Server Version#: Version 4.87.2
Player Version#: Not sure where to check
I seem to be having issues playing certain files usually ones that have the follow “Atmos.DV.MKV.x265”
I’m running Plex on my gaming PC (5800X, 32gb memory, 3080), I have hardware transcoding and HDR tonemapping on. If I try and play through webplayer on my PC it says “File is unplayable. Color space is not supported”. If I try (Where I primarily watch) on my TV it says “App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled”.
However, if I change the direct play to “forced” for the file - It will play, however the colors are very wrong and is unwatchable. These files do play correctly using VLC player on my PC.
Any suggestions on what to try? I’d really like to watch these 4K files.
The “DV” stands for Dolby Vision. If you use Get Info on one of those files, it should have a D O V I Profile. If so, what profile is it? My guess is that it’s profile 5, which Plex won’t be able to play properly unless you’re using a client that supports Dolby Vision.
Thanks for the help. It came back as “main 10”. Is this one also unable to play except for clients that support Dolby Vision?
This is way above my knowledge, but it’s hard for me to wrap my head around why certain media would only work on specific clients - If the format runs on VLC player in Windows, and that same computer is capable of using its hardware to trans code the video to send somewhere, seems strange it wouldn’t be able to run it. I’m sure this all makes sense to others, just having a hard time understanding it.
Is there any way i’d be able to play these files using my current setup, without having to convert the video files?
Edit: Oh I stand corrected, damn! I tried playing them on VLC player again and noticed the colors were screwed up there too. Strange. Is there any way of (easily) removing the HDR/main 10 or whatever may be causing this to a new format, but keeping the resolution (2160p)?
Main 10 is the HEVC profile for HEVC 10-bit video (Wikipedia). Look again for the DOVI profile. See screenshot below.
Plex does not have a license from Dolby to transcode and tonemap Dolby Vision.
Dolby Vision Profile 5, the profile used by streaming services, is not backward compatible with HDR10 video.
Therefore, when you play a DVp5 video in Plex and the client does not support DVp5, you see one of two things:
Incorrect colors, because Plex cannot tonemap DV to supported colors;
The “Color Space Not Supported” message, which is Plex’s way of saying “I don’t have a license to transcode the video.”
Options:
Play the video using Plex clients and displays that support Dolby Vision (ex: LG & Sony TVs, some iPhone/iPads)
Obtain a non-DV version of the video, such as HDR10 or SDR.
Convert the video to a supported format. Plex obviously cannot do this. There might be commercial or freeware/shareware that can do this, but I’m not aware of any.
Note that there are multiple Dolby Vision profiles (Wikipedia) and little consistency with how they are handled by Plex clients.
Dolby Vision 7 is found on Blu-ray discs. DVp7 contains a HDR10 compatibility layer. If Plex cannot direct play the Dolby Vision video, it will try to direct play the HDR10 version. If that also fails, it will transcode & tonemap HDR10 to SDR if supported by your server.
You may also run across profile 8 and 4. I’ve none of either on my server, so not sure how Plex handles those formats.
