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2017 Apple TV 4K - using the Kodi fork - MrMC review
OK - an update - found the Codec info screen from settings in MrMc.

I have a feeling the Apple TV 4K may be hardware decoding this 4:2:2 2160p50 HEVC? The sample clip plays in MrMC (with terrible A/V sync) with a reported CPU load of just 11%, and the video codec is reported as 'hevc (Rext)'. There were 14 skipped frames, none dropped.  (Could 'Rext' suggest it's being played by an external hardware player in tvOS?)

My AVCi100 100Mbs 4:2:2 1080i25 (containing a 1080p25 source) plays OK, albeit with a reported CPU ~201% load, and is reported as 'h264 (High 4:2:2 Intra)'. There were 3 skipped frames, none dropped. (This doesn't play reliably - sometimes it refuses to play)

(Yes I realise MrMC isn't Kodi - but the Apple TV 4K is a very versatile and powerful platform - and one of the only platforms that has automatic frame rate switching on the major DRM services like Netflix and Amazon Prime...) It also has limitations with regard to HD Audio bit streaming (no DTS:x or Dolby True HD with Atmos), and also has 23.976 vs 24.000 and 59.94 vs 60.00 issues in some situations AIUI?
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I wonder if anyone can help?

I'm playing back a 2160p24 HDR file (.mkv) that has a TrueHD Atmos audio encode. This is reflected in the MrMC info stats. However, when the ATV outputs it to my TV, it seems to be decoding it and sending it out as LPCM, as the TV isn't indicating it's receiving either a TrueHD nor Atmos audio track. I've checked the ATV and MrMC settings and they seem fine. I am using the free version of MrMC though, is that the issue?

Paul
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The ATV doesn't support passthrough of audio tracks, so MrMC decodes it and sends as LPCM. The only Atmos that's supported is EAC3+Atmos.
Denon X6500H 7.2.4 -> LG OLED65C9P
Main:
NVIDIA Shield Pro (2019)
Other Devices: Apple TV 4K, FireStick 4K Max (2023), Homatics Box R 4K
Retired devices: Zidoo X9S, Xiaomi Mi Box, All the old RPi’s
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(2020-07-03, 16:18)timstephens24 Wrote: The ATV doesn't support passthrough of audio tracks, so MrMC decodes it and sends as LPCM. The only Atmos that's supported is EAC3+Atmos.

Thanks. I thought it stripped the Atmos extension data from the TrueHD stream and just sent it as TrueHD. Must have misread.

Paul
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Anybody can confirm if the Appletv 4k can play locally stored hevc videos with dolby vision ? I've just learned recently that you can now remux the UHD Blurays to mp4 with dolby vision. It really works. My LG OLED C7 plays it via the USB player but that one has other limitations.
I'm thinking of buying an ATV but first I need confirmation that it works. It is my understanding that the ATV support DoVi only for streaming. Can you please clarify this for me ? Thanks!
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ATV dosent have an USB Port, so you need to stream your Files over Network.

With the MrMC App you see wrong colors if the DV MP4 uses ICtCp color format (known issue but no fix yet).

I believe with Infuse 6 ( https://firecore.com/infuse ) you can view DV with right colors (DV Support is a Highlight Feature) but i dont checked it because Infuse is not cheap and i dont like subscription plans.
TV: Metz Novum 55 OLED Made in Germany | UHD BD Player: Sony UBP-X700 | Streaming Player: Apple TV 4K (2. Gen), Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019), Xiaomi Mi Box 3
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(2020-07-26, 14:03)shrugg1e Wrote: ATV dosent have an USB Port, so you need to stream your Files over Network.

With the MrMC App you see wrong colors if the DV MP4 uses ICtCp color format (known issue but no fix yet).

I believe with Infuse 6 ( https://firecore.com/infuse ) you can view DV with right colors (DV Support is a Highlight Feature) but i dont checked it because Infuse is not cheap and i dont like subscription plans.

Infuse supports Dolby Vision Profile 5 only. I need profile 7 support.
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(2020-06-25, 18:24)noggin Wrote: OK - an update - found the Codec info screen from settings in MrMc.

I have a feeling the Apple TV 4K may be hardware decoding this 4:2:2 2160p50 HEVC? The sample clip plays in MrMC (with terrible A/V sync) with a reported CPU load of just 11%, and the video codec is reported as 'hevc (Rext)'. There were 14 skipped frames, none dropped.  (Could 'Rext' suggest it's being played by an external hardware player in tvOS?)

My AVCi100 100Mbs 4:2:2 1080i25 (containing a 1080p25 source) plays OK, albeit with a reported CPU ~201% load, and is reported as 'h264 (High 4:2:2 Intra)'. There were 3 skipped frames, none dropped. (This doesn't play reliably - sometimes it refuses to play)

(Yes I realise MrMC isn't Kodi - but the Apple TV 4K is a very versatile and powerful platform - and one of the only platforms that has automatic frame rate switching on the major DRM services like Netflix and Amazon Prime...) It also has limitations with regard to HD Audio bit streaming (no DTS:x or Dolby True HD with Atmos), and also has 23.976 vs 24.000 and 59.94 vs 60.00 issues in some situations AIUI?

Sorry forgot to update about this.  Yes - MrMC does play 4:2:2 2160p50 HEVC 10-bit content in hardware.  Apparently Apple have implemented HEVC decode with 4:4:4 and 4:2:2 support as well as the normal 4:2:0 used for consumer video.  One factor is so that they can support Sidecar (their iPad-as-a-second screen) system using HEVC compression but avoiding reducing the chroma resolution on desktop displays (otherwise 4:2:0 would give you 1/4 chroma resolution - which would make colour on your Mac desktop viewed on your iPad look smeary and low quality - so they use 4:4:4 ?)
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(2020-07-26, 17:36)Haohmaru Wrote:
(2020-07-26, 14:03)shrugg1e Wrote: ATV dosent have an USB Port, so you need to stream your Files over Network.

With the MrMC App you see wrong colors if the DV MP4 uses ICtCp color format (known issue but no fix yet).

I believe with Infuse 6 ( https://firecore.com/infuse ) you can view DV with right colors (DV Support is a Highlight Feature) but i dont checked it because Infuse is not cheap and i dont like subscription plans.

Infuse supports Dolby Vision Profile 5 only. I need profile 7 support.

I think there is no Player App on ATV that supports dual layer DV at this moment.

The famous Plex Player also supports only single layer DV.
TV: Metz Novum 55 OLED Made in Germany | UHD BD Player: Sony UBP-X700 | Streaming Player: Apple TV 4K (2. Gen), Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019), Xiaomi Mi Box 3
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(2020-07-26, 17:36)Haohmaru Wrote:
(2020-07-26, 14:03)shrugg1e Wrote: ATV dosent have an USB Port, so you need to stream your Files over Network.

With the MrMC App you see wrong colors if the DV MP4 uses ICtCp color format (known issue but no fix yet).

I believe with Infuse 6 ( https://firecore.com/infuse ) you can view DV with right colors (DV Support is a Highlight Feature) but i dont checked it because Infuse is not cheap and i dont like subscription plans.

Infuse supports Dolby Vision Profile 5 only. I need profile 7 support.

You are not going to find any any Apps type or Kodi media player that supports direct playback of DolbyVision Dual Layer Profile 7.
Give up on that dream.
Dolby effectively have won the DV Bluray Rips race unless you want to buy a DV Bluray player or pre-process you own DV Bluray Rips as detailed over here:
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180

Here are the DolbyVision Profiles & Levels:

Dolby Vision Profiles and Levels (click)

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(2020-07-27, 13:29)wrxtasy Wrote: Dolby effectively have won the DV Bluray Rips race unless you want to buy a DV Bluray player or pre-process you own DV Bluray Rips as detailed over here:
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180

I can confirm, that my Sony UBP-X700 UHD BD Player (with DV), plays that DV Dual Layer Demo File very well:
https://forums.plex.tv/t/feature-request.../532651/10
TV: Metz Novum 55 OLED Made in Germany | UHD BD Player: Sony UBP-X700 | Streaming Player: Apple TV 4K (2. Gen), Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019), Xiaomi Mi Box 3
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(2020-07-27, 13:29)wrxtasy Wrote:
(2020-07-26, 17:36)Haohmaru Wrote:
(2020-07-26, 14:03)shrugg1e Wrote: ATV dosent have an USB Port, so you need to stream your Files over Network.

With the MrMC App you see wrong colors if the DV MP4 uses ICtCp color format (known issue but no fix yet).

I believe with Infuse 6 ( https://firecore.com/infuse ) you can view DV with right colors (DV Support is a Highlight Feature) but i dont checked it because Infuse is not cheap and i dont like subscription plans.

Infuse supports Dolby Vision Profile 5 only. I need profile 7 support.

You are not going to find any any Apps type or Kodi media player that supports direct playback of DolbyVision Dual Layer Profile 7.
Give up on that dream.
Dolby effectively have won the DV Bluray Rips race unless you want to buy a DV Bluray player or pre-process you own DV Bluray Rips as detailed over here:
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180

Here are the DolbyVision Profiles & Levels:

Dolby Vision Profiles and Levels (click)
I can play already dual layer profile 7 DolbyVision content in mp4 container with no issues except the limitation of no HD audio with Xplay ( third party plex client ) on my LG C7.
MakeMKV released recently a new build where you can store profile 7 DolbyVision ( BL + EL ) as a single video stream with HD audio in mkv. 
It's just a matter of time until this will be supported by the apps and network players.
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tvOS 14 is here but YouTube is still not available in 4K.

Hey Google, just get your YouTube App updated!!
TV: Metz Novum 55 OLED Made in Germany | UHD BD Player: Sony UBP-X700 | Streaming Player: Apple TV 4K (2. Gen), Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019), Xiaomi Mi Box 3
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(2018-09-04, 11:25)wrxtasy Wrote:
  • Apple does not support the Google VP9 codec, consequentially all YouTube is 1080p SDR only.
You had to update your review. YT on ATV plays 4K - finally! Rofl
TV: Metz Novum 55 OLED Made in Germany | UHD BD Player: Sony UBP-X700 | Streaming Player: Apple TV 4K (2. Gen), Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019), Xiaomi Mi Box 3
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(2020-11-03, 16:08)shrugg1e Wrote:
(2018-09-04, 11:25)wrxtasy Wrote:
  • Apple does not support the Google VP9 codec, consequentially all YouTube is 1080p SDR only.
You had to update your review. YT on ATV plays 4K - finally! Rofl

Yes thx. for the reminder.
4K YT can only playback if the Frame Rate is 30fps or lower it seems. Otherwise it defaults to 1440p. And there is no HDR YT at all, but...

Some further interesting testing I did with VP9 Profile 2 aka Google's HDR encodings used for YouTube and Play Movies/TV content... using the Plex App.
That is detailed over on the Whirlpool forums (click)

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