Server Version#: Nvidia Shield 1.23.6.4881
Player Version#: Windows 1.33.0.2444-a220eae4 & Shield (whatever is most current)
I’m having trouble getting HDR to SDR mapping working as expected. Basically, I cannot get playback on a Windows client mapped to SDR without transcoding.
Scenario 1: Playback of 4k HDR on old 1080p SDR TV, via Shield Plex client
This worked perfectly. The video was smooth and the color/brightness of the video was obviously correct. The Plex client was on “convert automatically,” but it left the video at 4k and the original high bitrate. I forced it to Original Quality and there was no change. So, my Shield player correctly handles HDR files without transcoding.
Scenario 2: Playback of same 4k HDR file on the Plex Windows client w/ 4k PC SDR monitor
When playing at Original Quality the 4k video renders smoothly but the colors and brightness are obviously wrong. If I tell Plex to transcode to 1080p, tone mapping kicks in and the video looks correct. (However, it is reduced to 1080p and worse, the Shield server apparently can’t handle this transcode because the video pauses all the time–it is unwatchable.)
So, how can I play back HDR content on Windows with tone mapping on and transcode off, as happens automagically on the Shield player?
You cannot, because the Plex client on Windows cannot handle HDR content on its own. It needs the help of the server for that, which of course means transcoding.
Thanks @OttoKerner! Not the answer I wanted, but it’s straightforward! I wonder why that is, but that’s life.
Do you happen to know if there is a way to transcode 4k HDR to 4k SDR? I was surprised that was not an option in the playback format list.
(My PC monitor technically supports HDR but when you turn it on in Windows display settings, all it does is completely screw up all colors and contrast… it is worse than useless. A Plex HDR stream with Windows HDR turned on is still totally unwatchable.)
It might work on some clients. But it requires a very high server performance, so you usually want to avoid that (and rather get a second Shield device).
Yeah, I am realizing that even if I decide to change my server as we are discussing in another thread, the Shield client is very powerful … useful to someone like me who hasn’t moved up to 4k HDR displays. All my TVs and my projector are 1080P SDR. And I very much want to be able to keep one super high quality file on disk and play it anywhere.
