HDR playback on Full HD projector via HTPC

[panteragstk]

This is what they said about Kodi 18.3:

"Kodi’s team focused on improving the playback of 4K and 8K videos, supporting technologies like HDR and more. And there’s now even broader support for various codecs. To make sure all of these features run fine, Kodi has been optimized to take full advantage of your CPU/GPU, which should bring improvements across different platforms and devices."

https://www.technadu.com/kodi-18-leia/52632/

But I guess they are mainly talking about non-Windows?

Maybe. I tested an HDR video on my PC monitor and their improvements do help quite a lot so in that instance DS player isn't necessary. I'd have to test again to see if they've got HDR switching with Windows working properly. It's MS fault, not Kodi. I guess the guy that does madVR was able to focus on that aspect more than the Kodi devs. I'm sure those guys are VERY busy with all the different platforms they support.

HDR switching works perfectly on Android TV. Lots less of a headache than using Windows. Libreelec is also really good, but linux doesn't support HDR yet and apparently nVidia doesn't help with GPU decoding. Development has stopped I guess. So that meant my hardware wouldn't work for what I needed it to.

HTPCs are a pain.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Maybe. I tested an HDR video on my PC monitor and their improvements do help quite a lot so in that instance DS player isn't necessary. I'd have to test again to see if they've got HDR switching with Windows working properly. It's MS fault, not Kodi. I guess the guy that does madVR was able to focus on that aspect more than the Kodi devs. I'm sure those guys are VERY busy with all the different platforms they support.

HDR switching works perfectly on Android TV. Lots less of a headache than using Windows. Libreelec is also really good, but linux doesn't support HDR yet and apparently nVidia doesn't help with GPU decoding. Development has stopped I guess. So that meant my hardware wouldn't work for what I needed it to.

HTPCs are a pain.

Yeah, HTPC can be a pain. But when they work, it's awesome.

I might try out Kodi 18.3 tonight.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Here is a video talking about one example of HDR being rigged:

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Here is one video showing that HDR can be better than SDR, but maybe not as much for some people.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I was reading the Kodi forum. One poster said that Kodi v18 (Leia) does convert HDR to SDR nicely.

"Kodi 18 performs tone mapping which converts the HDR to SDR".

For Windows platform, Kodi can't Passthrough HDR yet, but it's probably just a matter of time.

They are working (pre-build) on Kodi v19 (Matrix). Maybe this will finally have HDR passthrough for Windows-Kodi.

 

[panteragstk]

I was reading the Kodi forum. One poster said that Kodi v18 (Leia) does convert HDR to SDR nicely.

"Kodi 18 performs tone mapping which converts the HDR to SDR".

For Windows platform, Kodi can't Passthrough HDR yet, but it's probably just a matter of time.

They are working (pre-build) on Kodi v19 (Matrix). Maybe this will finally have HDR passthrough for Windows-Kodi.

18 does an OK job, but DS player does a better job IMHO.

Check out this thread. If you don't tweak the conversion, HDR on SDR TVs look overly bright. After tweaking I got it to look decent enough, but not as good as DS player. HDR on windows is a PITA thanks to the way they implemented it. It's either on or off. No in-between. Some games and players/renderers (madVR) have it down, but those are the few I'm aware of.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I was watching X-Men Apocalypse 4K HDR on Kodi 18.3 last night to see the HDR to SDR.

Colors seem good and not bright as in that Divergent example.

I bet it depends on your display.

 

[panteragstk]

I actually thought the example of "Divergent" HDR to SDR looked the best with Kodi 18.

Those are really over-saturated. It's a simple fix in 18 that I posted above and it does a good job, but I'll wait till they get it totally right. I'm in no hurry. What I have works just fine.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Screen shots of Lucy 4K HDR to SDR on Kodi 18.3. Looks great and natural to me.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Divergent 4K HDR to SDR Kodi 18.3.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

X-Men Apocalypse 4K HDR to SDR Kodi 18.3.

 

[panteragstk]

X-Men Apocalypse 4K HDR to SDR Kodi 18.3.

Are these from an HDR capable set or no?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Are these from an HDR capable set or no?

PJ: JVC NX5
PC: Windows 7, Nvidia GT 1030, Kodi 18.3

When I use DSPlayer 17/Madvr I can get HDR pass-through.

But, of course, with Kodi 18, I can only get SDR.

 

[panteragstk]

PJ: JVC NX5
PC: Windows 7, Nvidia GT 1030, Kodi 18.3

When I use DSPlayer 17/Madvr I can get HDR pass-through.

But, of course, with Kodi 18, I can only get SDR.

Ah. It does look OK, but they really need to get the HDR pass-through working. Their team is big enough, but I'm wondering how many use Windows now?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Ah. It does look OK, but they really need to get the HDR pass-through working. Their team is big enough, but I'm wondering how many use Windows now?

Yeah, it will be sad if one day Kodi v34 is released still w/o HDR-pass-through and people are still using DSPlayer v17.

 

[kaptan]

I was reading the Kodi forum. One poster said that Kodi v18 (Leia) does convert HDR to SDR nicely.

"Kodi 18 performs tone mapping which converts the HDR to SDR".

For Windows platform, Kodi can't Passthrough HDR yet, but it's probably just a matter of time.

They are working (pre-build) on Kodi v19 (Matrix). Maybe this will finally have HDR passthrough for Windows-Kodi.

You are right as of now Kodi can't do HDR with windows which is really a bad thing. The reason why I am looking to playback the HDR files are they are small in Size compared to the SDR content. So thought of having these files and convert them to SDR using tone mapping and playback. But Its very difficult with the Kodi. Its becoming a headache fiddling around these settings.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You are right as of now Kodi can't do HDR with windows which is really a bad thing. The reason why I am looking to playback the HDR files are they are small in Size compared to the SDR content. So thought of having these files and convert them to SDR using tone mapping and playback. But Its very difficult with the Kodi. Its becoming a headache fiddling around these settings.

Yeah, too bad Kodi on Windows is falling behind.

Well, at least 1080p still looks 100% awesome.

 

[panteragstk]

You are right as of now Kodi can't do HDR with windows which is really a bad thing. The reason why I am looking to playback the HDR files are they are small in Size compared to the SDR content. So thought of having these files and convert them to SDR using tone mapping and playback. But Its very difficult with the Kodi. Its becoming a headache fiddling around these settings.

There's only one setting in Kodi 18. Set hardware decoding to pixel shaders and when the movie is playing adjust the picture with what I posted above. Then set for all files. Done.

Or, install Kodi DS player and be done. Nothing else to really do.

HDR files being smaller than SDR? How so?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

HDR files being smaller than SDR? How so?

HDR = H265 HEVC Codec
SDR = H264 Codec

 

[panteragstk]

HDR = H265 HEVC Codec
SDR = H264 Codec

Not really. HEVC can be either one.

Plus, HDR files are usually 4k as opposed to 1080p so the file size can be much larger. Now, at the same resolution, yeah HEVC is much more efficient.