HDR to SDR Tone Mapping Streaming Device - which one works?

[majorsl 23]

I've been trying to figure this out for a couple of years now.  We have a couple of non-HDR TVs in the bedrooms that work perfectly fine.  I have some HDR content that would be watched on them.

Currently, they have HDR capable Rokus attached and they do not seem capable of tone mapping those HDR videos "down" to SDR - colors washed out, etc.  I've given up on them.

Can anyone recommend a streaming device (Amazon Fire cube?), or something else that will properly tone map to a standard TV when attached?

@cayars

[Carlo 4561]

Hi, assuming we are talking about HDR10 video it's hard to top the Nvidia ShieldTV Pro (not tube).
The ShieldTV will take the HDR10 content and tone map it to SDR for display on the TV.
I'm doing exactly this on one of my Samsung 75" 1080 models which breathed new life to it.

I do believe the 4K firestick (wifi however) as well as MiBox S can do this as well but I'd need to check.  I have both and do seem to think they do this as well, just not as well as the ShieldTV.  If these are more in your price range I could test this for you

I think one important consideration a lot of people don't check which makes a huge difference is the type of sound system you have.  If it's just 2 or 3 channel this doesn't matter so much but when you get to 5.1 and especially above you want the ShieldTV and really only that device.  It's head and shoulders above the rest when high end sound is is part of your setup.

 

[majorsl 23]

11 minutes ago, cayars said:

Hi, assuming we are talking about HDR10 video it's hard to top the Nvidia ShieldTV Pro (not tube).
The ShieldTV will take the HDR10 content and tone map it to SDR for display on the TV.
I'm doing exactly this on one of my Samsung 75" 1080 models which breathed new life to it.

I do believe the 4K firestick (wifi however) as well as MiBox S can do this as well but I'd need to check.  I have both and do seem to think they do this as well, just not as well as the ShieldTV.  If these are more in your price range I could test this for you

I think one important consideration a lot of people don't check which makes a huge difference is the type of sound system you have.  If it's just 2 or 3 channel this doesn't matter so much but when you get to 5.1 and especially above you want the ShieldTV and really only that device.  It's head and shoulders above the rest when high end sound is is part of your setup.

 

Thanks! I'm looking at Fire TV Cube because we could use an Alexa in one of the the rooms. I like to think it would support it if the 4K Firestick does. Plus, the Cube can be had for $79 US right now and has Ethernet which is available to me in those rooms.  Would love to know your opinion on this idea.

For these locations, the Shield TV is way overkill, plus, these are only 43" TVs.  If I were to spend the $$$ for a Shield, I might as well replace the TV with an HDR model.

I do have 5.1 sound, but it is basic on the audio side - definitely not a high end system, again these are bedrooms.  The Roku does just fine with the Optical audio out from the TV itself into the system.  I also like to think that a Firestick/Cube could handle this too.

[neik 873]

2 hours ago, cayars said:

MiBox S can do this as well but I'd need to check.

Yes, it can tone-mape HDR -> SDR for a SDR TV (tested myself).

[Carlo 4561]

Thanks @neik, I was pretty sure it does but thanks for verifying so that I don't have to.

[majorsl 23]

18 hours ago, neik said:

Yes, it can tone-mape HDR -> SDR for a SDR TV (tested myself).

Cool. Has the MiBox S improved?  I had one several years ago, maybe the first or 2nd gen.  I ended up selling it because it had trouble playing some media formats and would stutter.  It was really bad if I played 2160p media.

Our local retailer has them, but I can't tell if they have been updated with better hardware from the description. They have a great return policy tho...

[Carlo 4561]

I don't' know honestly as I typically don't keep them long enough to play with. I've given one to my x-wife because I was tired of helping her with Roku issues. Picked up another then my son wanted it, got a 3rd and you guessed it...  My family seems to like them and they remote stream from me as well as them for for Youtube and other things.

I do still have one but it's hooked up to a TV I rarely use so it hasn't gotten a lot of play time from me but my 86 year old father uses it nearly everyday.

I know I've never had issues with them for normal things but I did brick one doing a normal firmware update but it was promptly replaced so that was good.  I'd buy it (have) over the FireTV Stick since it has an Ethernet port.