I replied about this on somebody else's similar thread, but I figured I might be more likely to get a response making my own thread.
I am having a problem with Netflix on my new 55" Q8DA (QN55Q8DAAFXZA). What is strange is that it worked fine for a couple of weeks (we just got the TV about 2 weeks ago), and then 2 nights ago Netflix froze the TV while I was watching a movie. Since then I have tried soft reboot (holding down the power button), reset by unplugging the TV, updating firmware from 1805 to 1904, reinstalling the Netflix app, signing out and back in (with 2 different Netflix accounts), rebooting the internet modem, full factory reset on the TV, and contacting Netflix's useless customer service. Netflix app is 5.3.27 released Nov 2021.
I have determined that Netflix will consistently play about 15 minutes of content and then the picture freezes and TV remote becomes unresponsive (except for holding down the power button to restart the TV). I also have noticed that the frozen picture will sometimes move forward about 1 frame every 5-10 seconds, so it seems like a buffering issue, but I cannot find a solution. To be clear, my U-Verse TV, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and HBO Max still all work just fine.
Netflix's answer was to "watch Netflix on a different device". I specifically spent $1500 on a new TV with soundbar and rear speakers to enjoy watching content in my living room and the answer they come up with is "watch Netflix on a different device".
I don't know whether this is relevant, but I also noticed while doing a "Manage Storage" sweep in the Device Care menu, that the TV has about 1.5GB of available storage with about 2.5GB in use. It seems like a strange coincidence that around 15 minutes of compressed 4K video would likely take about 1.5GB of space. It also baffles me that a 2021 model smart TV would only have 4GB of storage. Is that really correct?
It seems odd that I can't get an answer from Samsung telling me how to fix my TV but I get an email telling me I must come here and select one of the replies on this thread as an "Accepted Solution" even though I haven't received a solution.
Sorry to say the freeze on loading has been occurring every few months for over 5 years. My tv is 55” and 9 years old. Last month actually had to shut off, waited 5 minutes, turned tv on, viola. Samsung has not addressed this issue in 8 years between Netflix and Samsung TVs. I have a remote to turn power off to tv just for this fix.
Once again, I get an email from Samsung to get me to come look at another non-solution. What I have learned from this experience is that customers seem to have much more information and more willingness to help than Samsung support.
Since I am here, I'll give an update. I returned the lemon and replaced it with a NEO QLED of the same size. The NEO has had none of the problems that the first unit had and it seems like a more solid device all-around with better picture quality and sound. So far it seems worth the $300 difference.
