lexyz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 18, 2023 3:06 am
RESET_9999 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 7:11 pm
Now, where it gets strange:
Heh, true. It's interesting and confusing since as assumed TV-led should do all processing on TV side
My guess is player software (internal or external) somehow doesn't pass all trims to DV engine or do so in incompatible manner.
That means there is far-far more inconsistency with DV processing than we know.
Sadly Dolby doesn't give a s.. about quality control on end-user devices.
Hmm, while I do wish the standards were more strict or followed by at least major companies making playback devices, you're not suggesting Dolby somehow enforce quality control or strict specifications on anyone who is willing to pay them for a DoVi license, are you? That would be completely irrational from a business point of view and companies would end up just dropping DV support in cases where it costs too much or just not in their best interest (e.g. Samsung, Disney already do this). I actually think this almost happened in the early days, and Dolby responded and provided incentives and support to woo licensees and win over the likes of Apple, despite many critics and experts shouting about HDR10+ obviously being better (reminds me of HD-DVD, except HDR10+ survived and almost solely because of Samsung).
We have to remember, Dolby isn't in the business of making
consumer devices. Otherwise, we would already have a golden standard in DV playback hardware with their logo slapped on it (e.g. Dolby Media Streamer Platinum X5, Dolby Vision UHD BD Player X9 w/ FEL 10K nits support), and maybe it would be expensive and work perfectly, but almost certainly, it would mean a handicap of other competing players who license DV (i.e. no FEL support), maybe a hard cease and desist on anything like dovi_tool or makeMKV, and possibly even huge division in the industry on what HDR standards are supported and by whom. Ultimately, how it is now, as imperfect as it is, is pretty damn good, even if we discover inconsistency in playback in some cases, or downright incorrect processing in edge cases. At least us geeks get to play around in this HDR/DV sandbox! Practically speaking, the average person being able to buy a Chromecast or AppleTV and enjoy DV without thinking about it, is a good outcome. Will it ever be perfect? Of course not. However, most folks don't even modify their TV settings, let alone care or understand anything about MEL, FEL, nits, or metadata flags.
Extra thoughts -- It's interesting to remember a time where DV was spoken about like some niche, proprietary tech that would not take off, and HDR10+ would obviously win, but it never happened. I think Dolby's support, cinema projection offerings, simple licensing, and consistency with the spec (e.g. v4.0 not breaking v2.9 workflows and industry software/partners like Amazon, Adobe, Davinci, RED, Netflix etc. supporting it), not to mention documentation, training, and tools they offer to partners/licensees, are all key factors, as to why it is so prevalent now. In the long run, the industry will change, through a mix of a) organically through competition or new tech innovations, b) through consortiums and specs groups, c) studio and company decisions (e.g. Apple creating their own HDR standard that is better), and d) consumer preferences. I hope a) is the primary driver, but as long as people keep buying the cheaper devices that exist en masse, quality (control) will remain tied to consumer economics and preferences, not the wishes of forum-dwellers like us.