Dolby Vision now possible through MP4 Mux.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hey there, I want to convert a DTDL MP4 to MKV, and I'm on a Mac with no Windows partition. Is this possible to do just in OSX or will I need to run a VM at some point? I tried to use some of the command line tools in this thread using Parallels but everything being mapped to virtual network drives made CMD uncooperative and I just couldn't wrap my head around how to fix it.

Also, I have a Sony A8H that will play MEL conversions fine through Plex, and a Shield 2019 Pro that plays the FELs, but obviously there's still issues to be resolved with the Shield. My 2nd question is thus, are FEL to MEL conversions played by a TV's onboard player known to be any more or less accurate in playback than a straight FEL .mkv via the Shield at this point?

Any intel is appreciated, thanks to everyone working hard in this thread to get this stuff working.

1. I think you can use mkvtoolnix on mac to convert mp4 to mkv, then use MakeMKV to create your DV MKV.
2. Not entirely sure but from comments in these threads, I don't believe they are any/much different.

[PlatypusW]

My 2nd question is thus, are FEL to MEL conversions played by a TV's onboard player known to be any more or less accurate in playback than a straight FEL .mkv via the Shield at this point?

The MEL conversion played backed on the TV will be more accurate than the playback of the FEL file via the Shield. The Shield has color issues.

[shawnc22]

My 2nd question is thus, are FEL to MEL conversions played by a TV's onboard player known to be any more or less accurate in playback than a straight FEL .mkv via the Shield at this point?

The MEL conversion played backed on the TV will be more accurate than the playback of the FEL file via the Shield. The Shield has color issues.

I don't know for certain that you can say that the MEL conversion will be more accurate. On the one hand, there are proven issues with color with the Shield even if it's capable of playing FEL. But on the other hand, you are literally removing picture information during the MEL conversion. So then it becomes a comparison of playing a trimmed down video with accurate colors vs playing a full video with inaccurate colors. Even then, it's still bit of a mystery on whether the Shield is really even utilizing all the information of a FEL. Until Nvidia and Dolby completes their investigation on what exactly is happening, just hard to say. I, personally, have just stopped worrying and looking for the color inaccuracies on the Shield. Makemkv and Plex have made things so much easier that I'd rather just enjoy the movie and the lossless audio

[DaMacFunkin]

My 2nd question is thus, are FEL to MEL conversions played by a TV's onboard player known to be any more or less accurate in playback than a straight FEL .mkv via the Shield at this point?

The MEL conversion played backed on the TV will be more accurate than the playback of the FEL file via the Shield. The Shield has color issues.

If anyone doesn’t believe the color issues on the shield, try Total Recall, it should be the ‘new reference’ movie for red push.
There is more than one clip where the fake frown lines on Johnny Cab are pure red.

[dcoke22]

On a Mac, one can use MKVToolNix or ffmpeg to remux a MP4 into a MKV container.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201097 ... es-to-mkv/

[PlatypusW]

My 2nd question is thus, are FEL to MEL conversions played by a TV's onboard player known to be any more or less accurate in playback than a straight FEL .mkv via the Shield at this point?

The MEL conversion played backed on the TV will be more accurate than the playback of the FEL file via the Shield. The Shield has color issues.

I don't know for certain that you can say that the MEL conversion will be more accurate. On the one hand, there are proven issues with color with the Shield even if it's capable of playing FEL. But on the other hand, you are literally removing picture information during the MEL conversion. So then it becomes a comparison of playing a trimmed down video with accurate colors vs playing a full video with inaccurate colors. Even then, it's still bit of a mystery on whether the Shield is really even utilizing all the information of a FEL. Until Nvidia and Dolby completes their investigation on what exactly is happening, just hard to say. I, personally, have just stopped worrying and looking for the color inaccuracies on the Shield. Makemkv and Plex have made things so much easier that I'd rather just enjoy the movie and the lossless audio

I kind of get what you are saying but people in this thread have already done comparisons between FEL and the converted MEL.

The converted MEL will be much closer to the original FEL title played back on a Blu-ray player than the already provenly inaccurate playback of the shield. Since the question is ‘what is more accurate’, I’m certain the converted MEL will be a more accurate representation of the original FEL played back on a Blu-ray player than whatever the Shield is throwing out. Now I suppose we haven’t tested every single title out there so things could still vary.

The shield is undoubtedly the easiest way to playback DV with lossless atmos audio at the moment, but I’d personally rather watch HDR than what the shield produces

I do agree though, at the end of the day we still have no way of playing back FEL DV in an mkv container with 100% accuracy - regardless of audio. All we can do at the moment is compromise to get as close to what the playback should be - that I guess could be a bit opinionated and also have the simplicity / audio requirements aspect added to it.

[userr]

is there a "step-up" variant of Sony X700? I guess X800M2?
Does either of these, or any other players that are similar/identical in playback, have plexintegration in any way?

Anyone?

[RESET_9999]

but I’d personally rather watch HDR than what the shield produces

+1
I totally agree with you.

[shawnc22]

The MEL conversion played backed on the TV will be more accurate than the playback of the FEL file via the Shield. The Shield has color issues.

I don't know for certain that you can say that the MEL conversion will be more accurate. On the one hand, there are proven issues with color with the Shield even if it's capable of playing FEL. But on the other hand, you are literally removing picture information during the MEL conversion. So then it becomes a comparison of playing a trimmed down video with accurate colors vs playing a full video with inaccurate colors. Even then, it's still bit of a mystery on whether the Shield is really even utilizing all the information of a FEL. Until Nvidia and Dolby completes their investigation on what exactly is happening, just hard to say. I, personally, have just stopped worrying and looking for the color inaccuracies on the Shield. Makemkv and Plex have made things so much easier that I'd rather just enjoy the movie and the lossless audio

I kind of get what you are saying but people in this thread have already done comparisons between FEL and the converted MEL.

The converted MEL will be much closer to the original FEL title played back on a Blu-ray player than the already provenly inaccurate playback of the shield. Since the question is ‘what is more accurate’, I’m certain the converted MEL will be a more accurate representation of the original FEL played back on a Blu-ray player than whatever the Shield is throwing out. Now I suppose we haven’t tested every single title out there so things could still vary.

The shield is undoubtedly the easiest way to playback DV with lossless atmos audio at the moment, but I’d personally rather watch HDR than what the shield produces

I do agree though, at the end of the day we still have no way of playing back FEL DV in an mkv container with 100% accuracy - regardless of audio. All we can do at the moment is compromise to get as close to what the playback should be - that I guess could be a bit opinionated and also have the simplicity / audio requirements aspect added to it.

I haven’t been following the conversations and the comparisons done around MEL conversion very closely, but I imagine that the size of the FEL might play a role in how similar the converted video will be when compared to the original. For instance, if you compared one of the StudioCanal releases that usually contains a fat FEL and a poorly encoded BL, you might notice more of a difference than if you did the same with a film like the Hunt of Red October that has a miniscule FEL.

But regardless, you’re right that it’s really up to personal preferences. If you value the audio more than picture accuracies, then the Shield is really the only option if you dont have an x700/oppo. Otherwise, the OG MP4 method on a non X generation LG Oled or a converted MEL on a firestick might be more prefereable options.

[ghostshadow]

Hello, here is a test mkv DV profil mel 8.06

https://mega.nz/file/hhxUzYKQ#JZ_i8OpCq ... -hAH27FOKY

Can you give me a feedback and tell me if it goes DV
I'm curious about the return of Shield TV Pro 2019
I know it's playing on Firestick 4k
thank you

[shawnc22]

Hello, here is a test mkv DV profil mel 8.06

https://mega.nz/file/hhxUzYKQ#JZ_i8OpCq ... -hAH27FOKY

Can you give me a feedback and tell me if it goes DV
I'm curious about the return of Shield TV Pro 2019
I know it's playing on Firestick 4k
thank you

if it triggers DV on a firestick, it will trigger DV on the Shield. Picture accuracy, though, is another discussion.

[ghostshadow]

Hello, here is a test mkv DV profil mel 8.06

https://mega.nz/file/hhxUzYKQ#JZ_i8OpCq ... -hAH27FOKY

Can you give me a feedback and tell me if it goes DV
I'm curious about the return of Shield TV Pro 2019
I know it's playing on Firestick 4k
thank you

if it triggers DV on a firestick, it will trigger DV on the Shield. Picture accuracy, though, is another discussion.

test and you will tell me

[userr]

So anyone can point me in the right direction to fix exoplayer as external player for kodi? I know its been mentioned somewhere on all of these million pages, is it "official" exoplayer or modified one?

[KoshIreland]

Hi. Sorry to ask for help in my first post, but after trawling through this (awesome and very long) thread, I haven't been able to find steps that work for me…

Is there any way to convert a STDL MKV file with Dolby Vision into something the LG C8 will play with Dolby Vision? I looked at the test files shared here previously, and "DTDL_FEL_1_021120.mp4" is the only file that will trigger DV on my LG C8.

---

Current situation
I have a set of MKVs that went from Game of Thrones Season 2 UHD disc → Ripped to BDMV → Converted to MKV with MakeMKV 1.15.3 (Mac, if that makes a difference).

Here's what I see in MediaInfo:

Code: Select all

Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main 10@L5.1@High
HDR format                               : Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.07.06, BL+EL+RPU, Blu-ray compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                                 : 52 min 44 s
Bit rate                                 : 62.7 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.315
Stream size                              : 23.1 GiB (89%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.2020
Transfer characteristics                 : PQ
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.2020 non-constant
Mastering display color primaries        : BT.2020
Mastering display luminance              : min: 0.0020 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

---

Problem
I have an LG C8 with an AppleTV. I've had zero luck producing MP4s that play in Dolby Vision, so I figured I'd at least archive the 8 season boxset as Dolby Vision MKVs, get the benefit of HDR10, and then figure out some way get DV MP4s working in future. But, when I watch these MKVs on my LG C8 through the AppleTV (Plex or Infuse) or built-in player (Plex or DNLA) everything is too dark and muted. Blacks are pure black, but the brightest details aren't particularly bright. Details in hair are lost in dark indoor scenes; bright outdoor scenes look "meh". It looks worse than Game of Thrones 1080p Bluray in SDR.

So now I'm trying (again) to get the DV MP4 workflow going, but all my MKVs are now STDL and I can't figure out how to even extract the DV stream into its own HEVC file.

Is there any way to salvage these DV MKV files or am I stuck re-ripping everything?

I'm also wondering, is it normal for HDR10 rips to look dull? All of the Dolby Vision and even HDR10 movies I've bought through iTunes look great by comparison. I want the higher bitrate of UHD discs, but I've no space around the TV to have a disc-based player or a Shield. And there's nowhere to buy streaming 4K GoT on this side of the pond.

[shawnc22]

Hi. Sorry to ask for help in my first post, but after trawling through this (awesome and very long) thread, I haven't been able to find steps that work for me…

Is there any way to convert a STDL MKV file with Dolby Vision into something the LG C8 will play with Dolby Vision? I looked at the test files shared here previously, and "DTDL_FEL_1_021120.mp4" is the only file that will trigger DV on my LG C8.

---

Current situation
I have a set of MKVs that went from Game of Thrones Season 2 UHD disc → Ripped to BDMV → Converted to MKV with MakeMKV 1.15.3 (Mac, if that makes a difference).

Here's what I see in MediaInfo:

Code: Select all

Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main 10@L5.1@High
HDR format                               : Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.07.06, BL+EL+RPU, Blu-ray compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                                 : 52 min 44 s
Bit rate                                 : 62.7 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.315
Stream size                              : 23.1 GiB (89%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.2020
Transfer characteristics                 : PQ
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.2020 non-constant
Mastering display color primaries        : BT.2020
Mastering display luminance              : min: 0.0020 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

---

Problem
I have an LG C8 with an AppleTV. I've had zero luck producing MP4s that play in Dolby Vision, so I figured I'd at least archive the 8 season boxset as Dolby Vision MKVs, get the benefit of HDR10, and then figure out some way get DV MP4s working in future. But, when I watch these MKVs on my LG C8 through the AppleTV (Plex or Infuse) or built-in player (Plex or DNLA) everything is too dark and muted. Blacks are pure black, but the brightest details aren't particularly bright. Details in hair are lost in dark indoor scenes; bright outdoor scenes look "meh". It looks worse than Game of Thrones 1080p Bluray in SDR.

So now I'm trying (again) to get the DV MP4 workflow going, but all my MKVs are now STDL and I can't figure out how to even extract the DV stream into its own HEVC file.

Is there any way to salvage these DV MKV files or am I stuck re-ripping everything?

I'm also wondering, is it normal for HDR10 rips to look dull? All of the Dolby Vision and even HDR10 movies I've bought through iTunes look great by comparison. I want the higher bitrate of UHD discs, but I've no space around the TV to have a disc-based player or a Shield. And there's nowhere to buy streaming 4K GoT on this side of the pond.

I hope you still have the ripped BDMVs laying around because your best bet would be to follow the steps outlined in the first few pages of this thread with mp4muxer to create DV mp4s for playback via your TV's internal player. Starting with the mkv is theoretically possible (multiple steps of hevc extraction + demuxing), but the effort needed may not be worth the trouble, especially if you have the BDMVs still saved.