HDR auto switch

[Wheemer 47]

Hello;

Will Emby Theater auto switch to HDR like some games do? If not, why?

[Luke 40096]

Hi, what device are you running it on?

[Wheemer 47]

Windows 10 Insider edition latest

[Luke 40096]

Ok then yes, just make sure to use the desktop version:

https://emby.media/emby-theater.html

[Wheemer 47]

I am already using the desktop version and it is not working. My TV notifies me when it enters HDR and I get no such notification. When using the Emby app for Ruko it works perfectly.

[Luke 40096]

What version are you running? Can you please go over an example? How have you configured the video settings in the app?

[Wheemer 47]

I am using the latest version of Emby Theater. I am trying to play an HDR movie, when I click play I expect to see my TV say it entered HDR, I see no switch and the video looks washed out. I have played with all the video setting within ET with no success.

[Wheemer 47]

When I run a game like Doom it switches the TV in HDR automatically so it does work on my setup.

[Carlo 4552]

Can you confirm when playing the file that it is direct playing?

[Happy2Play 9445]

2 hours ago, Wheemer said:

I am using the latest version of Emby Theater.

What version would that be, 3.0.11?

[sooty234 266]

It won't switch Windows into HDR automatically. mpv doesn't employ the Windows mechanism for that. You have to enable HDR in Windows, manually. It works just like VLC, in this regard. 

[Wheemer 47]

Thanks Sooty234.

 

Will this feature ever be added? This makes Theater pointless for me as Emby for Roku just works.

[Wheemer 47]

3 hours ago, cayars said:

Can you confirm when playing the file that it is direct playing?

How can I confirm that? I cannot find that in settings. I believe it is since no transcoding happening on server. Is that even relevant since apparently mpv doesn't even support it?

[Carlo 4552]

You can always use the server dashboard in Web admin.  This is a screenshot showing Transcoding taking place and the red circled area can be clicked for the transcode reason.  It could also show "Direct Play" or "Direct Streaming" besides Transcoding on this screen.

 

[Wheemer 47]

Yeah it's not transcoding, I forgot I had the user restricted from transcoding anything.

[sooty234 266]

47 minutes ago, Wheemer said:

Thanks Sooty234.

 

Will this feature ever be added? This makes Theater pointless for me as Emby for Roku just works.

The developer said he might implement it... But it requires (among other things) full screen exclusivity, which presently Theater doesn't allow. So I don't see this happening anytime soon. For what it's worth, I run Windows in HDR, as standard. And the picture for SDR stuff is great. You'll need to grab the latest Git master build, but that's easy. I'll never run Windows in SDR, again.

[Wheemer 47]

I cannot get regular youtube stuff to look any good.

[sooty234 266]

What GPU do you have, and how have you configured it?

For reference, here're the thoughts of the mpv dev, on his HDR implementation.

https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/pull/5804

Where he talks about the 'full screen stuff', that's the bit that you are wanting.

Edited August 1, 2020 by sooty234

[Wheemer 47]

Everything just looks slightly weird when HDR is always enabled. Did you just get used to it? There is noticeably less contrast on SDR content. I'm using a GTX 1050.

 

Not sure what you mean about how it's configured since I have tried fiddling with all settings without noticeable benefit. I reset it all the default when I reinstalled the drivers today, still looks strange with Icons and SDR.

[sooty234 266]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Windows doesn't correct for the change of colorspace, very well. Does your desktop look kinda pasty? I configure the GPU to 4:2:2 12bps, and then raise the digital vibrance up to 60%, but that will depend on your own TV and what it looks like. I want to be able to watch HDR stuff in a window, that's why I need it turned on all the time.

[Wheemer 47]

I found this program https://github.com/bradgearon/hdr-switch/releases

I have it running on startup in my tray.

I made a ET.cmd with the following:

"C:\Program Files\HDRSwitch\hdr_switch_tray.exe" hdr
"C:\Users\Media\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Theater\system\Emby.Theater.exe"
"C:\Program Files\HDRSwitch\hdr_switch_tray.exe" hdr

I modified the Emby Theater shortcut to point to this file and I fixed the icon back to Emby.

Now Emby Theater auto switches in and out of HDR.

Pretty darn cool!

Edited August 1, 2020 by Wheemer

[sooty234 266]

Well, that's interesting. And it only switches for HDR content, not the player in general? I wonder if Luke wants to incorporate this into Theater? I have no use for it, but others on here would definitely want the automatic switching.

[Wheemer 47]

No it's just the player in general... Crude simple solution that works for my immediate needs.

[sooty234 266]

Ah yeah, that will screw with the SDR color mapping. That's not viable...

[Wheemer 47]

Well I now have two shortcuts for ET, one regular, and one with HDR enabled. I did find that under 4:2:2 12 bit  SDR looked better than under 4:4:4 8 bit, but my hardware struggles with 12 bit. That tray app has also made it simple to turn HDR on and off on a whim with a right click menu. It's workable and I no longer need to use Emby for Roku. My HDR movies look fantastic and silky smooth.

Edited August 2, 2020 by Wheemer