Does Nvidia Shield 2019 Pro truly supports Dolby Vision TV-led?

[Akila]

Does Nvidia Shield truly supports Dolby Vision TV-led (otherwise known as STD-DV, Display-led, Sink Device-led)?

Why am I asking?
Because I have noticed that no matter what DV content I am playing, could be Disney+ , Netflix, Kodi, Just Player, Nova Player, etc.
(I tried all DV profiles. P4, P5, P7, & P8), I always seeing on My TV’s/AVR's (Denon X3800H) input signal information that it is "Dolby Vision YUV 422 12-Bit", which suggests the box (Shield) is doing some sort of Dolby Vision processing, i.e. LLDV/Player-led, and it is not a truly DV passthrough (TV-led), as a true DV TV-led passthrough to my understanding needs to passthrough in RGB 4:4:4 8 Bit tunneling.

When I play the same exact content with the same exact video players (Netflix, Disney+, Kodi, Just player, Nova player, etc.) on my Homatics R 4K plus device (and on my Ugoos AM6B Plus in CoreElec/cpm), I am getting the Dolby Vision RGB 8 Bit tunneling, which suggests it is a true TV-led Dolby Vision passthrough on those devices.
Also it dispels the suspicion of the TV (TCL 75C935) and/or AVR (Denon X3800H) as being the culprit (I am using the same HDMI cables, Ports, etc.).

I also noticed that in the Shield the DV picture is a bit more washed-out then in the Homatics and the Ugoos, suggesting it is a Player-led tone mapping and not a TV tone mapping.

I suspect that the Nvidia Shield 2019 Pro doesn't supports a true TV-led Dolby Vision.

Does Any one of you play DV content With the Nvidia Shield 2019 Pro and seeing in your TV’s/AVR's input signal information that it is playing in RGB 8 Bit tunneling?

NOTE: I don't have Low-Latency Dolby Vision (LLDV/Player-led) Enabled in the Developer mode, so it is not the cause either.

NOTE: I have the latest Firmware on the Shield (I think some ware around May 2025 it was released, 9.2.1 (33.2.0.326), If I am not mistaking).
but it was like this all the time way before, at least 3 years.

 

[Trebdp83]

My Nvidia Shield TV Pro 2019 has had no issue with TV-Led Dolby Vision before or after the latest update.

There was an issue with Dolby Vision and the 24Hz playback feature in the Disney+ app until the latest update resolved it.

 

[Akila]

My Nvidia Shield TV Pro 2019 has had no issue with TV-Led Dolby Vision before or after the latest update.

There was an issue with Dolby Vision and the 24Hz playback feature in the Disney+ app until the latest update resolved it.

When you play DV content on your shield, are you seeing in your TV/AVR the input signal information as YUV 422 12 bit or RGB 8bit?

 

[Trebdp83]

It is RGB 8 Bit.

Here is information from the receiver. Onkyo receivers, like some other components, report 8 bit as 24 bit, 10 Bit as 30 bit and 12 bit as 36 bit.

Here is information concerning the same signal from the LG C1 TV in use.

The Match Frame Rate feature was activated on the Nvidia Shield for playback of “Predator: Killer of Killers” on Disney+.

The LLDV feature in developer settings was not active.

 

[Akila]

so what settings did you set on your shield in order to get the RGB tunneling (TV-led)?
as of now I am only getting YUV 422, which indicates it is Player-led.
I don't have the Match Frame Rate feature activated (the new Beta feature) , could that be the cause?
could you run a quick test and see if you switch it off, if you are still getting RGB tunneling (TV-led) or it reverts to YUV 422 (Player-led)?

 

[Trebdp83]

The Match Frame Rate beta has been around for a while. It has to be activated during playback on supported apps. The Disney+ app had issues with 24Hz playback and Dolby Vision until recently. Dolby Vision RGB 8 bit @60Hz has always worked.

Here again is the receiver signal information.

Here again is the LG C1 TV signal information.

 

[Akila]

when you look at your "Current Display Mode" under the "Custom Display mode"
Do you see the RGB 8-Bit or YUV 422?

This is what I am getting

 

[Trebdp83]

I have the same information for the current display mode, BUT, that is not what is actually output and detected by the receiver or the TV when connected directly to it. With default setting, YCbCr 4:2:0 10 bit is output forcSDR and HDR10. But, enable Dolby Vision, and Dolby Vision signals are output as RGB 8 bit and all SDR and HDR10 signals are output as YCbCr 4:2:2 8 bit. Enable Low Latency Dolby Vision and it also is output as YCbCr 4:2:2 8 bit.

 

[Akila]

I checked my TV's EDID and it supports both Standard and LLDV.
That shield is a nuisance , it favors LLDV upon Standard and there is no way to force it to use TV-led, like many other Android TV boxes have.

Vendor-Specific Video Data Block (Dolby), OUI 00-D0-46:
Version: 2 (12 bytes)
Supports YUV422 12 bit
Supports global dimming
DM Version: 4.x
Backlt Min Luma: 75 cd/m^2
Interface: Standard + Low-Latency
Supports 10b 12b 444: Not supported
Target Min PQ v2: 180 (0.04555910 cd/m^2)
Target Max PQ v2: 2640 (385 cd/m^2)
Unique Rx, Ry: 0.67968750, 0.30468750
Unique Gx, Gy: 0.22265625, 0.67578125
Unique Bx, By: 0.15234375, 0.05468750
Unique Bx, By: 0.15234375, 0.05468750

So We know I am getting Player-led as based on your screenshots, in TV-led on the Shield it should be RGB 8bit.
the same I received from AVSforum , another person that is getting TV-led from the Shield provided screenshots that it is on RGB 8Bit tunnel.
So we know that RGB 8bit tunnel is the way Shield uses for TV-led.
As long as I am getting YUV 422, it is Player-led on the Shield (or it would had tunneled it as RGB 8bit, as the method shield decided to use for TV-led).

So my conclusion, whoever is receiving in the Input Signal YUV 422 12-bit from the shield, it is Player-led.
As all those who did get TV-led on the shield, showed me their screenshots and all were RGB tunnelling, so we know for sure the RGB tunneling is the method shield uses for TV-led

 

[Trebdp83]

Go into the Custom display mode and turn on the Default setting. Then, bring up signal information and see if it matches the default setting of YUV 4:2:0 10 bit. If so, back out of Custom Display mode and Advanced display settings and turn on Dolby Vision. Check signal information. Does it show YUV 4:2:2 8 bit or 12 bit? Play something in Dolby Vision. Any change?

 

[Akila]

it always playing Dolby Vision, it never did not play Dolby Vision, but it always receiving the input signal as YUV 422 12 Bit, hence it is Player-led.
other devices I own, play TV-led without a problem (RGB 8bit) and so how the shield should output RGB 8Bit for TV-led, but it doesn't do so my shield, for some reason the Shield favors Player-led over TV-led even though my display supports both.

 

[Trebdp83]

Something seems to be wrong with that particular Shield if the colors are washed out and everything is being output as Dolby Vision 4:2:2 12 bit. There should be no difference in picture quality using Player Led DV vs TV Led DV. If you cannot select the default setting of YUV 4:2:0 10 bit and have it display that way then something is wrong. The Nvidia Shield should only output Dolby Vision or HDR10 when the source signal is in one of those two formats. The Home Screen and app menus should all be output in SDR. LLDV should only be output when selected from the Developer options.

 

[Akila]

1st of all there will always be a difference between Player-led and TV-led. on some screens more and others less.
That is an expected behavior, as the player does a generic tone mapping and not tone mapping optimized to your panel/display.
when I am saying the picture is washed-out, I meant slightly, compared to other devices that I have that play TV-led, but that is expected behavior from a LLDV/Player-led.
I never said I can not select YUV 422 10 bit, but I am not sure YUV 10 bit is anything to do with being TV-led.
As you saw yourself, on your setup your TV-led is tunneled over RGB 8bit (that is the Shield's TV-led method in use), so as long as I am not getting the RGB 8Bit tunneling, I will not be on TV-led.

 

[Trebdp83]

Perhaps I misunderstood you. I thought you meant everything is output as Dolby Vision and suggested the default settings.

There really should not be a noticeable difference between Player-led and TV. One should not look washed out compared to the other.

The Shield will output SDR by default and is HDR10 ready. Turn on Dolby Vision and it is also Dolby Vision ready. It will output HDR according to input signal. Dolby Vision cannot be selected for output of everything including home screen like some other streamers.

If TV-led Dolby Vision is not working properly, there is an issue in one or more devices or settings.

 

[Akila]

that is what I am trying to figure out. why my Shield doesn't trigger TV-led DV and only Player-led DV?
as of now all SDR plays as SDR, all HDR, plays as HDR, all DV plays as YUV 422 12 bit (Player-led) DV.
so the adaptive HDR/DV is working properly, but the DV content is not TV-led and that is why I notice some difference in picture/brightness accuracy.