Advice with HDR Settings (Currently washed out colours)

Help and Support Vero 4K / Vero 4K +
1

Just wondering if someone could point me in the direction for the most optimal HDR settings?

I have an LG OLED TV, the video content is HDR but im seeing really washed out colours, a couple of examples below;

HDR Example 1:

HDR1
HDR11920×1440 189 KB

Non-HDR Version:

SDR1
SDR11920×1440 212 KB

HDR Example 2:

HDR2
HDR21920×1440 197 KB

Non-HDR Version 2:

SDR2
SDR21920×1440 221 KB

The settings Ive set so far:
Settings>System>Display>Resolution> 1920x1080p
Settings>System>Display>Whitelist> (empty) *
Settings>Player>Videos>Adjust display refresh rate> On start/stop
System>Display>Force 4:2:2 colour subsampling> enable (also tried disabling this).

Media Info for HDR File:

General
Unique ID                                : 313827220691932529848893926263288259085 (0xEC18EC965E56F3A0E3C464E02290620D)
Complete name                            : V:\Movies\Kids\Encanto\Encanto.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 16.5 GiB
Duration                                 : 1 h 42 min
Overall bit rate                         : 23.1 Mb/s
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v63.0.0 ('Everything') 64-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.4.2 + libmatroska v1.6.4

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main 10@L5@Main
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 42 min
Bit rate                                 : 22.4 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.112
Stream size                              : 15.9 GiB (97%)
Writing library                          : x265 3.5:[Linux][GCC 9.3.0][64 bit] 10bit
Encoding settings                        : cpuid=1111039 / frame-threads=1 / numa-pools=16 / wpp / no-pmode / no-pme / no-psnr / no-ssim / log-level=2 / input-csp=1 / input-res=3840x2160 / interlace=0 / total-frames=0 / level-idc=50 / high-tier=0 / uhd-bd=0 / ref=3 / no-allow-non-conformance / repeat-headers / annexb / no-aud / no-hrd / info / hash=0 / no-temporal-layers / no-open-gop / min-keyint=48 / keyint=48 / gop-lookahead=0 / bframes=2 / b-adapt=1 / b-pyramid / bframe-bias=0 / rc-lookahead=48 / lookahead-slices=8 / scenecut=0 / hist-scenecut=0 / radl=0 / no-splice / no-intra-refresh / ctu=32 / min-cu-size=8 / no-rect / no-amp / max-tu-size=16 / tu-inter-depth=2 / tu-intra-depth=2 / limit-tu=0 / rdoq-level=1 / dynamic-rd=0.00 / no-ssim-rd / signhide / no-tskip / nr-intra=0 / nr-inter=0 / no-constrained-intra / no-strong-intra-smoothing / max-merge=3 / limit-refs=1 / no-limit-modes / me=1 / subme=2 / merange=44 / temporal-mvp / no-frame-dup / no-hme / weightp / no-weightb / no-analyze-src-pics / deblock=0:0 / no-sao / no-sao-non-deblock / rd=4 / selective-sao=0 / early-skip / rskip / no-fast-intra / no-tskip-fast / no-cu-lossless / b-intra / no-splitrd-skip / rdpenalty=1 / psy-rd=1.60 / psy-rdoq=5.00 / no-rd-refine / no-lossless / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rc=abr / bitrate=23000 / qcomp=0.75 / qpstep=4 / stats-write=0 / stats-read=0 / vbv-maxrate=25000 / vbv-bufsize=25000 / vbv-init=0.9 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30 / aq-mode=3 / aq-strength=1.00 / no-cutree / zone-count=0 / no-strict-cbr / qg-size=32 / no-rc-grain / qpmax=69 / qpmin=0 / no-const-vbv / sar=1 / overscan=0 / videoformat=5 / range=0 / colorprim=9 / transfer=16 / colormatrix=9 / chromaloc=0 / display-window=0 / cll=0,0 / min-luma=0 / max-luma=1023 / log2-max-poc-lsb=8 / vui-timing-info / vui-hrd-info / slices=1 / no-opt-qp-pps / no-opt-ref-list-length-pps / no-multi-pass-opt-rps / scenecut-bias=0.00 / hist-threshold=0.01 / no-opt-cu-delta-qp / no-aq-motion / no-hdr10 / hdr10-opt / no-dhdr10-opt / no-idr-recovery-sei / analysis-reuse-level=0 / analysis-save-reuse-level=0 / analysis-load-reuse-level=0 / scale-factor=0 / refine-intra=0 / refine-inter=0 / refine-mv=1 / refine-ctu-distortion=0 / no-limit-sao / ctu-info=0 / no-lowpass-dct / refine-analysis-type=0 / copy-pic=1 / max-ausize-factor=1.0 / no-dynamic-refine / no-single-sei / no-hevc-aq / no-svt / no-field / qp-adaptation-range=1.00 / no-scenecut-aware-qpconformance-window-offsets / right=0 / bottom=0
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.2020
Transfer characteristics                 : PQ
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.2020 non-constant

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : E-AC-3 JOC
Format/Info                              : Enhanced AC-3 with Joint Object Coding
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos
Codec ID                                 : A_EAC3
Duration                                 : 1 h 42 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 561 MiB (3%)
Language                                 : English
Service kind                             : Complete Main
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Complexity index                         : 16
Number of dynamic objects                : 15
Bed channel count                        : 1 channel
Bed channel configuration                : LFE

Text #1
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 36 min
Bit rate                                 : 71 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1600
Stream size                              : 50.8 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #2
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 36 min
Bit rate                                 : 82 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1838
Stream size                              : 58.0 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : SDH
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #3
ID                                       : 5
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 55 b/s
Count of elements                        : 973
Stream size                              : 41.2 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Danish
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #4
ID                                       : 6
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 54 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1292
Stream size                              : 40.3 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : German
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #5
ID                                       : 7
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 58 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1211
Stream size                              : 43.4 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Latin American
Language                                 : Spanish
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #6
ID                                       : 8
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 53 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1189
Stream size                              : 39.3 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Spanish
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #7
ID                                       : 9
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 55 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1208
Stream size                              : 40.7 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Finnish
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #8
ID                                       : 10
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 62 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1259
Stream size                              : 46.1 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Canadian
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #9
ID                                       : 11
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 54 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1136
Stream size                              : 40.3 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #10
ID                                       : 12
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 58 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1212
Stream size                              : 43.5 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Icelandic
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #11
ID                                       : 13
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 56 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1212
Stream size                              : 41.7 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Italian
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #12
ID                                       : 14
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 51 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1296
Stream size                              : 38.1 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #13
ID                                       : 15
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 30 min
Bit rate                                 : 60 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1220
Stream size                              : 40.1 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Korean
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #14
ID                                       : 16
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 45 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1147
Stream size                              : 33.6 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Dutch
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #15
ID                                       : 17
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 53 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1201
Stream size                              : 39.8 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Norwegian
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #16
ID                                       : 18
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 59 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1201
Stream size                              : 43.6 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Brazilian
Language                                 : Portuguese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #17
ID                                       : 19
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 50 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1179
Stream size                              : 36.9 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Portuguese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #18
ID                                       : 20
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 45 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1025
Stream size                              : 33.9 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : Swedish
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #19
ID                                       : 21
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 44 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1226
Stream size                              : 32.5 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Cantonese
Language                                 : Chinese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #20
ID                                       : 22
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 50 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1225
Stream size                              : 36.9 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Simplified
Language                                 : Chinese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #21
ID                                       : 23
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 1 h 40 min
Bit rate                                 : 43 b/s
Count of elements                        : 1241
Stream size                              : 31.7 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Traditional
Language                                 : Chinese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Menu
01:41:28.714                             : en:Credits

Media Info for Non-HDR file:

General
Unique ID                                : 311573825979466643264280880792483973104 (0xEA66EFA67C41AA7B1E76F00F093CC7F0)
Complete name                            : V:\TV Shows\Adults\1 - Encanto.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 4.19 GiB
Duration                                 : 1 h 42 min
Overall bit rate                         : 5 874 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-12-23 15:20:56
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v25.0.0 ('Prog Noir') 32-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.6 + libmatroska v1.4.9

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 2 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 42 min
Bit rate                                 : 5 489 kb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.110
Stream size                              : 3.91 GiB (93%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 155 r2901 7d0ff22
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : E-AC-3
Format/Info                              : Enhanced AC-3
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital Plus
Codec ID                                 : A_EAC3
Duration                                 : 1 h 42 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 384 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 280 MiB (7%)
Language                                 : English
Service kind                             : Complete Main
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

I appreciate HDR and non HDR are mastered differently but I wouldnt have expected it to look quite so washed out. Is there anything obivous I’ve missed?
Thanks

2

Either your mediainfo version is old or the HDR rip doesn’t have any mastering metadata. That could be affecting things. Does the TV recognise it as HDR?

It would be interesting to see what the LG makes of the HDR when played from its USB (assuming it has that).

You could play with the TV video settings (saturation especially) to get a better match. It will never be perfect - otherwise what would be the point of HDR :wink: ?

Any chance of getting, say, a 1-minute clip from each of the videos so we can look a bit closer at it?

3

Sorry for the late reply, have been out with the family today.

I’ve actually just managed to fix it, went back through all the settings again and must have changed one by mistake and not changed it back.
Under settings - playback - HDR Processing was set to Passthrough, but in Auto the colours are now more as expected:

image
image1920×1440 235 KB

That said, the LG tv isn’t giving me a Popup to say HDR which is something I’m sure I’ve seen in the past?

4

It seems Vero isn’t recognising your TV as HDR-capable. With Auto set, it’s converting the file to SDR. Can you post debug logs so we can see what’s going on?

5

Yes…there are no HDR flags in the HDR file as posted…sure to be an issue.

6

Yes, there are:

I think it’s communication between Vero and display that’s off, not the file (although it ought to have mastering display data if it’s a blu-ray rip).

7

BT 2020 would explain the washed out color if HDR is not being triggered…strange that one of these files is missing the HDR flags though…I’m grabbing that file now to look at it.

8

Same info for me…still strange no HDR info…I’m going to look at this on my Dune HD player.

Unique ID : 313827220691932529848893926263288259085 (0xEC18EC965E56F3A0E3C464E02290620D)
Complete name : D:\0000\Encarto.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4
File size : 16.5 GiB
Duration : 1 h 42 min
Overall bit rate : 23.1 Mb/s
Writing application : mkvmerge v63.0.0 (‘Everything’) 64-bit
Writing library : libebml v1.4.2 + libmatroska v1.6.4

Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main 10@L5@Main
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 1 h 42 min
Bit rate : 22.4 Mb/s
Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.112
Stream size : 15.9 GiB (97%)
Writing library : x265 3.5:[Linux][GCC 9.3.0][64 bit] 10bit

9

Now, I always thought that the HDR info was what triggers HDR, not Bt2020 info…
Anyhow, my Dune Real Vision 4K played this file in HDR and it looked pretty damn nice…

10

Ive just uploaded the logs here:
https://paste.osmc.tv/avetaxuqun

thanks

11

As I suspected, Vero thinks your TV doesn’t do HDR. The Denon isn’t passing that capability through. Is there a switch on the Denon or is it just too old?

12

Let me double check amp settings then. Its a Denon AVR 2300W, not that old at all.

13

Make sure your HDMI input on the Denon is set to Enhanced… In the menu under Input.

14

5 years is at least one generation in this game! I can’t see HDR mentioned anywhere in the specs/manual. You could try this:

echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/amhdmitx/amhdmitx0/force_hdr
and restart Kodi (Power->Exit) but don’t re-boot!

15

Something fishy is def going on. I’ve watched HDR content via the amp before and had the HDR flag when watching Netflix via the SkyQ box. I’m not even seeing that now.

I don’t seem to have the enhanced option in my menu and the firmware is the latest, but amp does appear to be HDR compatible

image
image1170×2532 397 KB

I don’t mind forcing the Vero but it’s pointing to the Amp or TV being the issue?

May plug the Sky box directly into thr TV and see if that shows HDR

16

Sky box direct into the TV (onto the input the amp was plugged into) displays the HDR flag straight away as expected, so it’s something to do with the amp.

17

right, Ive fixed my problem!

My Receiver has two outputs, and I was using both outputs, one to the TV and the other to the TV backlighting LEDs. With the amp set to dual output, it wont display HDR to the TV but when set to only single output it displays HDR fine.

This must have been changed in a recent firmware update as its always worked previously, but either way I’ve solved my issue for now. Thanks for the time above gents.

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