in writing, I received yet another call from yet another manager.

Another promise to escalate this to yet another team regarding getting approval for a replacement laptop and please allow 1 – 2 business working days for a response. This brings us to today, one full week later. I’ve just had a call with yet another manager and the short version is no replacement laptop.

So Dell's solution for me is to send my current laptop back for a full refund (I am starting this process today but will take bets on them finding a way to screw that up) and buy the newer 9520 model that basically costs an extra £1000.

The good news is I have just opened up the newer model and as we speak, I am applying the updates. Netflix, Disney Plus and Youtube appear to be working as they should in glorious 4k, Hooray!

So, the bottom line is Dell didn’t fix this faulty issue for over 6 months, and their solution was for me to give them more money to make this problem go away.  Thanks Dell, your customer service is truly wonderful and like other people in this post have said, I’m never going to buy another laptop from you again.

So basically, for everyone else that has been experiencing the same problem as you, including me, this means that there is no way that either Dell or Intel are willing to figure out what has caused the laptops to stop playing 4k videos in streaming services. It's especially annoying considering the fact that until December everything was playing like normal, while now they are saying that the faulty behavior was intended. Nonetheless, thank you for the updates!

I'm afraid it looks like that's exactly the case here, unfortunately. Dell claims they are working on a solution but unless lots of people make a complaint here, I can't see them putting any sort of a rush onto provide a fix.

I know I’m lucky that I’m able to buy the newer model and obtain a full refund for my current laptop (although saying that the refund is not processed yet and Dell's ability to screw something up can’t be underestimated at this point). Of course, this isn’t pain-free as to get the same current spec level I’ve had to shell out an extra £1,000 as the 9520 are now £2,000 + for the 4k spec screens, and that’s a very bitter p1ll to swallow.

If your laptop is still within its warranty, then I would expect you could make a case for getting a full refund, but I know that’s just not the best option for everyone.  Personally, I think Dell's behaviour and the way they handled this case have been despicable. I could never see another big brand Laptop producer acting like this.  

I will mention that I am still speaking with Dell via Twitter support, and they have re-offered to replace my laptop with a like-for-like system. This will actually be the third time they have done this; I should actually post the conversation of the poor chap that’s made the offer on Friday. I said that would have been the perfect solution but the problem is I either get offered a lower-spec laptop (whilst it might be a slightly newer model, the screen isn’t 4k) or the team that’s actually authorised to make the decision on giving a replacement denies it (this has happened twice).  Anyhow, he assured me that a like-for-like replacement would be offered and would come back to me right away. Poor chap, I bet him £100 that he wouldn’t be able to offer me a suitable laptop within 7 days and if he'd just picked up this case without knowing the full 6 months back story then this wasn’t going to go the way he thought. I gave him a friendly nudge for an update a day later and apparently he now needs 2 more business working days to hear back from the “internal team”.  

At this point I couldn’t call it whether it’s going to be a non-suitable laptop replacement offer or just outright denied by the internal team.  

OK, so the saga continues.  . I gave Dell a nudge this morning to find out where my promised offer of a replacement laptop was.

Well, as anticipated that offer magically disappeared.  Bit wait there’s more. Dell now say they plan to fix this issue with a Bios update that “might” be ready towards the end of this year.

So this basically went exactly the way as anticipated.  So I went back to the WhatsApp team to chase up my refund on the faulty laptop. Just to remind you I had already started that process with Dell and taken the picture of the service tag on the back of the laptop and provided all the requested info to dell. But surprise surprise, Dell now say the refund is still being processed for approval with an internal team. They have lied once again (all in writing) and it looks like they are going to attempt to squirm out of providing a refund.

A couple of updates.

Yesterday I received a call from Dell and the chap was actually quite helpful and said that my Laptop was going to be picked up on Friday (tomorrow) and a full refund was going ahead.

He did say that an email was going to be sent across with all the details but it's been just shy of 24 hours since the call and no email. I would say I'm shocked but Dell not doing something they say they are going to do seems to be a common theme here.  I'll post here when/if the laptop gets picked up. I am currently asking Dell's Twitter and WhatsApp chat if they can go kick the relevant team to get the email across but so far they seem to be under the impression that the refund is still being requested with another team and are waiting to hear back……… 

On to more interesting updates about the initial problem, Dell Twitter just sent me this...

Apologies for the delay in response, we have been discussing the technical problem internally and it took longer than expected. We have confirmed with our engineering team that Intel have been able to replicate and root cause the behavior and Dell are collaborating on the development of a new BIOS as a resolution - ETA SEP/2022 although work is always geared toward pulling the ETA in.

So there is hope for anyone who has a 4k XPS 15 with this problem, Of course, I'll believe it when I see it but hope nonetheless!!

So I hope this is the final update, my old laptop was picked up on Friday and is currently en route back to Dell. I am expecting a full refund from Dell but never say never... 

As I seem to have a feed (albeit a very bad one) into Dell's support team for this problem, I will keep posting here as and when I get relevant updates.  Thanks to everyone who’s commented here and I hope this problem will find a solution.

To say I’m disappointed with the (Pro) support Dell has offered regarding this problem would be a massive understatement. Whilst I appreciate the fact that I have been able to obtain a full refund, it was hardly the best solution to this problem. I bought this laptop in Nov last year (2021) and it’s basically been faulty since then. Most companies would have just replaced the laptop, but clearly Dell wasn’t willing to do this.

Buying the newer model (9520) has solved the issue but I feel this was hardly an acceptable solution to the problem. Basically, being told that Dell won’t find a solution any time sone (currently the ETA of a fix is about a year after initial purchase) so having to pay an extra £1,000 to sort it out myself is hardly going to make me want to continue to buy from Dell in the future.  Yes, I’m happy that I now have a laptop that does what it’s meant to do but the fact I’ve basically had to solve this myself and spend an extra £1,000 to do this is disappointing.   

It’s been an all-out fight with them at every step of the way with multiple departments involved who all seem to have no communication with each other, and so many lies and broken promises (and yes Dell, I stand by those exact words as it’s all in written format from chats with you).

I'm using a brand new XPS 9720 and having the same problem. I get an error while trying to watch some titles on Netflix in both the app (windows 11) and on the website. I try to play the video on a connected Dell 4k monitor and still get errors. I started noticing this after the most recent update.