HDR playback on Full HD projector via HTPC

[AcuDefTechGuy]

at the same resolution, yeah HEVC is much more efficient.

He's talking about 2160p.x265.HDR vs 2160p.x264.SDR.

 

[panteragstk]

He's talking about 2160p.x265.HDR vs 2160p.x264.SDR.

Ah. Must have missed that somewhere.

 

[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.

Screw Kodi.

Well, I’ll continue to use Kodi for SDR files.

But for now, I will use MPC-HC + madVR for HDR. Seems to work great. HDR looks awesome.

 

[panteragstk]

Screw Kodi.

Well, I’ll continue to use Kodi for SDR files.

But for now, I will use MPC-HC + madVR for HDR. Seems to work great. HDR looks awesome.

I used MPC-HC+madVR for a long time. For me the Kodi DS Player got the same results, but was much easier to navigate for people that aren't me.

Granted, this was way before the external player stuff worked well with Kodi.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I used MPC-HC+madVR for a long time. For me the Kodi DS Player got the same results, but was much easier to navigate for people that aren't me.

Granted, this was way before the external player stuff worked well with Kodi.

DSPlayer worked great for me before I got my JVC NX5. So DSPlayer did great for HDR-->SDR for 1080p.

When I got my NX5, DSPlayer was very unstable and I couldn't get it to work as well. It would throw my screen resolution out of wack after playing a movie. Some screens went black. When I closed Kodi, the screen was still in HDR mode, so it was way too BRIGHT. Some crashes. Just unstable for me.

But I used MPC/madVR last night to play a bunch of 2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Atmos movies last night. And it worked awesome. Every time I closed MPC, the screen would automatically change back from HDR to SDR, which DSPlayer couldn't do for me.

So for now, just for HDR movies, I'll use MPC. Then for everything else, I'll use Kodi.

 

[panteragstk]

DSPlayer worked great for me before I got my JVC NX5. So DSPlayer did great for HDR-->SDR for 1080p.

When I got my NX5, DSPlayer was very unstable and I couldn't get it to work as well. It would throw my screen resolution out of wack after playing a movie. Some screens went black. When I closed Kodi, the screen was still in HDR mode, so it was way too BRIGHT. Some crashes. Just unstable for me.

But I used MPC/madVR last night to play a bunch of 2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Atmos movies last night. And it worked awesome. Every time I closed MPC, the screen would automatically change back from HDR to SDR, which DSPlayer couldn't do for me.

So for now, just for HDR movies, I'll use MPC. Then for everything else, I'll use Kodi.

Sounds like you needed to tweak the madVR settings. It should function exactly the same as the MPC/madVR combo. It took me a min to get it right, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Sounds like you needed to tweak the madVR settings. It should function exactly the same as the MPC/madVR combo. It took me a min to get it right, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Oh, I tried tweaking DSPlayer/madVR for hours. I finally gave up. So I tried. But didn't work out for me. MPC/madVR worked out for me immediately. I barely had to change anything besides telling MPC to use madVR and very few settings. MPC is so "lite" compared to DSPlayer.

Kodi is still my go-to for everything else that is not 10bit HDR. I figured I would be using 4K 10bit HDR for only a few movies anyway.

Not every movie even deserves to be 4K.

 

[panteragstk]

Oh, I tried tweaking DSPlayer/madVR for hours. I finally gave up. So I tried. But didn't work out for me. MPC/madVR worked out for me immediately. I barely had to change anything besides telling MPC to use madVR and very few settings. MPC is so "lite" compared to DSPlayer.

Kodi is still my go-to for everything else that is not 10bit HDR. I figured I would be using 4K 10bit HDR for only a few movies anyway.

Not every movie even deserves to be 4K.

You really need to stop giving me reasons to carry my HTPC downstairs and plug it into one of my HDR capable TVs. That sucker is heavy, but I want to see if mine cooperates or has the same issue as you did.

One thing to point out is that I've had black screen issues with DS player after stopping playback. Only happened a few times, but it's annoying.

The last thing is that DS player has madVR built in, but you can use external version too (IIRC) so you could in theory use the same madvr config for DS player that you are using for MPC. It's a thought anyway.

Once I get my HDR PJ the HTPC will go away anyway since I've got a device that switches between HDR and SDR without issue. It just won't do the HDR>SDR properly. Only reason I went back to HTPC temporarily anyway.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Once I get my HDR PJ the HTPC will go away anyway since I've got a device that switches between HDR and SDR without issue. It just won't do the HDR>SDR properly. Only reason I went back to HTPC temporarily anyway.

Well, no point testing the HTPC if it's going away.

You planning on doing mostly 4K HDR once you get your 4K HDR PJ?

I think 4K HDR is cool. But for most things, 2K already looks great. So I'll probably just do mostly 2K and do a few 4K 10bit HDR if the contents is awesome enough.

I have a friend who just got the JVC NX7 (along with RBH SVT/R Tower HT system, Yamaha CX-A5200, ATI AT527NC). When I told him I was still doing 2K for most things, he looked at me funny and said he expects to watch EVERYTHING 4K HDR.

 

[panteragstk]

Well, no point testing the HTPC if it's going away.

You planning on doing mostly 4K HDR once you get your 4K HDR PJ?

I think 4K HDR is cool. But for most things, 2K already looks great. So I'll probably just do mostly 2K and do a few 4K 10bit HDR if the contents is awesome enough.

I have a friend who just got the JVC NX7 (along with RBH SVT/R Tower HT system, Yamaha CX-A5200, ATI AT527NC). When I told him I was still doing 2K for most things, he looked at me funny and said he expects to watch EVERYTHING 4K HDR.

I've got around 175 movies in 4K with 95% being HDR. I've got another 2300 that are "just" 2k so any device I use will need to do both. My nVIdia Shield TV does both very well when connected to an HDR capable display, but HDR on an SDR display looks like crap (as in the OP).

I had considered keeping the HTPC for game streaming, but the Shield TV can do that too, but downgrades the quality considerably compared to the gaming PC it's coming from. That's another discussion all together.