While testing out auto-mode-switching in tvOS 11.2 in Infuse and MrMC, I found a possible issue with HDR content. I found that Infuse switched my TV to HDR, but it output an SDR image. In comparison, MrMC also switched the TV to HDR, but showed HDR output.
I tested the Life of Pi sample:
And the Digital Foundry Gran Turismo Sport sample:
Even with the Apple TV forced to 4k HDR, the Infuse HDR videos were washed out when compared to MrMC. They looked like the typical HDR → SDR conversion.
Would you be able to snap a pic of how these videos are appearing on your TV?
With the TV set to HDR, Infuse will display HDR videos with full dynamic range. On SDR TVs, Infuse will smartly convert HDR to SDR and display the videos with a more limited range.
Here’s mine, although they don’t show the issue very well. One odd thing is that when I took screenshots through Xcode, the Infuse pic looked closest to HDR, and the Mrmc one looked washed out ( opposite of what I see on the TV).
Did some testing this morning too see what the playback differences were between Infuse, and my Sony UBP-X800 UHD player. Both the ATV4K and my UHD player go through a Denon x2300w to input3 on a Sony XBR-940E. The short answer is that the image that’s being delivered by infuse looks like the BR version instead of the UHD version. Photos taken with a handheld iphone 8 plus.
The first set is from The Shallows:
1536 is the UHD disc in the UHD player
1537 is the BR in the UHD player
1546 is the BR in the BR player
1547 is itunes UHD
The UHD version played by the UHD player shows much more individual highlighting on the waves, the rest of the images are close enough to each other to not have any real significant differences.
The second set is from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Same playback devices except no itunes version available.
1538 is the UHD disc in the UHD player
1540 is the BR in the UHD player
1543 is the UHD rip in Infuse
1544 is the UHD rip in MrMC
The main differences here are two things, the richness of the amber colors, and the brighter highlights on the cheekbones, the throne, and the headdress in image 1538. As before, the other photos are similar enough that the small differences are negligible.
HDR is certainly being activated on my TV by Infuse and MrMC, however both Infuse and MrMC aren’t sending the HDR data to the TV. I’m going to get Kodi installed today to see if there’s any difference there.
Hmmm…watched spiderman homecoming in 4k hdr tonight on my LG E6 OLED and thought that it all looked a bit muted. Switched over to MrMC when I was finished and it looked much more like I expected it to. Not sure If it’s infuse tonemapping differently or if it’s just a bug.
Hm, my standard setting is 4k SDR for the Apple 4k, so that I can see movies without HDR as normal as they are and if a HDR movies starts the 4k switch to HDR setting.
That’s working with Plex and infuse. MrMC don’t switch…
As you described your setting it could be that you are watching HDR over the MrMC with a wrong mapping
