Dolby Vision Atmos update

You asked about DV/Atmos playback. That was a VS10 issue and has been fixed.

Current problems seem to be centered around network performance and that's a different problem.

I've managed tp replicate the issue (and sent debug logs to the techs) but in my setup I can only replicate it with playback of high bitrate files from a Windows 10 PC with questionable network performance - not sure if that's down to Windows or the network card but other sources I've tested (Windows 7 PC, NAS drives of various age) have no issues.

 

Not sure that it is a network issue, as I use an internal HDD in my Z10 Pro and experience the same issue with MKV in DV after some time of use (random stuttering or freeze issue on movies that I could watch flawlessly at first).

After a clear data in HT4.0 or a reset factory + fresh scrape of my collection, the problem seems to disappear but it is back again after some time of normal use (using the bookmark function, some pause and stuffs like that). The issue never occures at the same moment and not necessarily in the same movie. With all my other movies in 4k HDR10 or in HD, no problem.

 

There is another issue with some Profile 7 DV MKV files that isn't related to Atmos or network where a DV file will freeze after an hour or so after a continuous string of DV checksum errors (roughly 600/s) which eventually lead to a video freeze.

I don't know if this issue is related to the file or the player, but debug logs have been sent.

 

Ok, thanks. You’re right about Atmos, my soundtracks on the DV movies are only in DTS-HD MA, and even in Dolby Digital for one of them.

I also noticed that for the stuttering issue, a simple 15sec jump forward (remote function) and the movie keeps playing ok for a while. Then, if I jump back a couple of times to play the same moment where the stutters appeared, the movie has no stutters anymore. For the freeze, that is really random, sometimes after an hour of play, sometimes before, sometimes around 20min after resume a movie, sometimes after 5 min on pause.

 

Negative, it doesn't work, I experimented it with and without these options on my MKV DVs

 

Sorry to contradict, but we don't want these issues getting confused as that just confuses Zidoo and extends the time to fix.

The DV/Atmos VS10 error has been fixed - I worked with Zidoo on that one.

There is an ongoing checksum error with Profile 7 DV MKVs which is unrelated to Atmos or network.

There seems to be a new issue with network compatibility - seemingly related to Windows 10 but not necessarily.


If you have an issue with DV files with Atmos, it's not the original issue and not related to Atmos.

 

Hello Mark,

Ok I trust you but just to be sure, you talk to me about fix for the vs10 engine I'm in AUTO mode.

Is it the same thing ?

see you

 

If you set HDR <Auto> and play a compatible DV file then yes, the VS10 engine is used.

If you play an SDR or HDR10(+) file, the Realtek engine is used.

 

Ok perfect

I will update my thread to avoid any confusion.

I don't understand why I don't have any problems with all my video files, no matter the format.

See you

 

I have a question of a general nature: can anyone answer me if you can actually see the differences in the material from Dolby Vision, the differences between mel and fel ?? can you see with the naked eye the differences between the DV version with FEL and MEL ??

 

Bit of a loaded question that as you can’t view a FEL file on the Zidoo and you can’t view a FEL to MEL conversion on a native player such as Oppo.

The picture on The Oppo compared to the Zidoo is totally different, even with HDR10 material., so you can’t compare the picture from different players (even though you should be able to).

Original FEL titles on the Oppo have an extra something to them compared to an original MEL title on my LGC9, even though the extra 2 bits are being dithered they do make a difference in my opinion, but the C9 is capable of very wide colour range, maybe some other sets don’t fair as well, I also think this is why other people don’t see the push or crush that is evident with Android players playing back ITC.

 

Also, even on a TV led Dolby Vision system you'd never have the opportunity to compare the two - dvhe.07 content is either mastered with a full enhancement layer or a minimal one, never both, depending on decisions made in post (MEL processing is a lot quicker and requires less resources)

All else being equal (mapping constraints etc) technically FEL is a lot better because effectively the 12-bit mezzanine stream can be reconstructed whereas in a MEL encode, it can't. Also with MEL you can't create a 4000-nit DV signal from a 1000-nit base layer (not that any TVs get anywhere near that!).

But... in the real world, on a real telly in your living room, and again with all else being equal, no, I don't think you'd see any great difference.

 

just out of curiosity, I wonder if zidoo will prepare a player that plays every version of DV, i.e. with FEL and with ISO, and not only with mkv from mel, Is it technical or legal licensing issues

 

Probably both - first off a player would need two HEVC decoders and second it would need licensing and although the Zidoo plays Profile 7 MEL kind of by accident, as far as I know Dolby would never license a player to play Profile 7 since that implies ripping UHD discs.

Mind you they said they'd never license media players as well, and now we have Netflix, Disney etc outputting in Profile 5 and players that can decode local media.

 

from the technical side, would there be a problem with making a player with two HEVC decoders ??

 

Technically no, but assuming a SOC was available with two decoders, then you hit the licensing wall.

The closest is the Chinoppo which is completely unlicensed and uses Mediatek's SOC but doesn't have a pretty front end (although there are slightly cumbersome ways around that).

 

Could the Zidoo read the RPU from FEL? In my opinion that is the most important bit.

 

1) As a future development it would be great if Zidoo could process the RPU from FEL MKV DV files just ignoring the EL data, as apparently currently being done by Nvidia Shield PRO - This would allow us to preserve the FEL EL data for future use, as well as avoid those timeconsuming/cumbersome FEL to MEL conversions.

2) As far as I understand, the FEL EL layer is only 1080p (being just chroma related, I suppose ?), so theoretically it should be possible for the main 4K HEVC stream decoding to be done by HW (as is already done) and have the player to decode the secondary 1080p HEVC datastream via software in paralell (even some older Android devices could decode 1080p HEVC via software - I still have a MINIX that does that). Even if this is limited to let's say 24fps, it would be a great diferentiator for Zidoo !

 

In the end, a company decides to make such a player, because there is a market demand for such players, and where there is demand, there are people who want to satisfy it

 

I was also wondering about it to play this track in 1080p software and connect with the main one in 4k, the processors are strong enough to do something like that