Zidoo UHD2000 and HDR with LG TV

I own an LG 65C9, a Zidoo UHD2000 (Firmware 2.3.35) directly connected to it and a Denon AVC-X6700H via eARC. I had the same HDMI issues as discussed here when having the Zidoo connected directly to the LG, but not when having it connected via the AVR.

Somebody at the forum of android-mediaplayer.de suggested to use an HDMI repeater between the Zidoo's HDMI output and the LG's HDMI input. I followed this recommendation successfully by using an XSource 4k HDMI Repeater. It can easily be plugged in, as it is fed by the HDMI signal itself (no power adaptor needed). It's plug & play, so no configuration or setup to go through. Over at Amazon, 4k HDMI repeaters are traded for 8 to 20 € apiece.

I didn't notice a difference in image quality, so I would recommend it to anyone with similar issues.

 

Many thanks, Thomas.

Did you have issues with HDR not being turned on the LG TV by Zidoo when playing HDR mkv files?

 

Hard to tell. When playing HDR mkv‘s the „HDR“ tag is displayed, but I can‘t tell if this is actual HDR, as I haven‘t had an opportunity to fact-check against an original HDR movie (i.e., streamed by Netflix).

 

Would you do me a favour and try this file: https://4kmedia.org/the-world-in-hdr-uhd-4k-demo/

When I run it, LG does not go to HDR mode. Also, HDR10 is not displayed on Zidoo info screen

 

First things first: thank you very much for sharing. I downloaded all three LG related videos (plus some more). I then played them with no special modes turned on, neither on the LG nor on the Zidoo. Here's the outcome.

Dolby Vision ("LG: Earth Dolby Vision"):
File Format: .ts
No HDR logo is displayed, neither in the Zidoo's display nor as a logo in the top right corner of the LG. LG does not turn on HDR mode. I guess this is due to the fact that DV is not supported on the UHD2000.

Standard HDR (that's "The World in HDR" you've referred to in your post):
File format: .mkv
An HDR logo is displayed in the Zidoo's display and as a logo in the top right corner of the LG. LG turns on HDR mode. The high color contrast is easily recognizable.

Standard HDR ("LG: New York HDR"):
File format: .ts
An HDR logo is displayed in the Zidoo's display and as a logo in the top right corner of the LG. LG turns on HDR mode. The high color contrast is easily recognizable.

So while my Zidoo UHD2000 plays both, .ts and .mkv, HDR UHD videos nicely and my LG OLED 65C9 shows the HDR logo in the upper right corner, DV is not at all supported by the UHD2000 (no DV mode, no HDR mode, no logo displayed).

Hope that helps.

 

That really helps a lot! Many thanks Thomas!

Still not sure why I had issues with Standard HDR. Anyways, I no longer have UHD2000 and I will be getting UHD3000 in the next day or so and I will do the test. Hopefully the issue will be gone.

 

As I am considering to upgrade to an UHD3000 in the foressen future, I‘d be more than happy if you share your experiences. On what I read about 1619-based media players, I am unsure if these issues are fixed. Plus, DV is not supported on the UHD3000 either, afaik

 

Definitely, I will share my experience.

If HDR works in your setup, it should definitely work in my setup as well. If it doesn't work with UHD3000, I will continue the investigation.

On the DV part, you mean with LG TV or in general because Zidoo claims it is supported:

Video Decoding: 4K@60p,HEVC/H.265 12Bit,HDR10,HDR10+,Dolby Vision

 

On DV - I read this in a discussion about Zidoo‘s latest lineup of Android players using the 1619 chip. The currently available models have firmware issues and apparently don't support native DV. However, the UHD3000 could be the first with approved DV compatibility: DV licensing cost should not restrict Zidoo from implementing it at least for the UHD3000, given it‘s 1000 € price tag.

With LG OLED TV sets being used in the Zidoo labs, I think this should (or even must) not depend on the DV-capable TV set you are connecting to your Zidoo. However, I am not an expert, so maybe I am wrong here.

Anyway, „thumbs up“ and „fingers crossed“ for your UHD3000 to run as you‘d expect.

 

I took the time to read the fine print of UHD3000's feature list. It says (Quote) "The built-in VS10 image quality engine supports Dolby Vision processing and mapping any image to colors similar to Dolby Vision, which greatly improves the image quality."

This is not a confirmation for genuine DV as a built-in feature (which requires a license [fee] for using a native DV decoder), but for a Dolby Vision simulation. Zidoo have implemented this feature to the X9s as well.

The X9s is already on sale in Germany, and, although many firmware upgrades have been introduced after roll-out, it still lacks full DV support. Many X9s users over at android-mediaplayer.de report about a rather crappy implementation of this feature and are pretty frustrated. It doesn't work as intended, to say the least. Even the guys close to the Zidoo R&D team are skeptic about this feature to be ever implemented properly.

I am really keen to read your experiences with the UHD3000, and I cross fingers that you won't be disappointed with it.

 

Yes, it may be exactly as you say.

I wonder what will happen if .mkv file with DV in played on Zidoo (I think MKV standard has recently been updated to support DolbyVision metadata). Will Zidoo read this data properly or will just do "its thing" to simulate the solution...

Anyways, I have still not received my UHD3000 as it is stuck somewhere. Parcel tracking shows Exported from UK with the date 9th January and no updates since. Brexit result I suppose...

 

This is how different DV profiles behave with the VS10 engine:

 

Thank you very much for sharing.

Can I kindly ask you to indicate what kind of effective image quality these profiles have on you test lab LG OLED TV set? Will any of these formats enable the LG to go to genuine DV HDR mode (i.e., display the DV HDR mode logo in the top right corner)?

 

In the above table, where the output states DV/LLDV that means true Dolby Vision decoding as per the file.

It is of course possible to force DV or LLDV conversion of SDR and/or HDR10 content using VS10 but assuming <HDR> is set to "Auto" in the menu, then the above table applies and compatible DV files are output in genuine DV/LLDV.

Output of Standard DV or LLDV is of course dependent on the TVs EDID (LG C9 for example is capable of both) and the setting of DV Compatibility mode in the menu.

It should be noted that although VS10 itself is fully capable of dual layer decoding, the RTD1619 does not include a second HEVC decoder so only single layer DV files are supported natively but since Minimal Enhancement Layers are not part of the decoding process, dvhe.07 and dvhe.04 MEL files are supported for true DV output in MKV containers.

 

I would just like to confirm that HDR works just fine with my new UHD3000 and I haven't changed anything apart from the device and the supplied HDMI cable (the one with UHD3000 looks a bit better than the one that was delivered with UHD2000).

I am more than happy now seeing that HDR icon on the top right side of my LG TV screen!

 

Thanks for sharing. Am crossing fingers (the British way of wishing luck) and pressing thumbs (the German way) for you getting and staying happy with your new "jewel".

 

The video is not mastered correctly - ie the Zidoo does not see it as HDR due to some wierd conformity issue. 4K Signal Format was always set to Enhanced and when HDMI output 2 is used, there is no difference. HDR10 is not being output by Zidoo - when I select Info, that HDR10 part is missing from the Output mode section.I believe the back pain breakthrough video is helpful for lots of people.

 

@Markswift2003
Hi Mark. My cousin has a UHD2000 connected to a 2020 LG Oled CX TV. Unfortunately he has a problem and that is that any content playing does not go in HDR, everything is played in SDR. We have done many factory resets including the rollback to the first firmware but nothing, the problem has not been solved. We also tried the UHD2000 in my LG Oled C3 TV and even no video impulse arrives, black screen. What can be done?