HDR Video Playback Discussion Thread

Search This thread

Kantana

Senior Member
May 7, 2007
177
24
When I watch HDR content on the S8+, the colors appear to be pale/washed out/pastel. In that jazz video the red balls should be deep,bright red. The lightest shade is a hot pink. On the S8+, the lightest shade is a pastel pink.
It's the same effect as viewing HDR content in a non HDR screen. Pale/washed iut/pastel colors. Missing lighting n shadows.
The main musician has a shirt with gold patterns on his shirt. If I watch on the S8+ it appears to be a flat yellow. On the G6 it shows as gold.

---------- Post added at 09:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:57 AM ----------

that's bizarre, those pics look radically different (and better than your pics). it is HDR.

Try watching the same video on youtube. On the S8+ this shows what the correct colors should be. Reds appear deep and red again etc. Don't know the extent but sure HDR is broken on the S8/S8+

Search on youtube for this:

Real 4K HDR 60fps: LG Jazz HDR UHD (Chromecast Ultra)
 

Thirumalai.K

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Sep 14, 2011
2,271
4,115
I have moved HDR related to posts into a separate sticky thread to avoid mess up with HEVC discussion.
You can discuss all HDR related to stuffs here.
 

Razkov

New member
Nov 21, 2017
4
0
I've tested different 4K HDR captures (videos) from my Xbox One X and MX Player Pro is definitely not playing them with HDR where as stock Samsung's stock player is. It's definitely washed out colours and the darker areas appear pale instead of how HDR should be. I've compared on my 4K HDR TV and Samsung stock player with MX player. My TV has a pop up to say HDR and a banner on the S8 stock player. I believe Samsung S8/S8+ use Samsung's own HDR so that is also why Netflix doesn't support the device, where as the note 8 is supported.
 
Last edited:

Thirumalai.K

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Sep 14, 2011
2,271
4,115
I've tested different 4K HDR captures (videos) from my Xbox One X and MX Player Pro is definitely not playing them with HDR where as stock Samsung's stock player is. It's definitely washed out colours and the darker areas appear pale instead of how HDR should be. I've compared on my 4K HDR TV and Samsung stock player with MX player. My TV has a pop up to say HDR and a banner on the S8 stock player. I believe Samsung S8/S8+ use Samsung's own HDR so that is also why Netflix doesn't support the device, where as the note 8 is supported.

Have you tried Video Enhancer feature?
If it's a system level implementation, MX Player HW decoder should replicate the stock player. Both are simply using mediaplayer API from android.
 

Razkov

New member
Nov 21, 2017
4
0
Hi Thirumalai, yes i've tried video enhancer and all it does it make a few video apps (MX player, YouTube, crunchy roll etc) a tad bit brighter. Made no real difference to what MX player does.
 

Niko of Death

Senior Member
Nov 5, 2013
61
10
I have been trying many 4K HDR files on my Xperia XZ Premium, with all of them, regardless of codec, performing perfectly fine in MX player. However, there is one file I have come across that gives me performance issues, an HDR sample video from Digital Foundry (https://www.digitalfoundry.net/2017-10-17-free-download-gran-turismo-sport-hdr-sampler). Despite other 4K HEVC HDR 60FPS files (such as Sony's higher bitrate Swordsmith demo http://4kmedia.org/sony-swordsmith-hdr-uhd-4k-demo/) playing back perfectly fine, this one plays back choppily in HW+, and barely plays back at all in HW (SW plays back in untonemapped HDR with heavy slowdown, but that is the case for all HDR files I have tried.) The HW+ performance is the best out of the video players I have tried, with the stock sony video app playing back about the same as HW, and VLC performing worse than that in all modes.
 

Thirumalai.K

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Sep 14, 2011
2,271
4,115
I have been trying many 4K HDR files on my Xperia XZ Premium, with all of them, regardless of codec, performing perfectly fine in MX player. However, there is one file I have come across that gives me performance issues, an HDR sample video from Digital Foundry (https://www.digitalfoundry.net/2017-10-17-free-download-gran-turismo-sport-hdr-sampler). Despite other 4K HEVC HDR 60FPS files (such as Sony's higher bitrate Swordsmith demo http://4kmedia.org/sony-swordsmith-hdr-uhd-4k-demo/) playing back perfectly fine, this one plays back choppily in HW+, and barely plays back at all in HW (SW plays back in untonemapped HDR with heavy slowdown, but that is the case for all HDR files I have tried.) The HW+ performance is the best out of the video players I have tried, with the stock sony video app playing back about the same as HW, and VLC performing worse than that in all modes.

Hi,

It may depends on the video encoding parameters. SW decoder won't be much smooth on higher resolution videos as it's not hardware accelerated. If HW+ is choppy, then your system decoders takes much time to decode the video frames. It may happen when you attempt to play the videos which is encoded in a profile or profile level that is not supported by the system decoder. That's why the playback of the particular video lags with every video player.

just for an example, if your system decoder can decode 4K HEVC @ 60fps, playing a video with more fps can make it choppy as system decoder can only decode only 60 frames per second. It's same for the many other video parameters (Like bitrate, resolution, etc).
 

Haidy47

Member
Sep 12, 2014
26
5
New Delhi
Did a comparison side by side on Note 8: "Samsung Video Player" & "MX Player"
File: "Atmic Blonde (2017) 2160p 10Bit HDR"
Result: MX Player plays the file without any hiccup, so does the Samsung Video Player
But there is clearly visible difference between the contrast of both of them.
Samsung's Stock Video Player's looks fantastic, whereas MX's is somewhat dull as compared to the former.
In a nutshell, MX does'nt show an HDR as "HDR" .
 

itsmohsink

Senior Member
Apr 30, 2017
263
38
Did a comparison side by side on Note 8: "Samsung Video Player" & "MX Player"
File: "Atmic Blonde (2017) 2160p 10Bit HDR"
Result: MX Player plays the file without any hiccup, so does the Samsung Video Player
But there is clearly visible difference between the contrast of both of them.
Samsung's Stock Video Player's looks fantastic, whereas MX's is somewhat dull as compared to the former.
In a nutshell, MX does'nt show an HDR as "HDR" .

But stock player doesnt support some audio codecs on my Note 8 give error to me how to sort that out any clue?
 

MainCL

New member
Jun 21, 2018
1
0
Hi

I just got a 4K UHD TV which claims to have HDR and HLG support. I am trying to test out. I came across these files in this chat. It seemed the URL doesn't exist anymore. Any possibility of reloading the files again?

Thanks.
 

TheFixItMan

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2012
7,844
4,052
London

ctushar97

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2014
77
20
OnePlus 6
Does OnePlus 6 also support HDR? I know it's not officially stated but YouTube supports HDR on OnePlus 6. I downloaded a few of the demos and tried playing them in VLC. Upon opening, VLC directed me to "allow modifying system settings" to change screen brightness, I'm assuming it was trying to set it to Max. I enabled it and the video is now playing at full brightness in VLC. However, after trying to play the video again the brightness is not set to Max. I tried reinstalling VLC and playing the video again, this time I didn't get the prompt to enable system modifications as it was off by default for new apps.
YouTube HDR works great everytime, high contrast and brightness set to Max automatically.
I don't know if the display of OnePlus 6 is 10bit but that's highly unlikely.
 

monsthamo

Member
Jan 22, 2007
9
0
Did a comparison side by side on Note 8: "Samsung Video Player" & "MX Player"
File: "Atmic Blonde (2017) 2160p 10Bit HDR"
Result: MX Player plays the file without any hiccup, so does the Samsung Video Player
But there is clearly visible difference between the contrast of both of them.
Samsung's Stock Video Player's looks fantastic, whereas MX's is somewhat dull as compared to the former.
In a nutshell, MX does'nt show an HDR as "HDR" .

I’m considering to get a galaxy tab s5e, may i ask if the mx player pro is supporting hdr better in 2019?
Thanks!
 

PrismereKnight

Senior Member
Dec 10, 2014
107
77
MxPlayer washes out x265 hdr videos. Stock player can't play x265 hdr mkv or even 10bit 1080p x265 video.

So far i haven't discovered any player that supports actual hdr playback without washed out colors for x265 mkv videos for note 8.
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 2
    Hi.
    I got a Tab S3 2 days ago.
    I've tested with MX PLAYER all heavy HEVC HDR videos, 10 bits UHD 2160p @60fps, and of course all other formats and bitrates.
    EVERYTHING WORKS GREAT. All in HW or HW+.
    Even the AVC h.264 UHD 2160p @60fps "Big Buck Bunny" works perfectly and fludly in HW+ (jonathonalexander told it didn't work fluidly???).
    This Tab S3 is a must!
    Also tested European version of Galaxy S8 with Exynos 8895 and it's able to read excatly the same video files as Tab S3 with absolutly no jitter.
    Both Tab S3 and Galaxy S8 claim to work HDR file formats and it's true.
    2
    Did a comparison side by side on Note 8: "Samsung Video Player" & "MX Player"
    File: "Atmic Blonde (2017) 2160p 10Bit HDR"
    Result: MX Player plays the file without any hiccup, so does the Samsung Video Player
    But there is clearly visible difference between the contrast of both of them.
    Samsung's Stock Video Player's looks fantastic, whereas MX's is somewhat dull as compared to the former.
    In a nutshell, MX does'nt show an HDR as "HDR" .
    2
    Nothing wrong with MX Player in my S10+. It plays 10-bit HDR10 4K HEVC just fine (HW+ enabled). Video output look the same in the stock player and MX Player.

    Yea. Properly encoded HDR files play as expected. Like tigole prints, Atomos etc... psarips doesn't work because they add hdr metadata after the conversion. So yea, 4K x265 HDR works in MX and Stock Player.


    Well, I'm not sure whether it's the files to blame. As I mentioned above, my Note10+ N9760 Snapdragon does have something wrong while playing some HDR videos some of which are released by Tigole, TERMiNAL, PSA, etc, as listed below. It's also the same case with my Note8 N950N Exynos.
    Big Hero 6 (2014) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    Big.Hero.6.2014.2160p.UHD.BluRay.x265-TERMiNAL.mkv
    Zootopia (2016) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    Jojo.Rabbit.2019.2160p.10bit.HDR.BluRay.6CH.x265.HEVC-PSA.mkv
    Knives Out (2019) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    Ford.v.Ferrari.2019.2160p.UHD.BluRay.x265.HDR.DD 5.1-KangMus.mkv
    Dark Phoenix (2019) (2160p BluRay x265 HEVC 10bit HDR AAC 7.1 Tigole) .mkv


    The easiest spotted problem is the red color cos it looks like the red is reduced by almost 30% to 40%, though some other colors also look washed out more or less but not so distinguishable to me as the red color. And their maximum brightness is no higher than their SDR versions, while some of them are even lower.

    Actually, the sad thing I have just found out is that even the HDR10 movies that I always thought played perfectly with MX Player Pro on my Note10+ because the brightness is higher than usual such as <The Secret Life of Pets> #1 and #2 are actually not played in the right color!!! I just compared them with their regular non-HDR version. The red color is sadly surprisingly still somewhat paler with the HDR playback!!! Red looks about 10% reduced. Not so bad as other HDR movies so you don't instantly tell or even see it as correctly played because the excellent brightness cheated you into believing so until you compare the it with its SDR version. So really this leads me to feel no HDR movie is completely supported on cellphone yet.
    The Secret Life of Pets (2016) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv


    For example, The Secret Life of Pets (2016), check 00:06:25~00:06:45 the red stand mixer machine used as a massage machine by the sausage dog. Not really red. (Looks to you quite real red? Try compare it and you 'll see it's actually orange-ish red)

    It's the same case when the same HDR movie's playback is compared between my Note10+ and my computer.
    (PS: Those 2 movies are by far the only 2 HDR movies that I find produce the highest brightness, quite noticeable but sadly still only 10% higher than their SDR versions when both version are at maximum brightness)

    The best scenario is a bitter sweet thing which is that I do find below HDR movies produce correct color, but the brightness is way lower than their SDR version by about 15% to even 40%. So SDR versions turned out to be even much more enjoyable on the phone.
    Frozen (2013) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    Frozen II (2019) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    Cars (2006) (2160p BluRay x265 10bit HDR Tigole).mkv
    Fast.and.Furious.Presents.Hobbs.and.Shaw.2019.2160p.HDR10Plus.BluRay.8CH.PSA.mkv


    Yet, on the other hand, I do find all the 10 demo HDR videos I have are perfectly played back on my Note10+ with MX Player Pro. Red is genuine red, not even a little less as played on my computer. Besides, the brightness is way higher than the HDR movies brings though the HDR movies are for sure correctly recognized as HDR and do have brightness boosted when you check the Android UI interface during the playback. But they just do not work the same way. Like the demo videos doubled the brightness while HDR movies just don't get brightness gain. Like HDR movies are played in an isolated section that brightness boost does not apply.
    Samsung.HDR.4K.DEMO_Chasing.the.Light.Main10@L5.2@High.ts
    LG.4K.DEMO_NASA-HDR.mp4
    Sony 4K HDR Demo - Mont Blanc.mp4
    Samsung 4K HDR Demo - Wonderland 1.ts
    Sony Swordsmith HDR UHD 4K Demo.mp4
    (Got this one here from this thread)
    ETC.

    So, I don't know what's the cause and reasoning. Seems a little complicated.
    But at least when it comes to HDR movie files, I do tend to believe that it does not make any difference which team group released the mkv file. The source file, such as the remux file, is probably what makes the difference.

    HDR on cellphone is more like a bragging fact. HDR movies are still not fully well supported.
    NOT ENJOYABLE for movies.
    1
    Hi.
    Also tested European version of Galaxy S8 with Exynos 8895 and it's able to read excatly the same video files as Tab S3 with absolutly no jitter.
    Both Tab S3 and Galaxy S8 claim to work HDR file formats and it's true.

    while you're right that it "works" in HW+ mode, it appears that MX player doesn't support HDR10 playback. it's easy to test if you play the same file in stock S8 video player which has no problems with local HDR playback. in fact, i wasn't able to reproduce HDR in any available 3rd party players.
    1
    Have you had any luck with this?
    Yea. Properly encoded HDR files play as expected. Like tigole prints, Atomos etc... psarips doesn't work because they add hdr metadata after the conversion. So yea, 4K x265 HDR works in MX and Stock Player.