www.makemkv.com

Hi,

I am not new to MakeMKV, but new to the forum. I am here to share my experience. For the longest time, I have wanted to stream mkv files, but had not had too much success, until recently. I am here to share a recipe of equipment etc. and results.

I have owned an LG UltraHD (WH16NS60) for a while, firmware downgraded to 1.03.
I am currently running MakeMKV v1.15.4, which according to the release notes can pump out dolby vision encoded MKV files, right?
I have a sony A8H 65 inch with a new Amazon firestick 4k (latest release), using the Ethernet Adapter. The TV also is connected to Ethernet as well.
I run a plex server and the plex app is installed on the firestick (not the TV). Note: if I install the plex app on the TV, the movies do not play really well, do not get recognized as dolby vision files. But, on the firestick 4k, the TV sees the stream as a dolby vision stream. Cool.

So, the recipe is:

To make the dolby vision mkv files:
- LG UltraHD (WH16NS60) firmware 1.03
- MakeMKV v1.15.4
- A Dolby Vision encoded movie

To watch the dolby vision encoded movie:
- Sony A8H Television (or a TV that can render dolby vision)
- Latest Amazon Firestick 4k. Note: you should make some changes in the firestick's advanced video settings, to adjust for color format (YCbCr), up to 12 bit, match original framerate, and set it to adaptive (this is important feature, as it discerns between dolby vision and standard HDR10).
- Install the Plex app on the firestick only. It does no good to install plex on the sony TV (dolby vision not detected)
- serve up your movies on a PC with plex server installed. I have a plex pass as it has additional settings for 4k UHD files etc.

That's it... almost.

Comments: I tried using a $1000 Panasonic UDP 9000 blu-ray unit (at first) as the device to connect to the plex server. Reviews indicated that it'd detect files with dolby vision through direct access. But, I found out the expensive hard way that this was NOT the case. Fortunately I get to return the blu-ray for full refund (lucky as a dog, right?). The $39.00 Amazon firestick kicks the you know what out of the $1000 panasonic...

Thoughts anyone?

I've got the same TV (Sony A8H) along with a Firestick 4K. I downloaded a few sample DV files and it appears that the TV detects Dolby Vision (as I get the options for light/dark), but get audio without video. I'm thinking it might be the sample files I'm using. You have a sample that works for you I can try?

robert.gregory wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:49 am

Hi,

I am not new to MakeMKV, but new to the forum. I am here to share my experience. For the longest time, I have wanted to stream mkv files, but had not had too much success, until recently. I am here to share a recipe of equipment etc. and results.

I have owned an LG UltraHD (WH16NS60) for a while, firmware downgraded to 1.03.
I am currently running MakeMKV v1.15.4, which according to the release notes can pump out dolby vision encoded MKV files, right?
I have a sony A8H 65 inch with a new Amazon firestick 4k (latest release), using the Ethernet Adapter. The TV also is connected to Ethernet as well.
I run a plex server and the plex app is installed on the firestick (not the TV). Note: if I install the plex app on the TV, the movies do not play really well, do not get recognized as dolby vision files. But, on the firestick 4k, the TV sees the stream as a dolby vision stream. Cool.

So, the recipe is:

To make the dolby vision mkv files:
- LG UltraHD (WH16NS60) firmware 1.03
- MakeMKV v1.15.4
- A Dolby Vision encoded movie

To watch the dolby vision encoded movie:
- Sony A8H Television (or a TV that can render dolby vision)
- Latest Amazon Firestick 4k. Note: you should make some changes in the firestick's advanced video settings, to adjust for color format (YCbCr), up to 12 bit, match original framerate, and set it to adaptive (this is important feature, as it discerns between dolby vision and standard HDR10).
- Install the Plex app on the firestick only. It does no good to install plex on the sony TV (dolby vision not detected)
- serve up your movies on a PC with plex server installed. I have a plex pass as it has additional settings for 4k UHD files etc.

That's it... almost.

Comments: I tried using a $1000 Panasonic UDP 9000 blu-ray unit (at first) as the device to connect to the plex server. Reviews indicated that it'd detect files with dolby vision through direct access. But, I found out the expensive hard way that this was NOT the case. Fortunately I get to return the blu-ray for full refund (lucky as a dog, right?). The $39.00 Amazon firestick kicks the you know what out of the $1000 panasonic...

Thoughts anyone?

I am assuming movies you have been successful are the ones with MEL Profile 7, which Fire TV 4K Stick/Cube supports it using Plex. Can you tell us which movies you have converted using the tools above? Thank you!

Strange as this may seem. Only one movie. Top Gun. And now come to think of it, I am not quite sure the process worked correctly. Whilst I see the "Dolby Vision" options on my sony bravia, I am not convinced the conversion worked.

I have tried other conversions, like movies "Hunt For Red October" (when it comes packed with the "Jack Ryan" 4k movie pack), or Sum of all Fears, Clear and present danger, etc. All those fail - I end up with screen flicker. I also am more than happy to use tsMuxer to remove the DV layer out of the M2TS just so I can simply watch the movie vs. cooking a version which has no video and audio only.

So, essentially, since the post of "the recipe" (original post) I have had a lot of failures. I have done a FEL to MEL conversion, tried to use tsMuxer to try an recompile them with no success.

If someone would care to post a link to an instruction set to a coversion they know works well, that'd be great... There is a distinct possibility I don't know what I'm doing and can't follow simple instructions.

but while we are on the subject of what works well, why not ask the following questions:

1. Has anyone tried to work on a different angle. So, rather than covert the movie, why not work on a firmware upgrade to firestick that plays FEL movies, then that'd be the easiest, right? Or,
2. Is it possible that we can see a MakeMKV version that has a feature where it does the FEL to MEL conversion in it - a.k.a part of the rip process.

I will end on this note. I mention the Top Gun conversion seemed to work well yet unsure if it worked right, but will say this. I tried playing Top Gun through Sony's Media player, bypassing the Firestck altogether. And the media player sees the DV layer and gives me DV options during playback, but I get chroma issues with clipping and the colors don't look right like faces toned an aweful blue etc. So I watch it using the Firestick and it appears to play fine. Again, I can watch the movie without the Firestick, Dolby Vision options are avaiable (e.g., "Dolby Vision Bright", "Dolby Vision Dim", "Vivid" etc.) But the movie appears like garbage...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

can you plz test my Samples and tell me what do you see:
https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 25#p103529

robert.gregory wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:49 am

Comments: I tried using a $1000 Panasonic UDP 9000 blu-ray unit (at first) as the device to connect to the plex server. Reviews indicated that it'd detect files with dolby vision through direct access. But, I found out the expensive hard way that this was NOT the case. Fortunately I get to return the blu-ray for full refund (lucky as a dog, right?). The $39.00 Amazon firestick kicks the you know what out of the $1000 panasonic...

Thoughts anyone?

My thoughts:
-You have AWESOME taste in televisions!
-The Panasonic was supposed to detect a file server on the LAN and stream those files correct? What did it do instead? Did you try simply plugging a USB stick with files on it into the USB port on the 9000?

robert.gregory wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:35 pm

1. Has anyone tried to work on a different angle. So, rather than covert the movie, why not work on a firmware upgrade to firestick that plays FEL movies, then that'd be the easiest, right? Or,

Not possible unfortunately. All existing streaming devices have a hardware limitation when it comes to FEL playback, so a custom firmware is not going to do any good.