[Cinephile]

Dear brazen1

I always used your perfect guide for me and my friend’s htpc Also. I never had any problems until now:
when i play a Hdr film, my Tv starts hdr mode but the player doesn’t work with correct colors, as When the tv haven’t HDR.
The player works well only with HDR switch on in windows!!
I updated win in 2004, so i tried to replace with 1903 but nothing changed
Another info, i haven’t got internet connection but i suppose it’s not crucial.

Pls, have you any ideas to help me?
Tks a lot

Hi!

Same as Alcarimon, I have been using this amazing guide for years now, and never had an issue until today: 

I made a clean installation of Win 10 (Version 2004), and now HDR content only works if I turn on the Windows HDR option. If I turn that option off (as I used to do) and play a movie, the colors look washed out, but my TV actually change to HDR, is like madVR is sending the meta data but for some reason colors are not right.

I am using a NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti with the latest drivers (same as I was using before installing the 2004 upgrade).

Any heads up on how to solve the issue?

Thanks and regards,

It is a known issue. Nvidia's latest drivers have changed the API such that madVR no longer knows what to do with it. Apparently Nvidia will be providing a fix in their next driver update.

Meanwhile, I have put together an AHK script that is mapped to a button on my Harmony remote. It will trigger Windows HDR with a single press prior to watching a movie.

[brazen1]

I too have upgraded to Windows 10 v.2004.  Nothing was affected and still performs as it should.  Everything remains automated and I'm using Kodi v.18.8.  I have continued to update my players and other components as they are offered.  I am still using my GTX 960 4GB.  Audio and Video is spot on including HDR switching which doesn't involve Windows HDR at all (Except FAB which decided to rely on it and it too works automatically and perfectly).  I continue to use older working nVidia audio and video drivers.  There is no advantage to anything by upgrading them for me.  I do test newer drivers.  They are the same drivers offered for the newest video cards.  It is these drivers that fix niche problems for a few specific users but introduce other problems.  I had problems with them too.  Gamers may appreciate them but I don't play games so I have zero interest in gaining game advantages while loosing HTPC functionality.  I have to assume you are using newer drivers that perhaps your W10 v.2004 upgrade installed for you or you installed.  Make certain you are using the same drivers you used in the past that were problem free if you know what driver version it was.  You might also check that you yourself didn't inadvertently change any settings attempting to fix what a driver roll back could have.  Upgrading to v.2004 would not have affected any settings other than (maybe) changing your nVidia driver version.  There is no way it forces to use W10 HDR API.  It didn't me.  I'm interested if this driver confusion is the culprit for both of you.  Feel free to report back.

[Cinephile]

@brazen1 the last few drivers massively improved clock times. Repeated/dropped frames went from 1 frame every 4.5 minutes to 1 hour or more on my setup. That alone is reason enough for me to make the switch. And considering Nvidia will be introducing a workaround for madVR HDR switching in their next update it will be my new go-to driver.

Also just to clarify - Windows 2004 is definitely not the issue. It is merely an API change in latest Nvidia drivers that broke automatic HDR switching with madVR.

[brazen1]

Yes, I'm aware of all that but thanks for sharing.  I'm happy you embrace the new course drivers are going with the API changes.  When I tested, the only improvement for frame drops and repeats was for SDR.  HDR remained unaffected and continues to cause motion problems every 4.5 mins.  12bit retention after a reboot still does not work.  Audio coordinating with Windows still does not work.  Etc.  Personally, new drivers are a step backwards for me and I continue to use older working drivers in my setup. 

Although SDR has made an advancement, all new releases are HDR.  The trade-off for better SDR timings is not more important to me than audio that doesn't auto switch dependent on AVR on/off state or retaining 12bit.  I'm not sure but the niche that will benefit are those that use madVr to tone map instead of simply passing through HDR and reading its metadata.  I have no reason to need to do that.  I've no idea what workarounds nVidia may or may not be implementing in order to fix what they broke concerning madVr.  I'm not in the loop and only read posters hearsay. 

I see no reason nVidia needs to fix their drivers for madVr.  Since madVr hasn't been updated in years, I'd think that specialized software is what needs to adapt to nVidia changes and advancements but I don't write the software or coordinate with driver devs over at nVidia so what I think means nothing.

[Istarnim]

Thank you for your comments.

Following your recommendations, I uninstalled the driver v. 452.06 (using DDU), installed driver v. 441.20 (standard type) and everything works properly now!!!!

[Alcarimon]

Thank you for your comments.

Following your recommendations, I uninstalled the driver v. 452.06 (using DDU), installed driver v.   (standard type) and everything works properly now!!!!

Hi,

Where did you download the old driver? I've got a 1070 ti!

[Alcarimon]

Thank you for your comments.

Following your recommendations, I uninstalled the driver v. 452.06 (using DDU), installed driver v.   (standard type) and everything works properly now!!!!

Hi,

Were did you download the old driver? I've got a 1070 ti!

I found it!!! With that old Nvidia driver, all is OK!!!  TKS at all

[bsoriano]

Dear brazen1

I always used your perfect guide for me and my friend’s htpc Also. I never had any problems until now:
when i play a Hdr film, my Tv starts hdr mode but the player doesn’t work with correct colors, as When the tv haven’t HDR.
The player works well only with HDR switch on in windows!!
I updated win in 2004, so i tried to replace with 1903 but nothing changed
Another info, i haven’t got internet connection but i suppose it’s not crucial.

Pls, have you any ideas to help me?
Tks a lot

Hi!

Same as Alcarimon, I have been using this amazing guide for years now, and never had an issue until today: 

I made a clean installation of Win 10 (Version 2004), and now HDR content only works if I turn on the Windows HDR option. If I turn that option off (as I used to do) and play a movie, the colors look washed out, but my TV actually change to HDR, is like madVR is sending the meta data but for some reason colors are not right.

I am using a NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti with the latest drivers (same as I was using before installing the 2004 upgrade).

Any heads up on how to solve the issue?

Thanks and regards,

It is a known issue. Nvidia's latest drivers have changed the API such that madVR no longer knows what to do with it. Apparently Nvidia will be providing a fix in their next driver update.

Meanwhile, I have put together an AHK script that is mapped to a button on my Harmony remote. It will trigger Windows HDR with a single press prior to watching a movie.

@Cinephile , would you be willing to share your AHK script? Thank you in advance.  I would like to do exactly as you are doing while nVidia provides a fix.  

Regards,

Bart

[Cinephile]

Hi!

Same as Alcarimon, I have been using this amazing guide for years now, and never had an issue until today: 

I made a clean installation of Win 10 (Version 2004), and now HDR content only works if I turn on the Windows HDR option. If I turn that option off (as I used to do) and play a movie, the colors look washed out, but my TV actually change to HDR, is like madVR is sending the meta data but for some reason colors are not right.

I am using a NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti with the latest drivers (same as I was using before installing the 2004 upgrade).

Any heads up on how to solve the issue?

Thanks and regards,

It is a known issue. Nvidia's latest drivers have changed the API such that madVR no longer knows what to do with it. Apparently Nvidia will be providing a fix in their next driver update.

Meanwhile, I have put together an AHK script that is mapped to a button on my Harmony remote. It will trigger Windows HDR with a single press prior to watching a movie.

@Cinephile , would you be willing to share your AHK script? Thank you in advance.  I would like to do exactly as you are doing while nVidia provides a fix.  

Regards,

Bart

No worries. I can't find a way to upload attachments so here are the contents for you to copy and paste. Note that I started off with a .vbs file that toggles HDR on or off. But for some reason Windows is unable to have that sequence run automatically when mapped to a keyboard shortcut. So then I added a .ahk script that activates the shortcut - does that make sense? I wasn't knowledgeable enough to translate the entire script into an AutoHotkey sequence. But the result is the same.

.vbs file named HDR on.vbs:

Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

oShell.Run("""ms-settings:display""")

WScript.Sleep 2000

oShell.AppActivate "settings"

WScript.Sleep 100

oShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"

WScript.Sleep 60

oShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"

WScript.Sleep 60

oShell.SendKeys " "

WScript.Sleep 3000

oShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"

WScript.Sleep 50

oShell.SendKeys " "

WScript.Sleep 50

oShell.SendKeys "%{F4}"

.ahk script:

^!x:: ;Ctrl+Alt+X
Run, "D:\Backup\Launchbox\HDR on.vbs"
return

Replace the path with the location of your your .vbs file. This will map Ctrl+Alt+X to toggle HDR. I then used Flirc to map the keyboard shortcut to a button on my Harmony remote and voila.

If all works well make sure to put the .ahk script into your startup folder so that it's always active.

[bsoriano]

It is a known issue. Nvidia's latest drivers have changed the API such that madVR no longer knows what to do with it. Apparently Nvidia will be providing a fix in their next driver update.

Meanwhile, I have put together an AHK script that is mapped to a button on my Harmony remote. It will trigger Windows HDR with a single press prior to watching a movie.

@Cinephile , would you be willing to share your AHK script? Thank you in advance.  I would like to do exactly as you are doing while nVidia provides a fix.  

Regards,

Bart

No worries. I can't find a way to upload attachments so here are the contents for you to copy and paste. Note that I started off with a .vbs file that toggles HDR on or off. But for some reason Windows is unable to have that sequence run automatically when mapped to a keyboard shortcut. So then I added a .ahk script that activates the shortcut - does that make sense? I wasn't knowledgeable enough to translate the entire script into an AutoHotkey sequence. But the result is the same.

.vbs file named HDR on.vbs:

Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

oShell.Run("""ms-settings:display""")

WScript.Sleep 2000

oShell.AppActivate "settings"

WScript.Sleep 100

oShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"

WScript.Sleep 60

oShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"

WScript.Sleep 60

oShell.SendKeys " "

WScript.Sleep 3000

oShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"

WScript.Sleep 50

oShell.SendKeys " "

WScript.Sleep 50

oShell.SendKeys "%{F4}"

.ahk script:

^!x:: ;Ctrl+Alt+X
Run, "D:\Backup\Launchbox\HDR on.vbs"
return

Replace the path with the location of your your .vbs file. This will map Ctrl+Alt+X to toggle HDR. I then used Flirc to map the keyboard shortcut to a button on my Harmony remote and voila.

If all works well make sure to put the .ahk script into your startup folder so that it's always active.

@Cinephile , thank you!

Regards,

Bart

[nsnhd]

Does anyone know why the keyboard Y doesnt work for switching players while playing a video anymore, as I remember it was before, also it is still mentioned in the wiki ? It brings up the player list but just stops playing when click an external one. I can press C for "play using" but only for local files.

[brazen1]

Does anyone know why the keyboard Y doesnt work for switching players while playing a video anymore, as I remember it was before, also it is still mentioned in the wiki ? It brings up the player list but just stops playing when click an external one. I can press C for "play using" but only for local files.

Fwiw, I get the same behavior.

The log shows the original player quits and hands off playback to the external player selected.  Then, it simply quits.  Here's a few snipets:

CVideoPlayer::CloseFile()

CExternalPlayer::OpenFile

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Start

CApplication::OnPlayBackStarted

CExternalPlayer::ExecuteAppW32

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Stop

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Showing Kodi window

CApplication::OnPlayBackStopped: CApplication::OnPlayBackStopped

Thread ExternalPlayer 8616 terminating

I'd put up a full log but I highly doubt anyone is going to look into this.  Also, I'm using Matrix 2020-Dec-15 nightly which is still beta2.

[marameox]

Hi everyone, i'm trying to use Jriver as external palyer but i can't configure playercorefactory correctly.
I came to this file which partially works:

<playercorefactory>
<players>
<player name="JRIVER" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
<filename>C:\Windows\System32\MC27.exe</filename>
<args>"{1}"</args>
<hidexbmc>false</hidexbmc>
<hideconsole>false</hideconsole>
<forceontop>false</forceontop>
<warpcursor>none</warpcursor>
</player>
</players>
<rules action="prepend">
</rules>
</playercorefactory>

When I start a video the Jriver player starts and for the first 5 seconds everything works fine. Then suddenly the Kodi screen returns and the Jriver player continues the execution (in fact you can hear the audio of the film).

I tried to change the parameter <hidexbmc> to true but in this way the player of Jriver does not start anymore. Anyone have any ideas?

[nsnhd]

Does anyone know why the keyboard Y doesnt work for switching players while playing a video anymore, as I remember it was before, also it is still mentioned in the wiki ? It brings up the player list but just stops playing when click an external one. I can press C for "play using" but only for local files.

Fwiw, I get the same behavior.

The log shows the original player quits and hands off playback to the external player selected.  Then, it simply quits.  Here's a few snipets:

CVideoPlayer::CloseFile()

CExternalPlayer::OpenFile

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Start

CApplication::OnPlayBackStarted

CExternalPlayer::ExecuteAppW32

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Stop

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Showing Kodi window

CApplication::OnPlayBackStopped: CApplication::OnPlayBackStopped

Thread ExternalPlayer 8616 terminating

I'd put up a full log but I highly doubt anyone is going to look into this.  Also, I'm using Matrix 2020-Dec-15 nightly which is still beta2.

Thanks for confirming it, maybe they canceled this key in 18, 19 versions, so we have to live with the VideoPlayer.
Do you know more about the Video Scaling Methods ? In comparison to madVR, the VideoPlayer only shows Bilinear, Spline3/Optimised and Lanczos3/Optimised to choose from. I know Lanczos is a good one, but what's Lanczos Optimised ? Is it better ? Also do these algos apply to luma, chroma or both ?

[brazen1]

Does anyone know why the keyboard Y doesnt work for switching players while playing a video anymore, as I remember it was before, also it is still mentioned in the wiki ? It brings up the player list but just stops playing when click an external one. I can press C for "play using" but only for local files.

Fwiw, I get the same behavior.

The log shows the original player quits and hands off playback to the external player selected.  Then, it simply quits.  Here's a few snipets:

CVideoPlayer::CloseFile()

CExternalPlayer::OpenFile

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Start

CApplication::OnPlayBackStarted

CExternalPlayer::ExecuteAppW32

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Stop

CExternalPlayer:rocess: Showing Kodi window

CApplication::OnPlayBackStopped: CApplication::OnPlayBackStopped

Thread ExternalPlayer 8616 terminating

I'd put up a full log but I highly doubt anyone is going to look into this.  Also, I'm using Matrix 2020-Dec-15 nightly which is still beta2.

Thanks for confirming it, maybe they canceled this key in 18, 19 versions, so we have to live with the VideoPlayer.
Do you know more about the Video Scaling Methods ? In comparison to madVR, the VideoPlayer only shows Bilinear, Spline3/Optimised and Lanczos3/Optimised to choose from. I know Lanczos is a good one, but what's Lanczos Optimised ? Is it better ? Also do these algos apply to luma, chroma or both ?

You don't have to "live with the VideoPlayer"?  I've set up rules in the PCF.xml to launch an external player as default for most videos.  The ones that aren't included in a rule launch VideoPlayer as default... such as trailers, mp4's, etc.  If I want to manually intervene from what ever the default player is, I can select the 'play using' menu.  Pressing Y to switch players only works if VideoPlayer is the active player.  That function doesn't work when an external player is active.  You have to select the external player from the 'play using' menu to begin with or quit the external player and then bring up the 'play using' menu.  The Y key hasn't been canceled.  It still brings up the menu.  It just doesn't function completely for some reason beyond my abilities.  This is a Kodi core bug afaik.

Lanczos Optimised is what I have set for all videos using the VideoPlayer.  Only using an 82" screen, I can't tell much difference between them tbh.  The higher algorithm you select, the more resources will be dedicated to it.  My CPU and GPU have plenty of head room.  https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=319983:

Video scaling method
Changes the size of a video frame in order to match the resolution of the display device. All methods here are non-adaptive so they may produce different amount of aliasing, blurring and edge halos. There are no best methods it’s up to personal taste what method you should use. The methods are:
Auto - If supported uses Lanczos3 Optimized when video resolution is lower than 720p (1280x720) and video FPS is lower than 30, otherwise it uses Bilinear.
Bilinear - fairly simple and fast method (video resized with this method may appear slightly smoothed/blurred but with no edge halos also called ringing artifacts).
Bicubic - more sophisticated method than Bilinear (more precise and slightly sharper video than Bilinear, but can introduce some ringing artifacts).
Lanczos2 - 4-tap filter that uses a 2-lobe Lanczos windowed sinc function (sharper than Bicubic with less aliasing).
Spline36 Optimized - 4-tap + 3-lobe filter, more precise than Lanczos2, which tries to produce the sharpest image with slightly less ringing artifacts then Lanczos3 Optimized (differences only noticeable with high resizing factors or when downsizing).
Lanczos3 Optimized - 4-tap filter that uses a 3-lobe Lanczos windowed sinc function (comparable results to Spline36 Optimized, with less aliasing and more sharpness, but more ringing artifacts).
Spline36, Lanczos31 - 6-tap filters that are more precise variants of above "Optimized" versions (they are sharper but might produce more ringing artifacts in some situations).
Characteristics of different methods:
Sharpness - Bilinear < Bicubic < Lanczos2 < Spline36 Optim < Lanczos3 Optim < Spline36 < Lanczos3
Aliasing artifacts - Lanczos3 < Spline36 < Lanczos3 Optim < Spline36 Optim < Lanczos2 < Bicubic < Bilinear
Ringing artifacts - Bilinear (no ringing) - Bicubic < Lanczos2 < Spline36 Optim < Lanczos3 Optim < Spline36 < Lanczos3
1 On GL builds these methods are slower than the optimized versions; this is the reason why they are not available by default but can be activated by advanced users in advancedsettings.xml
2 <dxvaallowhqscaling>true</dxvaallowhqscaling> for <video> (may) need to be added to an advancedsettings.xml in order to use all high quality scalers available - Hardware dependent.

I also set "Use HQ scalers when scaling above 0%" and "Use display HDR capabilities" setting.  Fwiw, I use madVr for other processing than just scaling which is part of the reason I don't use VideoPlayer for everything.