Dolby Vision now possible through MP4 Mux.

[DaMacFunkin]

according to rtings:

C8 / C9 / CX



peak brightness is better on C9 but overall the C8 seem brighter especially at 100%

Probably because the abl isn’t as aggressive, tbh I also have a C7 (same chip as C8 I believe) and it isn’t noticeably as bright as the C9 in HDR10, Dolby Vision is more comparable once dialled in correctly.
Anyway, have we sussed EL integration lol.

[DaMacFunkin]

My findings with latest LG (CX) firmware (3:21.09)

1- Demux layers from a UHD remux (BL , EL+RPU, AC3 Audio*)

2- (OPTIONAL) Reencode the BL layer (ffmpeg x265 & NO CROP !!!)

Code: Select all

ffmpeg.exe -i UHDREMUX.mkv -c:v libx265 -x265-params "level=5.1:colorprim=bt2020:colormatrix=bt2020nc:transfer=smpte2084:chromaloc=2:master-display=G(13250,34500)B(7500,3000)R(34000,16000)WP(15635,16450)L(40000000,50):max-cll=636,103:keyint_min=25" -crf 17 -preset medium -an BL.hevc

3- Remux (MP4Muxer_64bits.exe v:1.0.0) Reencoded BL layer + EL-RPU + AC3 layers into .MP4 file

Code: Select all

mp4muxer_64bits.exe --dv-profile 7 -i BL.h265 -i EL.h265 --dv-input-es-mode comb -i Audio.ac3 -o OUTPUT.mp4 --mpeg4-comp-brand mp42,iso6,isom,msdh,dby1 --overwrite

NOTE: --dv-input-es-mode split DID NOT PRODUCE A WORKING FILE WITH A REENCODED BL layer, --dv-input-es-mode comb DID WORK.

NOTE: You can demux previously muxed .mp4 DV files using the MP4Demuxer.exe.
ie:

Code: Select all

mp4demuxer.exe --input-file INPUT.mp4

Congratulations, you won a working Dolby Vision .MP4 file, 15GB instead of 75GB (tested with LG internal Plex app).

NOTE: If you have plenty of HD storage or/and just want to keep the original quality, omit the Reencoding part (step 2).


ISSUES:

1- Seeking not working, probably due to reencoding BL? (keyint_min=25 param?)

Hi mate, I get the Wierd Science fascination into doing this, and we would all like a media player friendly back up solution... but Dolby Vision is about the quality, a 15gb file can not look as good as a75gb file unless you are watching on a 48” supermarket TV.

[RESET_9999]

Thank you very much for the information. Very useful.
I wanted to ask:
1- What are the chances that nvidia will solve your colour problem with the Nvidia Shield in DoVi? I've been waiting for months, and I'm giving it up
2- Is there any other external player, which is compatible with FEL, and has a PLEX or Kodi interface? (I imagine that sony players do not....)
3- Is there a software option to add FEL support to the Fire Stick?

1- at this point, I lost confidence in Nvidia competence. I don't think this will ever get fixed. (or maybe they just don't care)
2- I don't know any plex/kodi device capable of playing fel with lossless audio
3- The best you can do on the Firestick is to convert FEL to p8.1 + lossy audio. tools here: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 970#p96282

[RESET_9999]

Hi mate, I get the Wierd Science fascination into doing this, and we would all like a media player friendly back up solution... but Dolby Vision is about the quality, a 15gb file can not look as good as a75gb file unless you are watching on a 48” supermarket TV.

agreed, especially with those encode settings... --preset medium is not very high quality.

in order to encode and preserve quality you must use at least --preset slow or slower

Code: Select all

--crf 15 --preset slower --profile main10 --level-idc 5.1 --output-depth 10 --vbv-bufsize 160000 --vbv-maxrate 160000 --master-display "G(13250,34500)B(7500,3000)R(34000,16000)WP(15635,16450)L(10000000,50)" --hdr10 --colorprim bt2020 --colormatrix bt2020nc --transfer smpte2084 --max-luma 1023 --hdr10-opt --repeat-headers --hrd --aud --no-open-gop  --deblock -3:-3 --no-sao --no-strong-intra-smoothing --chromaloc 2

[lexyz]

Thank you very much for the information. Very useful.
I wanted to ask:
1- What are the chances that nvidia will solve your colour problem with the Nvidia Shield in DoVi? I've been waiting for months, and I'm giving it up
2- Is there any other external player, which is compatible with FEL, and has a PLEX or Kodi interface? (I imagine that sony players do not....)
3- Is there a software option to add FEL support to the Fire Stick?

1- at this point, I lost confidence in Nvidia competence. I don't think this will ever get fixed. (or maybe they just don't care)
2- I don't know any plex/kodi device capable of playing fel with lossless audio
3- The best you can do on the Firestick is to convert FEL to MEL + lossy audio. tools here: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 970#p96282

1 - I think ball is on Dolby side since I doubt NV wrote it's own DV decoder. I suppose they use Dolby's code
3 - Convert to p8. This is the only right way. Convertion to MEL is pointless

[RESET_9999]

1 - I think ball is on Dolby side since I doubt NV wrote it's own DV decoder. I suppose they use Dolby's code
3 - Convert to p8. This is the only right way. Convertion to MEL is pointless

1- Since the issue happens in both tv-led and player-led. I think it's caused by something before or after the file goes through the Dolby engine. (something similar to the bt2020 flag issue with RGB DV)
I don't believe at all that the Dolby SDK is any different than the one on the firestick TV.
3- well both formats will give the same quality, none of them is pointless ....

[Wanderlust3K]

Hi mate, I get the Wierd Science fascination into doing this, and we would all like a media player friendly back up solution... but Dolby Vision is about the quality, a 15gb file can not look as good as a75gb file unless you are watching on a 48” supermarket TV.

No worries, thats why i left an (Optional) comment.

I just was curious about the posibility to reduce the overall file size while maintaning the Dolby Vision metadata and im happy it works finally on the CX thanks to the new firmware.

I myself have both types, if it is something i like then i keep it in original quality, if its somethig meh then i may reencode, but im sure we both agree that posibilities and the ability to choose are good things and lower bitrate can come in handy in some scenarios (like streaming).

agreed, especially with those encode settings... --preset medium is not very high quality.

in order to encode and preserve quality you must use at least --preset slow or slower

Great thing about ffmpeg is you can choose the desired settings to suit your needs.
Yes, those are meh settings meant for meh content i want to encode fast and dont care much about fidelity, its just an example...

[lexyz]

3- well both formats will give the same quality, none of them is pointless ....

FEL to MEL convertion keeps redundant NLQ values in RPU which is used for FEL
If the goal to strip EL and keep final stream as close as possible to Dolby specs - convert to p8

[RESET_9999]

3- well both formats will give the same quality, none of them is pointless ....

FEL to MEL convertion keeps redundant NLQ values in RPU which is used for FEL
If the goal to strip EL and keep final stream as close as possible to Dolby specs - convert to p8

ha, you're right... I forgot that the fel to mel conversion kept the original filesize of the FEL.

[AndreasT]

My findings with latest LG (CX) firmware (3:21.09)

1- Demux layers from a UHD remux (BL , EL+RPU, AC3 Audio*)

2- (OPTIONAL) Reencode the BL layer (ffmpeg x265 & NO CROP !!!)

Code: Select all

ffmpeg.exe -i UHDREMUX.mkv -c:v libx265 -x265-params "level=5.1:colorprim=bt2020:colormatrix=bt2020nc:transfer=smpte2084:chromaloc=2:master-display=G(13250,34500)B(7500,3000)R(34000,16000)WP(15635,16450)L(40000000,50):max-cll=636,103:keyint_min=25" -crf 17 -preset medium -an BL.hevc

3- Remux (MP4Muxer_64bits.exe v:1.0.0) Reencoded BL layer + EL-RPU + AC3 layers into .MP4 file

Code: Select all

mp4muxer_64bits.exe --dv-profile 7 -i BL.h265 -i EL.h265 --dv-input-es-mode comb -i Audio.ac3 -o OUTPUT.mp4 --mpeg4-comp-brand mp42,iso6,isom,msdh,dby1 --overwrite

NOTE: --dv-input-es-mode split DID NOT PRODUCE A WORKING FILE WITH A REENCODED BL layer, --dv-input-es-mode comb DID WORK.

NOTE: You can demux previously muxed .mp4 DV files using the MP4Demuxer.exe.
ie:

Code: Select all

mp4demuxer.exe --input-file INPUT.mp4

Congratulations, you won a working Dolby Vision .MP4 file, 15GB instead of 75GB (tested with LG internal Plex app).

NOTE: If you have plenty of HD storage or/and just want to keep the original quality, omit the Reencoding part (step 2).


ISSUES:

1- Seeking not working, probably due to reencoding BL? (keyint_min=25 param?)

I used my Top Gun UHD disc (FEL) as the source, and de-muxed 2 min test snippets of the BL and EL+RPU tracks directly from the m2ts file. I then skipped the encoding step. Sure enough the resulting dual track dual layer mp4 file is played by Plex on my LG CX triggering Dolby Vision, but the colors are wrong. The picture is way too dark to be ok. It is like the enhancement layer is used to darken instead of brightening the picture.

If I do a FEL to MEL conversion, and use the converted EL+RPU file when creating a dual track dual layer mp4 as above, then it triggers DV and the picture seems what I would expect to see.

So when you say your process above gives a file that plays fine on you CX, is your source FEL or MEL? Does the resulting file play ok if you ignore step 2?

One thing that made a difference to get a dual track dual layer mp4 to even start playing for me was using v1.0.0 instead of v1.0.1 of mp4muxer. If I look with MediaInfo, the mp4 created with v1.0.1 has the BL track marked as being "Default : Yes", and both tracks have an additional "Alternate group : 1". Either those are maybe set incorrectly, or the TV can't handle them. Anyone knows what they mean/are used?

[Wanderlust3K]

I used my Top Gun UHD disc (FEL) as the source, and de-muxed 2 min test snippets of the BL and EL+RPU tracks directly from the m2ts file. I then skipped the encoding step. Sure enough the resulting dual track dual layer mp4 file is played by Plex on my LG CX triggering Dolby Vision, but the colors are wrong. The picture is way too dark to be ok. It is like the enhancement layer is used to darken instead of brightening the picture.

If I do a FEL to MEL conversion, and use the converted EL+RPU file when creating a dual track dual layer mp4 as above, then it triggers DV and the picture seems what I would expect to see.

So when you say your process above gives a file that plays fine on you CX, is your source FEL or MEL? Does the resulting file play ok if you ignore step 2?

One thing that made a difference to get a dual track dual layer mp4 to even start playing for me was using v1.0.0 instead of v1.0.1 of mp4muxer. If I look with MediaInfo, the mp4 created with v1.0.1 has the BL track marked as being "Default : Yes", and both tracks have an additional "Alternate group : 1". Either those are maybe set incorrectly, or the TV can't handle them. Anyone knows what they mean/are used?

I tested with Lord of Rings UHD disc, colors look fine to me, not sure if its FEL or MEL, but now that you mention it there seems to be reports of some darkening on the latest firmware, i just turned PeakBrigtness option to Low.

Dont you lose data when converting FEL to MEL?

Yes, mp4muxer v1.0.1 does not work for me when creating DTDL, only v1.0.0 works.

Infact, if you type mp4muxer.exe -h theres no mention to allow 2 video tracks as input, only a BL+EL+RPU.h265 file so even tougth v1.0.1 will mux 2 video tracks and produce a DTDL file it wont play.
I believe v1.0.1 is only meant for muxing STDL files like the ones produced with MakeMKV, will test that and see if it works, i need an MP4 container since LG Plex internal app has no DV MKV support yet.

[AndreasT]

I used my Top Gun UHD disc (FEL) as the source, and de-muxed 2 min test snippets of the BL and EL+RPU tracks directly from the m2ts file. I then skipped the encoding step. Sure enough the resulting dual track dual layer mp4 file is played by Plex on my LG CX triggering Dolby Vision, but the colors are wrong. The picture is way too dark to be ok. It is like the enhancement layer is used to darken instead of brightening the picture.

If I do a FEL to MEL conversion, and use the converted EL+RPU file when creating a dual track dual layer mp4 as above, then it triggers DV and the picture seems what I would expect to see.

So when you say your process above gives a file that plays fine on you CX, is your source FEL or MEL? Does the resulting file play ok if you ignore step 2?

One thing that made a difference to get a dual track dual layer mp4 to even start playing for me was using v1.0.0 instead of v1.0.1 of mp4muxer. If I look with MediaInfo, the mp4 created with v1.0.1 has the BL track marked as being "Default : Yes", and both tracks have an additional "Alternate group : 1". Either those are maybe set incorrectly, or the TV can't handle them. Anyone knows what they mean/are used?

I tested with Lord of Rings UHD disc, colors look fine to me, not sure if its FEL or MEL, but now that you mention it there seems to be reports of some darkening on the latest firmware, i just turned PeakBrigtness option to Low.

Dont you lose data when converting FEL to MEL?

Yes, mp4muxer v1.0.1 does not work for me when creating DTDL, only v1.0.0 works and only without the "split" option.

Infact, if you type mp4muxer.exe -h theres no mention to allow 2 video tracks as input, only a BL+EL+RPU.h265 file so even tougth v1.0.1 will mux 2 video tracks and produce a DTDL file it wont play.
I believe v1.0.1 is only meant for muxing STDL files like the ones produced with MakeMKV, will test that and see if it works, i need an MP4 container since LG Plex internal app has no DV MKV support yet.

According to the list here https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=276448, Lord of the rings is a MEL release. That explains why it plays triggering DV with proper colors for you with just the outlined steps.

In my case, as mentioned, I have a FEL release (you can see Top Gun in the same forum post), in which case I get this darkening of colors when played back, even if DV is triggered. To get the proper colors I have to convert to MEL using the tool mentioned here https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 970#p96282.

I checked the code of mp4muxer, and there is no indication something changed not allowing you to have multiple input video files. What changed between v1.0.0 and v1.0.1 is that some flags are set in the mp4 file with v1.0.1. I don't know yet what these flags mean, but apparently they make the TV not like the resulting mp4 file from that version.

[HEMAN]

Nevermind, my previous post made a copy on second attempt that triggers Dolby Vision on my LG UJ752T. Will check later on my CX.

[daicon]

Thank you very much for the information. Very useful.
I wanted to ask:
1- What are the chances that nvidia will solve your colour problem with the Nvidia Shield in DoVi? I've been waiting for months, and I'm giving it up
2- Is there any other external player, which is compatible with FEL, and has a PLEX or Kodi interface? (I imagine that sony players do not....)
3- Is there a software option to add FEL support to the Fire Stick?

1- at this point, I lost confidence in Nvidia competence. I don't think this will ever get fixed. (or maybe they just don't care)
2- I don't know any plex/kodi device capable of playing fel with lossless audio
3- The best you can do on the Firestick is to convert FEL to p8.1 + lossy audio. tools here: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 970#p96282

Thank you very much for your response.
Interesting, but it raises some new questions for me.

1- , but I hope that you are wrong and they end up solving it, je

2-If there is no external device that plays FEL without audio loss (Is there expected to be?) Why then is this new process used to create the mkv? (many private trackers already use it)

Is there a "non-external" device that plays it?


3- I followed the manual, and managed to convert it correctly to play firestick 4k. But don't I lose the quality of FEL, when switching to MEL?
On the other hand... I have no audio... xDDD
How do I do it with audio?

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Wanderlust3K]

According to the list here https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=276448, Lord of the rings is a MEL release. That explains why it plays triggering DV with proper colors for you with just the outlined steps.

In my case, as mentioned, I have a FEL release (you can see Top Gun in the same forum post), in which case I get this darkening of colors when played back, even if DV is triggered. To get the proper colors I have to convert to MEL using the tool mentioned here https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 970#p96282.

I checked the code of mp4muxer, and there is no indication something changed not allowing you to have multiple input video files. What changed between v1.0.0 and v1.0.1 is that some flags are set in the mp4 file with v1.0.1. I don't know yet what these flags mean, but apparently they make the TV not like the resulting mp4 file from that version.

Oh i see, i tested another old file, a FEL one, and yes you are rigth, looks a lot darker !!

Can some one answer me this:Dont we lose data when converting FEL to MEL ?

BTW, i also tested this:

1) Reencode BL
2) Mux Reencoded Bl.265, EL+RPU.265, audio.ac3 into an .iso file (TSmuxer)
3) Open .iso file with MakeMKV and obtain a STSL.mkv file (BL+EL+RPU)
4) Demux BL+EL+RPU.h265 stream from .mkv file
5) Mux BL+EL+RPU.265 into STSL .mp4 using both mp4muxer v1.0.0 & v.1.0.1, profiles 7 & 8 = Choppy playback & no seeking.

Im getting tyred of all this propietary DV shit, and propietary stuff in general, next TV ill look for open standars support like HDR10+ and multichannel FLAC audio and an android OS and be done with it.