Good to know. @ryandjohnson did you restart your server since installing Apple TV app 8.6?
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@Volts ,
I suspect most people would say that the expected behavior would be how Infuse handles client-side display.
I understand you are supportive of Plex. I am too. I think we both paid for Plex Pass. But why explain less than satisfactory experience as âexpected behaviorâ?
My expected behavior is what Infuse does when displaying these files.
Huh?
I was confirming that @ryandjohnsonâs observations are an accurate description of how Plex is expected to behave today.
If a carâs battery is dead, the expected behavior is that it wonât start.
Oh, now I get what youâre saying! I wasnât referring to desired or ideal behavior, rather, how it actually is today.
If I buy a cheeseburger from Wendyâs, I might wish that it looked like the picture. But I donât expect it to! 
Plex has room for improvement. I was surprised that MKV didnât work before, and Iâm glad itâs better now. But I understand why it didnât. I hope MP4-dvhe can be treated the same way, but I have a hunch why it doesnât. And I donât understand why HDR10 mode is activated instead of DV mode. (Or why DV P7 activates DV mode??)
It would be nice, but I donât expect Plex to match what the Infuse player does. I believe licensing and relationships are different. And Plex historically has done more processing/packaging/transcoding/tonemapping on the server and less on set-top-boxes.
Good to know. @ryandjohnson did you restart your server since installing Apple TV app 8.6?
I have not, and I can try that.
But are you saying that with the newest updates I should in fact be able to play the DoVi profile 5 content on my non-DoVi capable setup? @Volts was saying that is still expected to fail.
As far as In know we cannot transcode Dovi profile 5 period. We do not have the license to do so. If you have your server set to tonemap for your SD tv, which is done via transcoding, it canât and will fail.
If you have tonemapping disabled I actually not sure if it will just remux that and play which will probably look crappy, I will try to remember to ask in the morning. (itâs midnight here and my brain is a bit fried)
Previously unplayable MKV profile 5 files are now playing, good start!
Unfortunately the subtitles arenât displaying properly; they appear to be much darker than the specified setting, as shown, often resulting in almost unreadable subtitles:
This is how they normally appear as:
This is the file info for the mkv
As a workaround I changed the font style in the ATV settings so there is a solid black outline around the font, but even then it is sometimes difficult to read the subtitles.
Yup. That is a side effect if displaying DV5 on a device that doesnât support it. The alpha channel, which controls the transparency, gets messed up too. If you just bring up the on-screen play controls, those might look funky at times too.
On devices that donât support DV P5, this results in the âColor space is not supportedâ message.
I donât think thatâs whatâs happening -
- DV5 isnât playable on devices that donât support DV
- Dim subtitles occur on devices that do support DV5
This also happens in some other apps, including Apple TV+ and Prime.
I think that when HDR or DV are active, tvOS and the ATV itself are targeting a specific brightness level for subtitles and other on-screen display text elements.
Sorry @Volts. You are a solid contributor, are always fact based, and fair in your comments. I was just triggered by the âworks as expectedâ phrasing. Itâs a common IT response (a field in which I work) that tends to be used to say âget used to it.â
Yes, and I think your contributions are helping @BigWheel in his communications with the devs. So please keep it up.
I think it would be nice if we raise expectations. No one wants to be disappointed, but I really like Plex and expect that it is the best client player suite and best media server-side tool. I think Jerry Foster and the rest of the Plex leadership team would want to hold that expectation as well.
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Thanks! That means a lot. Iâm frequently wrong, guessing, hangry, or being a smart-ass, and I often bicker with Plex employees and mods. Excepting those times, I do try âŠ
I do expect reliability and quality from Plex. I donât feel like a Plex Apologist and I donât want to be seen as one. 
I accept your feedback about the term expect meaning different things in different contexts - Iâll try to be mindful of it.
My perspective (free, worth every penny) is that it might not be reasonable to expect Plex to match what other players do with certain files and codecs. Plex is operating with different licensing and technology constraints. DV tone-mapping is likely to be one of those features.
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This should have changed and the video will play as-is. DV playing on a device and TV that support it (regardless of the profile) should look normal.
You get similar results with HDR10. If the TV doesnât support it, and you havenât enabled tone-mapping, it will play as-is and look wrong.
After following along with this thread iâm a little confused and not sure if what iâm seeing is expected behavior now. I have a movie with DV profile 5. When i play it on my AppleTV, it plays and colors look correct but my TV shows that itâs HDR, not DV. Tautulli says its DirectStream as the file is being remuxed from MKV to MP4. If i try to change the playback settings to transcode the file, i get an error message on my AppleTV that says âsomething went wrongâŠcould not direct playâŠdirect play is disabledâŠcould not transcodeâŠcolor space is not supportedâ. Is that what is expected?
If i try to play the same file back in Plex Media Player (macOS), Tautilli shows it is DirectPlay but the colors are off (my macbook doesnât support HDR). If i change the playback settings to transcode, PMP gives me an error âCannot convert this item. No conversion audio and video encoders could be found in app profile.â Is that expected behavior?
If this is expected, then iâll still need to avoid DV5 as that means any of my family streaming from my server will get an error message as i limit the remote streams to 1080p.
Dammit, I checked before commenting, but I just confirmed again:
ATV 4K connected to non-DV-capable display:
- P5 MKV: Could not transcode ⊠Color space is not supported
- P5 MP4-dvhe: DOVIProfile limitation applies ⊠Color space is not supported
- P5 MP4-dvh1: DOVIProfile limitation applies ⊠Color space is not supported
But ⊠youâre right! There are so many variables. AHHHHH!
Some scenarios that previously gave the âColor space is not supportedâ message now play with bad color.
Hereâs a collection of tests:
Plex Web (Safari), MacBook Pro w/ SDR display
- P5 MKV: Plays, bad color
- P5 MP4-dvhe: Plays, good color (tone-mapped)
- Interesting! This doesnât work in the Finder or the Apple TV 4K.
- P5 MP4-dvh1: Plays, good color (tone-mapped)
- Good color in Plex Web (Safari) but not in Plex App or Plex HTPC (?!)
Plex App and Plex HTPC (same behavior), MacBook Pro w/ SDR display:
- P5 MKV: Plays, bad color
- P5 MP4-dvhe: Plays, bad color
- P5 MP4-dvh1: Plays, bad color
ATV 4K, Match Dynamic Range: Off, Format: 4K or 1080p Dolby Vision
- P5 MKV: Plays, Real DV, dynamic brightness/metadata
- P5 MP4-dvhe: black screen, loading spinner
- P5 MP4-dvh1: Plays, Real DV, dynamic brightness/metadata
ATV 4K, Match Dynamic Range: Off, Format: 4K or 1080p SDR
- P5 MKV: black-nothing, no spinner, no audio
- P5 MP4-dvhe: black screen, loading spinner
- P5 MP4-dvh1: Plays, good color, tone-mapped
ATV 4K, Match Dynamic Range: On, Format: 4K or 1080p HDR
- P5 MKV: Plays, good color, tone-mapped
- P5 MP4-dvhe: black screen, loading spinner
- P5 MP4-dvh1: Plays, good color, tone-mapped
ATV 4K, Match Dynamic Range: On, Format: Any:
- P5 MKV: TV â HDR10 mode (!!). Plays, good color, tone-mapped
- P5 MP4-dvhe: TV â DV mode. black screen, loading spinner
- P5 MP4-dvh1: TV â DV mode. Plays, Real DV, dynamic brightness/metadata
*** If using DV P5 MKV, Plex works best if the Apple TV is set to a Dolby Vision Format and Match Dynamic Range is DISABLED ***
Otherwise if Match Dynamic Range is ENABLED, Plex changes the output to HDR10 mode for some reason.
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TBH, most of us in this thread are pretty advanced users, and look how much confusion there is just among us. I know Plex has its own internal priorities, but I definitely worry that if DoVi profile 5 content becomes quite common and Plex doesnât âjust workâ for it, it cause a lot of users to switch to something else.
Iâve been using Plex for a long time, and all I care about is it indexing and playing my media from my NAS and just working for my family. I know Plex is devoting a lot of efforts into things that arenât just personal media playback focused, and maybe Iâm just drifting out of what theyâre targeting for new user acquisition. But at some point itâs going to become a base user retention issue, I fear.
I know that Plex will continue with or without me, so no worries. But Iâve generally seen a lot of the recent changes to Plex as normal growing pains of a very focused product trying to expand its appeal. This is the first time Iâve really felt like, hey, this actually erodes the core value proposition, which is that it âjust worksâ to play all kinds of content.
Maybe this DoVi stuff is just a blip and it will pass as either all displays end up supporting it or new content stops favoring it. Just putting it out there, but Iâd happily pay an upgraded plex pass subscription to unlock DoVi support if that helps with the licensing issue.
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The colors are âcorrectâ in that the Apple TV is (very) good at tone-mapping.
I dunno why HDR10 mode is activated. I dunno if thatâs a Plex choice or limitation or bug.
Try setting the Apple TV to 4K Dolby Vision mode and disabling Match Dynamic Range.
Yes.
For what itâs worth I have a TV capable of 4k DV and HDR (LG OLED77C1PUB), AppleTV4k (previous gen, with the Siri touch remote with the white menu button) running the latest Plex server (âEnable HDR tone mappingâ is set, but it also fails when itâs not) and client (new video player enabled) and I get the âColor space is not supportedâ error no matter what when trying to play a 4k HDR MKV no matter how I have Match Dynamic range set. The video profile is as follows:
- Codec HEVC
- Bitrate 14423 kbps
- D O V I B L Present true
- D O V I Level 6
- D O V I Present true
- D O V I Profile 5
- D O V I R P U Present true
- D O V I Version 1.0
- Bit Depth 10
- Chroma Location left
- Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
- Coded Height 1608
- Coded Width 3840
- Color Range tv
- Frame Rate 23.976 fps
- Height 1606
- Level 5.0
- Profile main 10
- Ref Frames 1
- Width 3840
- Display Title 4K DoVi (HEVC Main 10)
- Extended Display Title 4K DoVi (HEVC Main 10)
Iâve just resorted to using 1080p for everything since 4k fails more than it doesnât 
If the Apple TV is set to Format 4K Dolby Vision, that combination should work.
Perhaps transcoding is required for some other reason. Is the server on the same LAN? Is quality set to Maximum/Original? Disable subtitles. Restart server and client. Try again. Share logs.
Yep, same LAN (ATV is connected Wired). Quality is set to max/original, there are no subtitles, but I tried turning them on for fun and that didnât work either. I also tried disabling hardware transcoding just to see if that was it, but it was not. I can play this file in the Plex Web Player (which is to be expected, I think, but another data point).
I see there errors in the server logs when I try to play it:
Message
[Req#c7b76/Transcode] Streaming Resource: Cannot make a decision because either the file is unplayable or the client provided bad data
Message
[Req#c96b0/Transcode] Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=6866 codes=(General=2000,Neither direct play nor conversion is available. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=2003,File is unplayable. Color space is not supported.) media=(id=11380 part=(id=11629 decision=none container=mpegts protocol=hls streams=(Video=(id=30051 decision=transcode bitrate=2147483647 encoder=libx264 width=3840 height=1606) Audio=(id=30052 decision=transcode bitrate=768 encoder=aac channels=6 rate=48000))))
EDIT: Itâs worth noting direct play is not disabled (at least not by me) and other stuff direct plays just fine
In the past, DV Profile 5 files would fall back to standard HDR (hence the âHDRâ symbol on my LG CX/G1 TVâs instead of DV)
With the new version you get the error.
Iâm using Infuse 7 player on my ATV with no issues, it direct plays everything including DV. If Infuse can do it, I donât see why the genuine Plex app should notâŠ
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Yea⊠Iâve considered just moving to Infuse, but their lack of Managed Account support is what has held me back back so far. We make heavy use of managed accounts in our household (kids, etc.) and itâs integrated enough into our workflow that itâs a deal breaker
