HDR > SDR tone mapping (bt2020/SDR)

I’ve heard mixed reports, but having just ordered the 4K+ I had a couple of questions…

I know this is a long shot, but I was curious if it’s possible to output wide color gamut with SDR? As a projector owner, i’d love to be able to play ultra hd content in SDR (2.4 gamma), while preserving the wider color (bt2020, DCI/P3, etc.). Something similar to the Panasonic UB900/820 or Oppo 203?

Also, how would you rate the Vero’s bt2020/HDR > rec709/SDR tone mapping ability in general?

I’m currently using Infuse 5 Pro on the Apple TV, and while it has several nice features (good HDR to rec709 tone mapping), it’s inability to pass true lossless audio is the reason why I picked up a Vero.

Thanks again,
Jeremy

Thanks,
Jeremy

Hi

Are you saying that you’d like to output HDR as SDR, but utilise the BT2020 colour space?

Sam

Correct

I don’t think the Vero can do HDR->SDR conversions right now.
However, the Kodi team seems to be working on a few HDR->SDR conversion methods for the upcoming Kodi v18 release (already available in the beta builds), so it’ll be available on the Vero as well when Kodi v18.0 gets released.

As for the color space, you can ask in the Kodi forums how/if that’d work.

That’s not correct. It does… Just play an HDR file with an SDR TV connected. Problem is, converting HDR to SDR is not standardized or simple, so this dithering might not be optimal for all sources. Sometimes it’ll look fine, sometimes not.
What I’m not sure about is retaining bt2020 color space when converting HDR to SDR. Someone else would have to chime in here.

No. Any display device is limited by its own colour volume. That is defined by the primaries of the ‘phosphors’ and the technology of the screen which determines its dynamic range (contrast ratio). No input device can change that. Most TVs and I guess projectors still have a colour gamut very close to BT709, even if they are sold as supporting HDR. The big difference between my 1-year old LED TV and the 10-year old one is the contrast ratio. Oh, and 4 times the pixels of course. But the actual colour tones are not too different between them.

To my eyes, Vero makes an excellent job of playing HDR material on an SDR display.

i appreciate the response. I guess what I was hoping for was that the Vero could tone map to SDR, while preserving the wider color gamut contained from HDR. The Lumagen, Oppo, and Panasonic do this, but I’m sure it’s a lot more involving than Kodi/ OSMC care to get into since I’m sure it’s a small portion of customers who’d like this feature.

No worries, thanks

Sorry, I think that’s impossible. You can’t ‘preserve a wider colour gamut’ than your display can display. I had a look at the Panasonic and it trumpets a feature for a user-configurable EOTF, which would be worth looking at for vero, but you can’t make your whites any brighter, your blacks darker, your reds redder etc than your beamer can show.

I think what Panasonic are shouting about is just sales hype but I’m willing to be corrected.