[Nom1fan]

This is not correct...
With my GT1030 and Kodi DSPlayer Version with madVR I can play all 4K HDR (23,976 fps) files without ANY problems.

Edit: Ok, by reading the whole thread I noticed this was already said. If anyone need further info / testing with GT1030 (i3 2110, 4gb Ram, Windows 10 x64) with latest nightlies, give me a feedback
I have a 4K HDR Samsung Screen, so I can test HDR movies
Actually I have latest Kodi 18 Alpha as my standard Media Center and for watching 4K HDR content I use Kodi 17.6 DSPlayer (because Kodi 18 cant passthrough HDR metadata)   

From what I understand ( as has been said here earlier ) the opposite is correct. Kodi 17.6 does NOT support HDR, and kodi 18 Alpha does.   

This is more or less correct, but just half of the truth.
Kodie 18 Alpha do not really support HDR on Windows, because Kodi 18 Alpha do not switch automatically to HDR mode in Windows when playing a HDR-movie.
Kodi 17 as it is does NOT support HDR, but I didnt said it would

I said, that Kodi 17 DSPlayer Version (Klick) with madVR support HDR with automatically switching to HDR mode in Windows...  

 Ok got ya, sorry for my misunderstanding.
Quick question, when u play HDR content in DSPlayer with madVR, does the HDR icon show on your TV?
I'm asking since I tried it, and after going through the huge guide you put a link to and spending hours in configuration, HDR playback was stuttered and unwatchable, and I also never saw any HDR icon on my TV.

[junias]

 Ok got ya, sorry for my misunderstanding.
Quick question, when u play HDR content in DSPlayer with madVR, does the HDR icon show on your TV?
I'm asking since I tried it, and after going through the huge guide you put a link to and spending hours in configuration, HDR playback was stuttered and unwatchable, and I also never saw any HDR icon on my TV. 

Well, my TV (Samsung JS9090) actually didnt have a HDR icon, no matter from what source i play HDR (USB, HDMI).
I notice that there is a HDR signal because the backlight goes automatically to "20" when there is HDR input.
Furthermore, my AV-Receiver (Denon 4400) shows if a there is input of a HDR signal

[18000rpm]

It's been a while since I've watched it, but I don't ever remember these scenes being particularly vivid, are you sure that is not a correct representation? and the more vivid one is not overblowing the colours like a vivid mode on a TV should never ever be used as it will give you incorrect colours.

If you want to see the 'correct' picture just watch a regular 1080P 8bit encoding of the clip. For regular scenes that do not have very high brightness or intensity, HDR should not change the color tone, brightness or vividness of the picture drastically.

Also, not sure if it's clear in this thread but Kodi v18 does not actually support HDR - it only does tone mapping which makes HDR encoded videos look correct under SDR. The video is actually playing in SDR. When playing HDR content without tone mapping you get the washed out, desaturated look like your Terminator screenshot under Kodi v17.

[Warner306]

HDR content has already been graded with very different color for some scenes or all scenes, while other movies are very close to the SDR Blu-ray. The SDR version is not always a good comparison because a colorist touches each source independently, so there has to be some color differences. Also, when working with an SDR grade, the source is usually scanned or converted by a LUT into SDR, as where an HDR source can be graded from the original film stock, Log or RAW output from the camera with an extended dynamic range. This often leads to a very different look to the SDR version in most cases.

The tone mapping probably needs some saturation correction. Reinhard is meant to address luminance. Chrominance is also supposed to be compressed to correct any oversaturation or undersaturation caused by luminance compression.

[Woodzmeister]

Complete newbie here - but had a similar problem to the original poster - and I'm try to understand the state of play.

Is it correct to say...?

a) Kodi v18 can play HDR content - but tone maps it to SDR even when displayed on a HDR TV?
b) You can use Kodi DSplayer with MadVR to play HDR as HDR - but there isn't / won't be a v18 of DSplayer?

I appear to be able to play HDR content that looks OK (actually awesome) on VLC and PowerDVD18 - but they don't appear to be able to change the TV to the correct refresh rate automatically.

I'm using a Windows 10 PC with a GT1030, through a 4K HDR capable amp to a 4K HDR capable TV.

Any help very much appreciated.

Woodzmeister

[Warner306]

a) Yes, HDR to SDR at the moment.

b) Yes, who knows if there will be another DSPlayer fork. The only (retired) developer doesn't keep in contact with these forums.

[Woodzmeister]

Thanks. So is the way to go for full HDR goodness Kodi v18 with MPC-HC and MadVR?

If it is - is there an easy guide for doing this?

Any help much appreciated - thanks in advance.

[Warner306]

That or buy a Shield or Vero 4K.

There is a guide for Windows: 209596 (thread)

I would go with MPC-BE if you want to try this.

[Woodzmeister]

Thanks. Will give it a try.

[jools5000]

That's what I do.  Works reasonably and gives a HDR result

I prefer to use Kodi's internal player as default only using MPC-BE for HDR files

[HeresJohnny]

I'd also like to point out that the CoreElec fork of Kodi provides automatic colorspace and bit-depth switching on supported AML devices.

[djonline]

Why not to port LAV codec and MadVR inside Kodi for Windows ? Why 4k is terrible slow under Windows coz Kodi use slow ffmpeg for HEVC instead of LAV ?
Why on android is all ok, different optimized decoders for every platform, and totally shits on Windows ?

[Warner306]

As told in your other reply, Windows has limited support for HDR passthrough at the moment through its universal APIs and madVR is closed-source. Closed case.

[dexdeki]

First don't use dsplayer but kodi's internal player. Play the file and manually tune the tone map parameter in the video osd, please.

 When you say not to use DSPlayer, do you mean I should use Kodi 17.6 or Kodi 18?

Since Kodi 17.6 doesn't support HDR from what I understand, and in Kodi 18 I already tried tuning the tone map parameter.
In "The Matrix" it doesn't help since the problem isn't just that it's dark. The colors are completely messed up. For example the colors of the light from the flashlight look blue and pixelated. 

Can you also confirm that your render method in Kodi's Player setting is set to Pixel Shader and not auto or dxva

Tnx, mate, that solved my problem on v18

[Nom1fan]

Hi all, sorry to revive this thread after so long but I think it's the best place.

I basically just have one question: Is it true that if I'm watching HDR content on Kodi 18, I'm actually watching SDR content since that's what Kodi displays (it downgrades it to SDR or something like that)?

I'm asking because I'm actually considering buying nVidia Shield or Vero 4K just to get that HDR content going (because all my attempts with DSPlayer + madVR guides simply did not work), but I don't wanna buy one unnecessarily, obviously.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds