I know that Dolby Vision in still fairly new to many people, and we’ve just recently seen official support in ffmpeg, but is plex working on/considering that PMS needs to be able to transcode/tone-map Dolby Vision content? I bought 2x Nvidia Shields because I got tired of screwing around with plex playing DOlby Vision on my XBSX and LGCX.
I’m not benevolent enough to keep 2 copies of content in my library for family who don’t have DV devices, and I’ve noticed that they’re getting some pretty wonky color push when we watch things together.
Is this being considered and in the cards? Thanks.
I think I read somewhere on here that a big problem with Dolby Vision is that it has a crap ton of different profiles making it difficult to ensure they are properly mapped all the time. I’m certain it is being worked on, just seems like a nightmare to sort out.
As I understand, (I am new to the 2160p, HDR, DV scene with my new OLED)
For Plex to work currently with transcoding, you need the HDR10 base.
Those titles which have no HDR10 base (e.g. the infamous Profile 5), you’re currently out of luck.
Depending on player, HDR10 vs HDR10+ (Samsung’s effort) are somewhat at odds but you do need HDR10-compatible.
I’ve heard some discussions about what to do with the non-HDR10 base DV profiles but don’t know if a decision was made.
My choice, which I’ve been implementing over the past few days now, is simply to re-rip my discs, ensuring I get the HDR10 base, and upgrade the media file itself – dropping into position to supersede that which I had been using.
I’ve successfully reripped 31 titles this way. All direct play engages DV and all transcoding to 1080p with tonemapping is successful, The only change seen is a slight increase of processing power used as it performs the tone mapping.
My suggestion – Don’t add streamed, non-HDR10 content to your library. Don’t add the ‘DV’ label just for the sake of having it. If you’re going to add something, add something which is universally usable for all the players you need.
I appreciate the info. I definitely don’t care about a ‘DV label for the sake of having it’ - whatever that means. I care about scene-by-scene dynamic metadata.
And the problem is that when I’m watching something in DV at home, the folks who don’t have DV TVs and/or fast internet who are watching with me are not having the best experience. I’m not kind / available enough to reconfigure my whole library though.
I have a C8 as well as a CX, so I’ve been enjoying Dolby Vision and Atmos for just about as long as they’ve been available. This isn’t a flex, and I understand the bit about DV profiles and HDR10 fallback.
I’m mostly interested in how the ‘I’ve heard some discussion about what to do with the non-HDR10 base DV profiles’ issue plays out, as that’s the scenario described in my question. I’ll just keep waiting and watching for now…
Somewhat related question that I hope someone can answer for me…
Does this split between DV, HDR10, and HDR10+ mean that if I get a TV with HDR10 or HDR10+, there will be some DV content that won’t fall back to HDR10, and therefore will be unwatchable?
HDR10 (Industry) vs HDR10+ (Samsung) is where the split occurs
DV metadata on top of HDR10/HDR10+ is the best and most common form.
Some streaming suppliers have special players which can deal with a DV-only layer. (I suspect this is part of an anti-piracy effort… It does make sense)
Yes, there are rips in the wild which do not have a fallback layer.
If you want to play both DV in mkv and mp4, you need to get a Shield IMO. There may be some odd clone boxes that will work, but mainstream - the Shield is the way to go for DV and Atmos.
Some players like my LG TVs will play mp4s but not mkv and the other way around. It’s frustrating that plex for the Series X doesn’t play DV content well. Anything but a Shield is very frustrating IME.
Yes, HDR10+ is closer to DV bc the metadata is dynamic from scene to scene vs being “graded” and set for the extent of the feature like with regular HDR. I believe HDR10+ and DV have dynamic metadata from scene to scene. (I have no personal experience with HDR10+ bc it’s a fairly closed format.) I know DV works this way.
I think that DV adds to the HDR10 later, but I don’t know that it is in addition to HDR10+ metadata. From what I understand, they kind of do the same thing DV and HDR10+, and it’s a format war that DV has apparently already won. It’s my opinion that HDR10+ will probably fade over time, but I’m just a rando on a forum.
HTH. I bought a C8 in 2017 so I’ve been playing with DV since around that time. That’s how I’ve learned this stuff. I’m a bit of a display tech nerd, in addition to my real tech job. Speaking of display tech, I also have an a new iPad Pro, but I tend to see blooming in anything that’s not OLED now, hah.
The OLEDs have had less retention and have become brighter over time as they’ve worked out some of the heat issues. As someone that was into CRT Sony XBR TVs back in the day, it’s amazing stuff!
the unfortunate reality, is there are multiple DV ‘profiles’, some of which have HDR+DV metadata, some of which have only DV (ie no fall back to regular HDR).
it is the rips with no hdr fallback, which cause the problems.
if, when, or whether this can be resolved at the plex level (via tone mapping the DV only profiles to sdr), is anyone’s guess.
as already mentioned, the only thing you can do is avoid DV only content.
selfmade bluray rips generally have both layers, so that is your best bet.
They are being very proactive with software updates – something I appreciate.