I have more and more HDR content on my server. Right now neither the server nor the client (Web/xbox one in my case) handles HDR properly. My Roku does output HDR, but i never use it.
I’d rather not have an HDR file and non HDR, but right now I feel like that is the only way to handle it. There is the xbox one issue where the screen can handle HDR but the app doesn’t, but the bigger issue I see is what happens when an HDR file is served up to a client that simply cannot output HDR. Is it possible that plex can handle it with a light transcoding on the server or can the clients better down sample to display a more vivid output? Right now, the output is a very muddy subdued look that is unacceptable. If Plex can never handle this gracefully, then I’d rather start having 2 copies in my library now.
I’m starting to gain some HDR content too. Is there going to be trans-coding support or is two copies the only solution?
As far as I can tell there isn’t even a open source method of converting an 4K HDR file into a non HDR file of any resolution. I tried with Handbrake and it converts it with washed out colors. Plex also can’t transcode HDR to non HDR without the same washed out color issue. At some point this really needs to be addressed. H264 is slowly not becoming the total standard for video.
Interesting my understanding is Plex transcoder is based on ffmpeg so I wonder why the Plex devs haven’t implemented this, especially since Plex prides itself on being able to transcode for smooth playback on any device? Ripping 4k UHD Blu-rays is now a real thing. Plex really needs to get with the program. And really this kind of conversion is going to take GPU hardware accelerated help. My PC with 10,000 Passmark can just barely transcode a single 4k UHD h265 mkv to a h264 stream in software.
@“Chris Teasdale” said:
Interesting my understanding is Plex transcoder is based on ffmpeg so I wonder why the Plex devs haven’t implemented this, especially since Plex prides itself on being able to transcode for smooth playback on any device? Ripping 4k UHD Blu-rays is now a real thing. Plex really needs to get with the program. And really this kind of conversion is going to take GPU hardware accelerated help. My PC with 10,000 Passmark can just barely transcode a single 4k UHD h265 mkv to a h264 stream in software.
We have hardware accelerated help already, if you have the right hardware. My kabylake CPU takes care of it easily.
@“Chris Teasdale” said:
Interesting my understanding is Plex transcoder is based on ffmpeg so I wonder why the Plex devs haven’t implemented this, especially since Plex prides itself on being able to transcode for smooth playback on any device?
It’s still not good at giving completely automated results. It requires manual confirmation/tweaking on a per source basis to get the best results. Plex users expect automation for something like this, so I’m guessing they would want to wait until it’s a bit more mature before implementation. The number of people with the requisite equipment for these is still relatively tiny, so they have some breathing room before demand gets to a point it becomes a priority. That’s just a guess on my part though.
