Tone-mapping in transcoding HDR for playback on SDR screens??

[Luke 40067]

Yes it is using mpv.

[sittingmongoose 5]

Since its been about 2 months since this feature was last looked at.  And the github doesnt have any updates, is this feature still on the books?  Any estimates?  6 months away, 1 year away?

 

This would be the killer feature that steals Plex users away in droves.  This HDR issue is such a crazy headache.  You have to have two libraries, which takes massive amounts of data.  Plus, in a lot of cases its really hard to have two instances of radarr or similar.  Then you have to deal with all the headaches from that.  People are begging for this feature every day in droves.  So if you guys figure it out...you would be gods among media servers!

[Luke 40067]

Yes it's still something we're planning on. Thanks for the feedback.

[Skopin 10]

I believe the latest Apple TV app is now using mpv. That is how it handles HDR, it tone maps. And its default configuration is to output to SDR colorspace.

 

I don't have one to test with, but there should be an option to output to bt.2020, if there isn't already.

 

Hmm, I'm not sure what the issue is, then. Is there any way to modify how it is handling the tone mapping? There is some very heavy banding in all of my HDR movies when viewed on my TV, especially in scenes that show the sky, and it looks very unnatural.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Skopin

[Guest asrequested]

Hmm, I'm not sure what the issue is, then. Is there any way to modify how it is handling the tone mapping? There is some very heavy banding in all of my HDR movies when viewed on my TV, especially in scenes that show the sky, and it looks very unnatural.

That sounds like something is affecting color management. Apple has very strange ways of doing things. Have you changed any settings in display options? Also, is debanding enabled in mpv?

[Skopin 10]

That sounds like something is affecting color management. Apple has very strange ways of doing things. Have you changed any settings in display options? Also, is debanding enabled in mpv?

 

Not that I am aware of. How do I check to see if debanding is enabled in mpv on the ATV? I wasn't able to find video/player settings anywhere in the app.

[Guest asrequested]

Not that I am aware of. How do I check to see if debanding is enabled in mpv on the ATV? I wasn't able to find video/player settings anywhere in the app.

If there's no option in the UI then it's probably disabled. On windows I could tell you how to enable it, but on Apple TV they may just have to put the option in the UI.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Doofus

[Skopin 10]

If there's no option bin the UI then it's probably disabled. On windows I could tell you how to enable it, but on Apple TV they may just have to put the option in the UI.

Well that is unfortunate. Hopefully it's something that gets added soon. For now, I'll need to keep using Infuse to watch my 4K movies.

[cammelspit 0]

Signed up for an account literally just so I could reply here. THIS, this is what would make me switch to Emby, and pay for it, immediately. I have PlexPass which was gifted to me but I have no love for how toxic their community is and how shamefully the DEVs treat their customers. HDR to SDR conversion, being done properly while transcoding, is a feature that will make me switch IF you can get to it first. I can also honestly speak for at least two other friends of mine that will be in the same situation, likely there are hundreds of us or more that would gladly jump ship to Emby if they could do this one thing. Just trying to kick the beehive here and see if I can get any honey out of it. So I am watching this thread closely to see what comes of it.

 

Now, I'm off, I won't clutter up your community, not being a user anymore. Just keep what I have said in mind, that's all.

[crusher11 975]

I set my phone to max out at 720p just out of curiosity with this, and tried a 4K film. It doesn't turn horribly green now, it displays "properly" albeit very washed out. But there are no subtitles. Subs work fine watching 1080p content transcoded down to 720p though.

[Gee1 10]

Is there already a compield Windows (Beta) version ? v4.0.2.0 still looks whashed out on HDR

[SigHunter 2]

any progress here? this feature is desperately needed, basically for EVERY 4k bluray remux out there. HDR (source) is the default these days. It's now 1 year later and still just "planned"

Edited April 27, 2019 by SigHunter

[Luke 40067]

It is still planned for the future. thanks.

[Jdiesel 1328]

Is the plan to wait for a turn key solution to be built into ffmpeg or to leverage gpu hardware? I noticed tone mapping listed as a feature in Intel's upcoming Ice Lake chips but I don't know if that is part of the Quicksync feature set. I haven't seen much progress on the ffmpeg side things.

[Luke 40067]

I think it has what we need, at least for software transcoding. As you guys are aware we've been doing a lot of work on transcoding over the past several months, from hardware transcoding to better stats displays, etc. Hdr tone mapping will get it's turn.

[tchirou 23]

Hi Guys

Lifetime user here

I flag this to follow the topic as I will get my first HDR tv in the next weeks.

So far, I had 1080p bluray remux files in my library. Then I started to get 4K SDR 8bits files because my tv was 4K SDR.

Now I will turn to 4K HDR files but I was wondering hiw it will go for bedroom tvs, tablets and phones. I guess I will have to keep 1080p and 4K duplicates for now. I am really looking forward to this new feature as I have reached a point where I am juggling weekly with the 20TB of my NAS.

Thanks a lot

[sittingmongoose 5]

You’re going to need to keep a separate library for 1080p and 4K. It’s going to be quite a while until you get time mapping in emby. I would honestly be shocked to see it this year. Same with Plex.

 

You’re going to be better off watching 1080p remux on your 4K non HDR tv. It’s going to be more accurate with color than a file that someone has tone mapped to 8bit. Since most 4K content was made for hdr.

[tchirou 23]

Well I ordered an additional 6TB drive to do just that

But I thought it over and actually, I don’t think I will watch big incredible action 4K hdr movies on iPad and beds.

[Guest asrequested]

It's important to note that HDR isn't exclusive to 4k. HDR isn't resolution dependent.

[tchirou 23]

True. I have some 4K 8bits sdr. I don’t think I ever met a 1080p hdr file though. These must be rare.

[SigHunter 2]

Well I ordered an additional 6TB drive to do just that

But I thought it over and actually, I don’t think I will watch big incredible action 4K hdr movies on iPad and beds.

that's not what this is about. (nearly?) every 4k bluray is HDR, doesn't matter if its "big incredible action" or its a documentary

 

True. I have some 4K 8bits sdr. I don’t think I ever met a 1080p hdr file though. These must be rare.

some 1080p series rips from netflix have HDR, like The OA, Daredevil ..

[Guest asrequested]

I don’t think I ever met a 1080p hdr file though.

I've got a few hundred.

[tchirou 23]

that's not what this is about. (nearly?) every 4k bluray is HDR, doesn't matter if its "big incredible action" or its a documentary

This is what this is about to me. The point is whether I could keep only one version or rather two versions of MY files. Not “every 4K Blu-ray”. Fact is I realized I wont watch a marvel movie or something like Interstellar on another screen than the TV

Edited May 23, 2019 by tchirou

[cryzis 7]

So I understand this work will get picked up but I am a little concerned with when that will actually happen. Is there a road map of features with priority order?

 

The plex team has already picked up this work on their end, figured this would be considered a pretty big feature to stay in parity with them.

 

I am not worried about it but it would be nice to know if this is something that may not get touched for more than a year.

 

https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-1-16-7-1597-updated-new-transcoder-preview/451135

[Gee1 10]

Dear Emby Devs, the Key to bring the HDR to SDR Feature to work is not to server side transcode with tonemapping. The Server just have to transcode Videos including the HDR Metadata 1:1 as the original Video File. And on the Client side must be tonemapping active.. Kodi 18 will do this allready