UPDATED WITH ANSWER AND SOLUTION - This applies to the Apple TV 4K running tvOS 12.1.1 and Infuse Pro 5.9.4
Encouraged by James that Infuse fully supported Direct Play of VC-1 from a Plex server without transcoding, I purchased an Apple TV 4K yesterday to run my own tests on whether it would correctly produce 24p for HD-DVD film-sources. I’m very happy to report it works as I hoped it would IF THE ATV4K IS SET UP AS DESCRIBED BELOW.
In order to get 24p (actually 23.976) video output without judder from HD-DVD film-sources (i.e. no frame or field repetitions added to the 24p film frames) the ATV4K Format must be set to 4K SDR 24Hz or 1080p SDR 24Hz (use SDR since HDR didn’t exist for HD-DVDs), AND SET Match Frame Rate OFF. That’s all there is to it. If Match Frame Rate is ON, the 24Hz setting will be over-ridden and the output will be 60p (59.94) with judder.
See my comment #8 below for more information.
I’m a long time (too long, too old) video product design engineer, but I’ve never set up a movie server for my home theater until now. So I just started experimenting with Plex and that led me here with 2 questions.
- Does the Infuse Plex Client on ATV4K fully support Direct Play for VC-1 and eAC-3 in a MKV container ripped from HD-DVD’s with MakeMKV? I want to completely avoid transcoding VC-1. I haven’t purchased an ATV yet because of these questions, so I can’t just try it. If it doesn’t work (and also see my 2nd question) I will look for another solution.
I saw a couple references to Infuse supporting VC-1 ripped from HD Blu-rays, but no mention of VC-1 on the Infuse product page, and I found nothing here about HD-DVDs (I have about 200 of them so it matters to me).
- Assuming the Infuse Plex Client supports VC-1 Direct Play - how does it handle HD-DVD VC-1 rips with 24p video encoded as interlaced sequences with repeat_field_flags? Please correct me if I remember that wrong from 2006, but I recall that was a key difference in how Blu-rays and HD-DVDs encoded 24p.
I’m asking because I’ve run a couple of Plex experiments with ripped HD-DVDs and the Android Plex client in a Sony TV reports the VC-1 MKV video as 1080i, rather than 1080p(24). And then it appears to convert that (apparently using the repeat-field-flags) to 1080i, which it ultimately displays as 1080p with 3-2 pulldown judder. Since the TV is 1080p24 compatible, it should ignore the repeat_field_flags and reassemble the VC-1 interlaced sequence as 24p. That’s what I hope that the Infuse Plex Client on an Apple TV 4K will do.
Bottom line - I want to get 24p without judder from my HD-DVD movies, just as the final generation of HD-DVD players did (1st gen HD-DVD players didn’t output 1080p).
So to perhaps simplify the question. Does Infuse produce 1080p24, 1080i60 (with 3-2 pulldown), or 1080p60 (with 3-2 pulldown) for HD-DVD (24p) movies?
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help answer my questions.