[vj950]

 It would be nice to have another player on Windows that will auto-switch.

 

The latest version of DVDFab v5 is also able to autoswitch in HDR, this was not the case a couple version prior. It also plays 3D if the display is set to 1080p. (Nvidia GPU). 

[Warner306]

Is VLC auto-switching into HDR mode or using the Windows OS HDR toggle? It would be nice to have another player on Windows that will auto-switch.

The CEO of Nvidia recently stated new GPUs won't be coming out for a long time. That seems to contrary to other reports, but that did come from the CEO.

The few different articles I read were implying that the CEO was essentially throwing the reports, rumours and news off-track by making that comment, and wasn't true.
I believe a day or two after his statement, multiple business magazines and tech mags reported the July 30th release date.

I can't claim to know the truth because I don't. Maybe the release date reports are inaccurate. Not sure. Either could be the case. I'm any event, with all this new swirling, I'll wait on any GTX purchase.

VLC is not using Windows HDR toggle. I did check that. My understanding is that it's auto-switching to HDR mode. On my Samsung set I can confirm that HDR was not displayed but when I played HDR media in VLC Vetinari, it did switch and displayed HDR. And then back again to no HDR after media was stopped. 

 Wow, I have a hard time believing that. I wonder how they balance this with all of the Intel iGPU users who don't understand why this doesn't work with Intel? Intel iGPUs would be pretty common among the average VLC user, as it is still the most popular media player out there.

[Warner306]

I think D3D11 has the been the default renderer for some time now. Is 3D support still in a separate build?

They still do some dumb things with Direct X that are done on OpenGL, like having a default framebuffer of RGB888. This is too small to keep all the bits after color processing and could be larger for the average Windows hardware, which is more powerful than the typical OpenGL platforms like the Raspberry Pi.

Edit: Maybe it is still D3D9 and they are upgrading to D3D11?

[luci5r]

Would you be kind enough to check something?  Double click an hdr.iso in Windows Explorer and navigate to the new drive letter mount.  Open BDMV folder.  Right click index.bdmv and select to open with VLC.  What happens?  If it opens and envokes HDR mode (Windows HDR switch remaining off), I'm going to give it a go and do some comparisons. 

Apologies brazen1, I have been buried in work since yesterday so haven't been able to test this yet. Hoping to do it this weekend.
 

Wow, I have a hard time believing that. I wonder how they balance this with all of the Intel iGPU users who don't understand why this doesn't work with Intel? Intel iGPUs would be pretty common among the average VLC user, as it is still the most popular media player out there.

I'm not sure, to be honest with you. Maybe there is some technical downside or lack thereof that my limited knowledge on the matter has not been able to determine as yet. Without a doubt, more tests are required. It's promising though.

[Warner306]

 

I'm not sure, to be honest with you. Maybe there is some technical downside or lack thereof that my limited knowledge on the matter has not been able to determine as yet. Without a doubt, more tests are required. It's promising though.  

 I would guess there is some type of new API available. But, none of the media player developers seem to be aware of this. The Windows VLC renderer is also Direct X, so it would be considered common as Windows media players go. There are some video processing options in VLC that aren't available in DVDFab Player. You might want to check out the advanced settings. I think the default resizer is Bicubic, for instance, and there are at least a couple of better options, if I recall.

If the HDR metadata is getting to the display, I can't see any downsides. It could be doing an HDR -> SDR conversion, so you should be certain you are getting HDR content. HDR mode would certainly not engage unless there is a bug in VLC, or unless you toggled the Windows OS HDR switch.

[brazen1]

I updated the nVidia Display Port Firmware today even though I don't use the DP.  Easy, quick, no problems.  http://www.nvidia.com/object/nv-uefi-update-x64.html

I also installed driver v.398.11 and was again disappointed.  As with all previous driver versions beginning with v.390.65 https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid2721301 , There is No auto switch from stereo to multiple speaker setup in Windows Audio considering if AVR state is On or Off unlike previous drivers before this bug was introduced.

What does this mean?  Many things but most specifically:  AAC audio will only output as stereo (2.0) and not multichannel as it should (5.1, 6.1, 7.1).  AAC audio is the most common format used when transcoding to x265 HEVC.  Toggling the Stereo vs Multichannel setting in Windows Audio Properties remedies this but who wants to try to remember to do this each time and/or manually do anything?  Leaving the setting at (5.1 or 7.1) is fine as long as your AVR is always ON.  Should you turn it off (I often do when no Hi Def audio is needed and stereo from my panel speakers will suffice saving needless wear and tear on my AVR), Web based video like youtube will error and not playback at all, not even video.  Again, you can remedy by manually flipping settings back again in Windows Audio Properties.  Personally, I have no desire to flip settings around simply because I turned my AVR on or off nor do I want to discover I just listened to a 7.1 rip in stereo because I forgot to flip settings around.  Reverting to driver v.385.28 fixes all of this.... before the problem was introduced.  Sigh...

[Warner306]

FYI, I read on the MakeMKV forum from two users that JRiver Media Center now supports BD menus for both BD and UHD Blu-ray. It is paid software and offers nothing new, as it is a native madVR player, but I thought you might be interested...

Link: http://makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?...103#p63270\

Edit: I don't think you can add it as an external player, so it might not be useful to you.

[junias]

Hi,

I have a quick question:
When watching 4K movies, Kodi scales down on just 1/4 of the screen (see appendix).
It doesn´t care, if I watch this movie with latest Kodi 18 Alpha or Kodi DSPlayer Version 17.6...

This are my settings:
- Desktop mode in Windows is 1080p60
- Kodi is (main screen) in 1080p60 too
- Watching 4K movie: Kodie automatically scales to 2160p. The receiver shows 2160p input, so there is all fine. After watching the 4K movie, Kodi scales again to 1080p as expected.
- GT1030 with newest NVIDIA-Driver

Is there anyone who can help / has a suggestion?

Thanks!

[brazen1]

A GTX 1050 has 2GB or memory.  A GTX 1050Ti has 4GB.  2GB of memory is insufficient for most demands.  4GB meets most requirements and allows ample madVR algorithms to compute.  More memory would allow even higher madVR settings that might be considered overkill as quality improvement is unnoticeable.  However, madshi does release new algorithms from time to time requiring more processing strength and reserve so a little head room is always advisable.  That said, I am able to utilize all the algos I require to date but any intensive additions in the future may require me to lower basic processing to take advantage of it/them which wouldn't be ideal using my GTX 960 4GB.  If I was 'step up', it would be a GTX 1060 6GB since I know the 60 series is sufficient and reasonably priced.  A 70 or 80 series would help future proof but I can't justify the price based on todays video needs and I don't game to take advantage of the extra headroom.  I suppose when the day comes I need a card as strong as the 1080, newer cards will be widely available and the 1080 I can buy used at a discount by then.

DVDFab Player v.3 or v.5 video processing is hard coded.  There's not much in the way of custom tailoring or adjustments.  It does produce a good picture though while most importantly being menu capable.  madVR is always going to offer hands on fine tuning adjustments that are passed to compatible players.  Quality wise, it simply can't be rivaled.  When menus are of no importance, my 'go to' will always be madVR with compatible players.  For users who prefer convenience and versatility over quality, the combos of those 3 players makes sense.  Not everyone is interested in the intricacies involved squeezing performance from their setups and are perfectly satisfied using hard coded processing with limited refining adjustments offered in various players.  Imo, many of the refinements madVR accomplishes are not noticeable enough to impress the common viewer.  I've toggled things on/off and asked others if they notice the difference and was asked what changed?  Although I know what changed because I'm looking for it, others simply don't really care.  There are some things madVR enhances that are undeniably noticed so...…

All this in mind, considering the amounts invested in all our equipment and environments, we, as enthusiasts, out of shear passion, should probably be very interested in obtaining the highest quality and versatility possible especially by utilizing the 'freebies' which are of no additional cost and allow us to unbridle our investments.  This of course requires no more out of pocket money but does require some intermediate knowledge, time, patience, and desire.

 
One thing I wanted to throw out there as well -- I was testing 4K HDR playback in VLC 3.0 "Vetinari" release. It doesn't do 4K UHD HDR ISO like DVDFab does, but for 4K UHD HDR MKV playback, I found it to be pretty solid & comparable to anything I saw in DVDFab. I don't have that videophile eye as some do, but I could see nothing wrong with it. Looked pretty good & HDR worked out of the box like DVDFab. 

Just wondering if anyone else gave it a shot?

Thanks.  

 If VLC is limited and can't handle an iso, I have no interest in it personally.  I see you tested and VLC does not mount an iso and play it like DVDFab or PDVD for instance.  I am interested if it can play an iso once the iso is mounted, similar to MPC players though.  Afaik, VLC is not compatible with madVR which is fine.  Neither are other players we incorporate here to launch from KODI.  Perhaps there are enough settings in VLC to produce a decent image which perks my interest especially if it auto switches HDR mode on/off (not Windows HDR) as you have confirmed.  Still waiting on your manual mount of hdr.iso playback confirm or deny..... If you don't have an hdr.iso, an sdr.iso will suffice.  If you all you have is file structure, you can convert it to iso using ImgBurn.  Even a file structure test will suffice.

Double click an hdr.iso in Windows Explorer and navigate to the new drive letter mount.  With the iso mounted OR from file structure, Open BDMV folder.  Right click index.bdmv and select to open with VLC.

[brazen1]

FYI, I read on the MakeMKV forum from two users that JRiver Media Center now supports BD menus for both BD and UHD Blu-ray. It is paid software and offers nothing new, as it is a native madVR player, but I thought you might be interested...

Link: http://makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?...103#p63270\

Edit: I don't think you can add it as an external player, so it might not be useful to you.

 I think JRiver is an entire front end?  I don't think its player can be launched separate from the front end any more than the KODI player could.  I also prefer KODI as a front end and have no interest replacing it especially for a closed source paid one although SDR and HDR menus offers another alternative.  3D too?  That said, I have not looked at JRiver install files and am completely unfamiliar with it.  Thank you for presenting something new at the table.  This info may come in handy one day......

[brazen1]

Hi,

I have a quick question:
When watching 4K movies, Kodi scales down on just 1/4 of the screen (see appendix).
It doesn´t care, if I watch this movie with latest Kodi 18 Alpha or Kodi DSPlayer Version 17.6...

This are my settings:
- Desktop mode in Windows is 1080p60
- Kodi is (main screen) in 1080p60 too
- Watching 4K movie: Kodie automatically scales to 2160p. The receiver shows 2160p input, so there is all fine. After watching the 4K movie, Kodi scales again to 1080p as expected.
- GT1030 with newest NVIDIA-Driver

Is there anyone who can help / has a suggestion?

Thanks!

Your scaling problem is introduced for various reasons:

You should be using 2160p settings for everything and not 1080p on your 2160p display under any conditions except 3D which should be automated.  The only exception is when using 3D with DVDFab Player v.5 which is a requirement.  This is why I use v.3.  I understand this may not apply to you, even more reason to use correct resolution settings.

KODI v.18 is no where near ready for our external player needs.  I also think the one and only single person developing the Windows version has no desire to debug for external players via new or overlooked playercorefactory.xml compliance.  My take is that development revolves around Intel stacked die CPU/GPU interests (pre-built media device boxes) and will never consider other crucial methods of delivery such as private API's from graphics card manufacturers.  Losing playercorefactory.xml support as we know it now, limits.... well, destroys any chance of future external player launching forcing internal player use only.  This also means decoding will probably be software (CPU) and not hardware (GPU).  

Perhaps all or some of this will be addressed as v.18 is developed and I hope so.  V.18 is still very much an Alpha don't forget.  I think with all the newish UHD/HDR tech, it is taking longer than previous KODI releases and the lack of Windows developers doesn't help.  This developer also works on other platforms mind you.  Imo, you are better off using a working version, v.17.6 official.  I can't help you with DSPlayer anomalies.  I don't use it.

The GT 1030 is too weak for what we do here.  It may suffice for low quality playback in limited situations.  We strive for highest quality in all situations of automated versatility.

[tehax]

I hope that the playercorefactory support comes back with the first beta release. If not that would be a big step back.

[brazen1]

Understand, PCF is supported..... it just doesn't work correctly anymore, at least in all my testing with KODI v.18 Alpha's.

[tehax]

Currently supported in untl v17 only

[Warner306]

FYI, I read on the MakeMKV forum from two users that JRiver Media Center now supports BD menus for both BD and UHD Blu-ray. It is paid software and offers nothing new, as it is a native madVR player, but I thought you might be interested...

Link: http://makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?...103#p63270\

Edit: I don't think you can add it as an external player, so it might not be useful to you.

 I think JRiver is an entire front end?  I don't think its player can be launched separate from the front end any more than the KODI player could.  I also prefer KODI as a front end and have no interest replacing it especially for a closed source paid one although SDR and HDR menus offers another alternative.  3D too?  That said, I have not looked at JRiver install files and am completely unfamiliar with it.  Thank you for presenting something new at the table.  This info may come in handy one day...... 

Yes, JRiver is complete front-end. I didn't think about it before I posted. I thought it would have been an ideal solution for someone with a collection full of ISO files. nevcairiel, the developer of LAV Filters, works part-time for JRiver. I have tried it and it is not as customizable or as deep as Kodi. No doubt about that. It just has an excellent media player.