Dolby Vision and 1.15.1

[djbuddha]

You can't. They use exoplayer as a shell for their playback but everything they do is either tied to ffmpeg or custom code they've written. Overriding the player, even if you somehow could, would break almost everything about Plex.

I should have specified, I meant within Kodi. There is a Plex addon and it uses Kodi’s default player from my understanding (that’s why some use it because it stops the server from transcoding some other file types- on the shield it doesn’t apply as the shield plays almost everything natively in Plex) but it’s interesting .. gonna mess around when I get home, even though it probably won’t work at all lol

IT'S WORKING.

I'm going to throw a video in dropbox outlining how I did it.

Plex with Dolby Vision it ALMOST perfectly working with Kodi ... this is insane.

Ah, yea, in Kodi it would. I've never bothered to set up the Plex client in Kodi as I've never had a reason to. I suppose that'd be one way to do it. But I'm good with what we have for now until Plex adds support.

PLEX RUNNING DOLBY VISION AND ATMOS VIA KODI USING THE NEW APK FROM THIS THREAD:

It's FAR from perfect, but I made video showing the following with the 2019 Shield
Link to the video is at the very bottom:

- How to do it (after altering the playcorefactory.xml file for Kodi, it's easier than you think)
- How to fix the sync issue if you fall out of sync when the movie starts (in my testing, this quick method maintains sync throughout the playback)
- Proof that DV is triggered and not faked (bottom left corner using a Vertex 2 showing LLDV running vs running a non-LLDV file)
- Proof that Dolby Atmos is running (I hear it, but the receiver shows it as you'll see in the video).

Notes:

- This is super-alpha. You still can't resume
- This is super-awesome, it means it's possible (will post this on the Plex forum on their Dolby Vision thread for the shield).

To make this APK the default player on Kodi, it's in the thread, but here's what I did to my playercorefactory.xml file (after </players>)

</players>
<rules action="prepend">
<rule video="true" player="dvdplayer">
<rule filename=".*mkv.*|.*HEVC.*|.*hevc.*" player="ExoPlayer"/>
</rule>
</rules>
</playercorefactory>

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpore7e80euwy ... 5.MOV?dl=0

[chrisandy]

You can't. They use exoplayer as a shell for their playback but everything they do is either tied to ffmpeg or custom code they've written. Overriding the player, even if you somehow could, would break almost everything about Plex.

I should have specified, I meant within Kodi. There is a Plex addon and it uses Kodi’s default player from my understanding (that’s why some use it because it stops the server from transcoding some other file types- on the shield it doesn’t apply as the shield plays almost everything natively in Plex) but it’s interesting .. gonna mess around when I get home, even though it probably won’t work at all lol

IT'S WORKING.

I'm going to throw a video in dropbox outlining how I did it.

Plex with Dolby Vision it ALMOST perfectly working with Kodi ... this is insane.

Ah, yea, in Kodi it would. I've never bothered to set up the Plex client in Kodi as I've never had a reason to. I suppose that'd be one way to do it. But I'm good with what we have for now until Plex adds support.

Hi,

Just want to understand how it should work now.

Add file share to Shield (preferences -> storage)
Access this added share via Kodi (files)
Play .mkv and everything should work as expected?

Apologies if I'm off on this.

EDIT: Looks like I must be doing something wrong in creating the original the .mkv while using MakeMVC 1.15.2 as it's not pulling over DV etc unless MediaInfo isn't giving accurate information.

[ragico]

Some updates:
In shield I have enabled dlna in kodi service settings and use Plex server as storage. It works as intented and no necessity anymore to mount my nas directly in shield.

I have also tried the same in Ugoos Am6 plus and got same results as in shield. DV works flawlessly but atmos is not triggered, This is at moment a Ugoos limit. I compared the colours from shield and from Ugoos on my Gz2000 and can say that I do not had the red push from Ugoos, maybe I am wrong and can be a placebo effect.

Mike, yusesope and shawnc22 you are fantastic guys.>Thank you again

Can you give this sample from Saving Private Ryan a try on your Ugoos to see if it flickers throughout the scene like it does on the Shield?

https://mega.nz/file/8XZljQgZ#P2xzsRWST ... 5fCW9zZa_8

Tried and there is flickers troughout it

[djbuddha]

I should have specified, I meant within Kodi. There is a Plex addon and it uses Kodi’s default player from my understanding (that’s why some use it because it stops the server from transcoding some other file types- on the shield it doesn’t apply as the shield plays almost everything natively in Plex) but it’s interesting .. gonna mess around when I get home, even though it probably won’t work at all lol

IT'S WORKING.

I'm going to throw a video in dropbox outlining how I did it.

Plex with Dolby Vision it ALMOST perfectly working with Kodi ... this is insane.

Ah, yea, in Kodi it would. I've never bothered to set up the Plex client in Kodi as I've never had a reason to. I suppose that'd be one way to do it. But I'm good with what we have for now until Plex adds support.

Hi,

Just want to understand how it should work now.

Add file share to Shield (preferences -> storage)
Access this added share via Kodi (files)
Play .mkv and everything should work as expected?

Apologies if I'm off on this.

EDIT: Looks like I must be doing something wrong in creating the original the .mkv while using MakeMVC 1.15.2 as it's not pulling over DV etc unless MediaInfo isn't giving accurate information.

To be clear, if you follow the video I linked above, all you have to do is copy your MKV onto your Plex server and update the library as you normally wild and it should trigger.

In terms of the other ways to use Kodi outside of Plex, I had a few difficulties along the way. What I demoed was an easy way to test it after you verify the APK is installed and your XML file for Kodi is edited as needed.

Also, from what I read, MediaInfo needs an update to show the Dolby Vision content no? I couldn’t see it on my end ... also using MacOS so it’s almost useless to even try to check on Mac lol

[chrisandy]

Ah, yea, in Kodi it would. I've never bothered to set up the Plex client in Kodi as I've never had a reason to. I suppose that'd be one way to do it. But I'm good with what we have for now until Plex adds support.

Hi,

Just want to understand how it should work now.

Add file share to Shield (preferences -> storage)
Access this added share via Kodi (files)
Play .mkv and everything should work as expected?

Apologies if I'm off on this.

EDIT: Looks like I must be doing something wrong in creating the original the .mkv while using MakeMVC 1.15.2 as it's not pulling over DV etc unless MediaInfo isn't giving accurate information.

To be clear, if you follow the video I linked above, all you have to do is copy your MKV onto your Plex server and update the library as you normally wild and it should trigger.

In terms of the other ways to use Kodi outside of Plex, I had a few difficulties along the way. What I demoed was an easy way to test it after you verify the APK is installed and your XML file for Kodi is edited as needed.

Great, thank you. Would you be able to help clarify if MediaInfo will display the .mkv as DV or not? I just want to make sure I'm not screwing up that initial part.

[djbuddha]

Hi,

Just want to understand how it should work now.

Add file share to Shield (preferences -> storage)
Access this added share via Kodi (files)
Play .mkv and everything should work as expected?

Apologies if I'm off on this.

EDIT: Looks like I must be doing something wrong in creating the original the .mkv while using MakeMVC 1.15.2 as it's not pulling over DV etc unless MediaInfo isn't giving accurate information.

To be clear, if you follow the video I linked above, all you have to do is copy your MKV onto your Plex server and update the library as you normally wild and it should trigger.

In terms of the other ways to use Kodi outside of Plex, I had a few difficulties along the way. What I demoed was an easy way to test it after you verify the APK is installed and your XML file for Kodi is edited as needed.

Great, thank you. Would you be able to help clarify if MediaInfo will display the .mkv as DV or not? I just want to make sure I'm not screwing up that initial part.

Well, the method I used to rip was literally just open the disc and rip using the latest release of MakeMKV. Then copy to the Plex server and it triggers. I don’t think MediaInfo shows it yet (think it needs an update). Best way sadly is to just copy and pray. Unless someone here can clarify on a way to check the file first. (Btw, if you have a way to check on Windows and MacOS it’d be super appreciated!!)

[shawnc22]

Tried and there is flickers troughout it

Thanks for trying! Interesting to see that it's not an issue isolated to the Shield.

Well, the method I used to rip was literally just open the disc and rip using the latest release of MakeMKV. Then copy to the Plex server and it triggers. I don’t think MediaInfo shows it yet (think it needs an update). Best way sadly is to just copy and pray. Unless someone here can clarify on a way to check the file first. (Btw, if you have a way to check on Windows and MacOS it’d be super appreciated!!)

You can verify by opening the mkv in a hex editor and looking for the dvcc headers. But the process is literally just opening the disc in makemkv and ripping. There is no way to screw it up even if you tried as there is no option to not include the DV layer (if one is present).

[hepe9]

@yusesope I try the exoplayer with the clip provided by @shawnc22 on an Android TV and It played in black & white with DV logo

[chrisandy]

I should have specified, I meant within Kodi. There is a Plex addon and it uses Kodi’s default player from my understanding (that’s why some use it because it stops the server from transcoding some other file types- on the shield it doesn’t apply as the shield plays almost everything natively in Plex) but it’s interesting .. gonna mess around when I get home, even though it probably won’t work at all lol

IT'S WORKING.

I'm going to throw a video in dropbox outlining how I did it.

Plex with Dolby Vision it ALMOST perfectly working with Kodi ... this is insane.

Ah, yea, in Kodi it would. I've never bothered to set up the Plex client in Kodi as I've never had a reason to. I suppose that'd be one way to do it. But I'm good with what we have for now until Plex adds support.

PLEX RUNNING DOLBY VISION AND ATMOS VIA KODI USING THE NEW APK FROM THIS THREAD:

It's FAR from perfect, but I made video showing the following with the 2019 Shield
Link to the video is at the very bottom:

- How to do it (after altering the playcorefactory.xml file for Kodi, it's easier than you think)
- How to fix the sync issue if you fall out of sync when the movie starts (in my testing, this quick method maintains sync throughout the playback)
- Proof that DV is triggered and not faked (bottom left corner using a Vertex 2 showing LLDV running vs running a non-LLDV file)
- Proof that Dolby Atmos is running (I hear it, but the receiver shows it as you'll see in the video).

Notes:

- This is super-alpha. You still can't resume
- This is super-awesome, it means it's possible (will post this on the Plex forum on their Dolby Vision thread for the shield).

To make this APK the default player on Kodi, it's in the thread, but here's what I did to my playercorefactory.xml file (after </players>)

</players>
<rules action="prepend">
<rule video="true" player="dvdplayer">
<rule filename=".*mkv.*|.*HEVC.*|.*hevc.*" player="ExoPlayer"/>
</rule>
</rules>
</playercorefactory>

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpore7e80euwy ... 5.MOV?dl=0

Sorry for the dumb question but how exactly do you edit the .xml file on the Shield? And did you utilize the .xml file listed elsewhere in the thread or simply make this addition?

[SamuriHL]

Sorry for the dumb question but how exactly do you edit the .xml file on the Shield? And did you utilize the .xml file listed elsewhere in the thread or simply make this addition?

You don't. Edit it on your PC, put it on a network share that's mapped on your SHIELD, and use a file explorer program to copy it in place.

[ragico]

Tried and there is flickers troughout it

Thanks for trying! Interesting to see that it's not an issue isolated to the Shield.

Well, the method I used to rip was literally just open the disc and rip using the latest release of MakeMKV. Then copy to the Plex server and it triggers. I don’t think MediaInfo shows it yet (think it needs an update). Best way sadly is to just copy and pray. Unless someone here can clarify on a way to check the file first. (Btw, if you have a way to check on Windows and MacOS it’d be super appreciated!!)

You can verify by opening the mkv in a hex editor and looking for the dvcc headers. But the process is literally just opening the disc in makemkv and ripping. There is no way to screw it up even if you tried as there is no option to not include the DV layer (if one is present).

This is an old problem with this movie. I get it without flikering only from ts profile 7 from my sony x700. Will try the new mkv system.

[chrisandy]

Kodi 18.7 on shield pro 2019. Shield directly connected to Panasonic GZ2000 oled tv. All the DV files made by the latest yusesope tool profile 4 work perfectly in Plex. I did almost 10 mkv with the latest release and no one of them plays including your sample downloaded from mega. I choose to play the file with exoplayer and I see the player interface on the screen followed by "Playback failed" on screen message.

Here's my playercorefactory.xml that you can try. Just replace the one you have and restart Kodi.

edit: sorry forgot link. https://mega.nz/file/9fZ3gCoa#bUL3DYXfc ... TMD7rccfzk

Thanks for providing this - added this .xml to the right folder in Kodi but only getting HDR10 (not DV) playback. Something I'm doing wrong?

[SamuriHL]

Kodi 18.7 on shield pro 2019. Shield directly connected to Panasonic GZ2000 oled tv. All the DV files made by the latest yusesope tool profile 4 work perfectly in Plex. I did almost 10 mkv with the latest release and no one of them plays including your sample downloaded from mega. I choose to play the file with exoplayer and I see the player interface on the screen followed by "Playback failed" on screen message.

Here's my playercorefactory.xml that you can try. Just replace the one you have and restart Kodi.

edit: sorry forgot link. https://mega.nz/file/9fZ3gCoa#bUL3DYXfc ... TMD7rccfzk

Thanks for providing this - added this .xml to the right folder in Kodi but only getting HDR10 (not DV) playback. Something I'm doing wrong?

How are you loading the files? SHIELD mounted NAS share? Local files? Using Kodi to mount the NAS share? It matters.

[chrisandy]

Here's my playercorefactory.xml that you can try. Just replace the one you have and restart Kodi.

edit: sorry forgot link. https://mega.nz/file/9fZ3gCoa#bUL3DYXfc ... TMD7rccfzk

Thanks for providing this - added this .xml to the right folder in Kodi but only getting HDR10 (not DV) playback. Something I'm doing wrong?

How are you loading the files? SHIELD mounted NAS share? Local files? Using Kodi to mount the NAS share? It matters.

SHIELD mounted NAS drive - basically sharing a folder on my W10 machine via the network which is mounted as a network drive on the SHIELD.

[shawnc22]

Thanks for providing this - added this .xml to the right folder in Kodi but only getting HDR10 (not DV) playback. Something I'm doing wrong?

Once yusecope's modified exoplayer apk is released and installed on your Shield, you need to make the following changes:

1) Create a playercorefactory.xml file as shown from the example here: https://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Use_exter ... on_Android

2) Add this entry to the players block:

Code: Select all

<player name="ExoPlayer" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
			<filename>com.google.android.exoplayer2.demo</filename>
			<hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc>
			<playcountminimumtime>120</playcountminimumtime>
		</player>

3) Move the file over to the Shield at /Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata

4) Restart Kodi on your Shield and then browse to the mkv you're trying to play, hold down the select button and you should now see a "Play Using" option. Select that and then ExoPlayer to start playing.

Are you following step 4 and using the "Play Using" option?