If I edit config file on Plex to stop AV1 and Opus transcoding for AppleTV, I can play HDR and DV AV1 files on AppleTV 4k via Plex app, but infuse on same AppleTV plays them back as SDR.
Is there a chance that Infuse will be able to do the same with a future update?
I‘d be interested in this as well, especially since the tone-mapping from HDR to SDR seems a bit „funky“. White surfaces look really weird, maybe it has to do with film-grain-synth but something is off for sure.
Agreed. I was a bit surprised to be honest. SDR tonemapping was a bit dull. On top of that, if a free app like plex can do this, why can’t Infuse.
That being said Plex also did some questionable stuff in the past. I remember them using some kind of fake Dolby Vision for Profile 8 videos, and Infuse was (or maybe still is) the only app that handles Dolby Vision Profile 8 correctly. Who knows what Plex does to get an AV1 HDR playback from a device that does not support the codec on the hardware level like the current Apple TVs…
Fair point. Based on my eyes on an OLED television, I could not tell the difference between high quality AV1 or high quality HEVC HDR playing on Plex. So whatever, they are doing does work in this case. With additional benefit of file size reduction.
And I think most people would benefit from, considering the benefits of going with AV1 for our home libraries.
Good to know, I agree regarding the benefits of AV1. At this point I use it whenever possible!
Apple added support for HW decoding of AV1 video last year, however this requires a device with an A17/M3 chip or later. The latest Apple TV model currently has an A15 Bionic chip.
Presumably, the next Apple TV model released by Apple will have a chip that is able to fully support AV1 video playback, including HDR content.
Agreed. Hardware support is one topic, and I read this post on a few threads already. I am trying to discuss software approach which Plex has probably implemented here.
Apple has a very narrow pipeline for what kind of content can be sent from the Apple TV in ‘real’ HDR/Dolby Vision and I haven’t seen any indications this has changed with AV1.
Apple does grant special exceptions for apps like YouTube (for HW decode of things like VP9), but these are undocumented and there is no method of requesting such an exception (we’ve tried).
There are also tricks some apps do to kind of fake HDR and/or Dolby Vision output (whether intentional or not), but I’m not sure if that’s what’s happening here.
Got it. Thanks for your candid response there James. Much appreciated. I hope maybe some day we can figure this out. Other wise updating all Apple TVs will be a bit of a hassle.