About Strato V, Dolby Vision, and FEL

[Jin-X]

Thanks. Passing along to the video experts.

So I did some more testing on this today using Force Awakens, Fury Road and the first Spiderverse movie. You know how one of the issues is how on the receiver, Denon in my case, the HDR field will be null instead of showinf Dolby Vision like it should? And another one being how the Dolby flag on the tv gets triggered every time you pause, fast forward or rewind? Well I seem to have figured out how to manually fix that, though it would have to be done for each separate viewing.

While switching between V, Apple Tv and Panasonic to compare I noticed that when I would switch back to V and unpaused it, it would freeze for half a second and trigger the “Secure connection to display restored, resuming playback message”. I first saw this with Force Awakens and the HDR impact of the lightsabers and other objects was restored, now looking like the Disney+ version. So I go to the AVR info screen and notice the Dolby Vision info is now showing. This also resolved the issue with the DV flag on the tv triggering for unpausing, rewind and fast forward. DV HDR content had parity between the V and Apple TV on all 3 movies.

So the issue appears to be with the initial handshake the V is doing with the input device, where it is not doing it correctly or in some incomplete fashion. By manually triggering a new handshake, in this way, it is now doing a full proper HDCP handshake and everything works as it should. I think this might explain why some people report that DV on the V is hit and miss with some movies looking off vs DV on disc/streaming versions and other movies looking fine.

This was all on the old 10.19.0-25343 firmware btw.

 

[Chief]

So I did some more testing on this today using Force Awakens, Fury Road and the first Spiderverse movie. You know how one of the issues is how on the receiver, Denon in my case, the HDR field will be null instead of showinf Dolby Vision like it should? And another one being how the Dolby flag on the tv gets triggered every time you pause, fast forward or rewind? Well I seem to have figured out how to manually fix that, though it would have to be done for each separate viewing.

While switching between V, Apple Tv and Panasonic to compare I noticed that when I would switch back to V and unpaused it, it would freeze for half a second and trigger the “Secure connection to display restored, resuming playback message”. I first saw this with Force Awakens and the HDR impact of the lightsabers and other objects was restored, now looking like the Disney+ version. So I go to the AVR info screen and notice the Dolby Vision info is now showing. This also resolved the issue with the DV flag on the tv triggering for unpausing, rewind and fast forward. DV HDR content had parity between the V and Apple TV on all 3 movies.

So the issue appears to be with the initial handshake the V is doing with the input device, where it is not doing it correctly or in some incomplete fashion. By manually triggering a new handshake, in this way, it is now doing a full proper HDCP handshake and everything works as it should. I think this might explain why some people report that DV on the V is hit and miss with some movies looking off vs DV on disc/streaming versions and other movies looking fine.

This was all on the old 10.19.0-25343 firmware btw.

Which Denon receiver do you have?

 

[Jin-X]

Which Denon receiver do you have?

3800h

 

[FenceMan]

Not sure where to ask this question.

I am having issues with flickering on the Kscape DV versions of some films that do not exist on the UHD.

Here are (2) examples from Equalizer 2 one is at the start of Chapter 2 and one is Chapter 5. In both cases there is somewhat jarring brightness adjustment which is visible on Kscape but not UHD?

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[FenceMan]

Is this part of the metadata fix in the upcoming firmware? Gotta say I have been pulling my hair out of my head trying to figure this out and never thought it would be a Kscape issue. What the heck am I paying so much money for here?

 

[Chief]

Is this part of the metadata fix in the upcoming firmware? Gotta say I have been pulling my hair out of my head trying to figure this out and never thought it would be a Kscape issue. What the heck am I paying so much money for here?

Early adopters tax with Dolby Vision and Kscape. I'm new to Kscape and so far my impression is that this is a good company with a team that listens to its customers and will work hard to find a fix if there are problems. Let's give them a minute to figure it out and wait for the updates if there are indeed problems that source back to Kscape content. I'm guessing they want this fixed as much as anyone else.

 

[FenceMan]

Early adopters tax with Dolby Vision and Kscape. I'm new to Kscape and so far my impression is that this is a good company with a team that listens to its customers and will work hard to find a fix if there are problems. Let's give them a minute to figure it out and wait for the updates if there are indeed problems that source back to Kscape content. I'm guessing they want this fixed as much as anyone else.

So this is part of a known issue?

 

[DarkEnigma]

So I did some more testing on this today using Force Awakens, Fury Road and the first Spiderverse movie. You know how one of the issues is how on the receiver, Denon in my case, the HDR field will be null instead of showinf Dolby Vision like it should? And another one being how the Dolby flag on the tv gets triggered every time you pause, fast forward or rewind? Well I seem to have figured out how to manually fix that, though it would have to be done for each separate viewing.

While switching between V, Apple Tv and Panasonic to compare I noticed that when I would switch back to V and unpaused it, it would freeze for half a second and trigger the “Secure connection to display restored, resuming playback message”. I first saw this with Force Awakens and the HDR impact of the lightsabers and other objects was restored, now looking like the Disney+ version. So I go to the AVR info screen and notice the Dolby Vision info is now showing. This also resolved the issue with the DV flag on the tv triggering for unpausing, rewind and fast forward. DV HDR content had parity between the V and Apple TV on all 3 movies.

So the issue appears to be with the initial handshake the V is doing with the input device, where it is not doing it correctly or in some incomplete fashion. By manually triggering a new handshake, in this way, it is now doing a full proper HDCP handshake and everything works as it should. I think this might explain why some people report that DV on the V is hit and miss with some movies looking off vs DV on disc/streaming versions and other movies looking fine.

This was all on the old 10.19.0-25343 firmware btw.

Fury Road and A Star is Born were on par or better than the HDR10 versions I'm used to on disc. Ready Player One (at least for the initial race scene) also matched the DV version I'm used to.

The Avengers Infinity War DV version is unquestionably worse though. The colors are off, as if some things lost saturation. It's very noticeable on skin tones. Actor skin tones have a colder/more muted look than they should.

The HDR10 version is perfect.

I tried changing the preferred DV modes between display/player led to see if it made a difference and it didn't.

I'm using a G4 and a Yamaha A8A if that matters...

 

[FenceMan]

Well the 10.20.0 update did not fix my DV issues.

I am going back and forth with K support and they asked me to test on another display which I did and found same issue. So essentially, at least for me, a pirated copy of this film performs better than what I purchased on the K store. I am so thrilled with my investment right now.

Can anyone else test Equalizer 2 beginning of chapter 2 and chapter 5? I can't believe this is not more of an issue here, is everyone just putting up with this?

This is now from a Sony TV after K firmware update, same issue.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Jin-X]

Fury Road and A Star is Born were on par or better than the HDR10 versions I'm used to on disc. Ready Player One (at least for the initial race scene) also matched the DV version I'm used to.

The Avengers Infinity War DV version is unquestionably worse though. The colors are off, as if some things lost saturation. It's very noticeable on skin tones. Actor skin tones have a colder/more muted look than they should.

The HDR10 version is perfect.

I tried changing the preferred DV modes between display/player led to see if it made a difference and it didn't.

I'm using a G4 and a Yamaha A8A if that matters...

Infinity War is on my wish list but until it goes back on sale I won’t have it. I did watch A New Hope yesterday with no issues (I did what someone else said in another thread to let tv and AVR turn fully on before turning the V on and the DV synced properly from the beginning though obviously one shouldn’t have to resort to any of this stuff)

 

[Jin-X]

Well the 10.20.0 update did not fix my DV issues.

I am going back and forth with K support and they asked me to test on another display which I did and found same issue. So essentially, at least for me, a pirated copy of this film performs better than what I purchased on the K store. I am so thrilled with my investment right now.

Can anyone else test Equalizer 2 beginning of chapter 2 and chapter 5? I can't believe this is not more of an issue here, is everyone just putting up with this?

This is now from a Sony TV after K firmware update, same issue.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I can test this if you tell me how to jump chapters because that’s something I haven’t been able to figure out

 

[FenceMan]

I can test this if you tell me how to jump chapters because that’s something I haven’t been able to figure out

I use a Sofa Baton but on the K remote it should be these buttons?

 

[Chief]

Fury Road and A Star is Born were on par or better than the HDR10 versions I'm used to on disc. Ready Player One (at least for the initial race scene) also matched the DV version I'm used to.

The Avengers Infinity War DV version is unquestionably worse though. The colors are off, as if some things lost saturation. It's very noticeable on skin tones. Actor skin tones have a colder/more muted look than they should.

The HDR10 version is perfect.

I tried changing the preferred DV modes between display/player led to see if it made a difference and it didn't.

I'm using a G4 and a Yamaha A8A if that matters...

What you're describing is what I experienced with Black Panther. It seems the MCU, at the very least, is a very subpar experience with DV. Ultimately my experience is DV is the same or worse than HDR10 so why bother with it. I can't think of a single time where DV improved upon HDR 10 with anything I've watched.

 

[Jin-X]

I use a Sofa Baton but on the K remote it should be these buttons?

Oh I meant jump directly to the chapter, like a scene selection menu on Blu Rays. On the K menu there is a chapter selector but it doesn’t show anything and asks for which chapter to jump to but no option to actually jump to one.

 

[FenceMan]

Oh I meant jump directly to the chapter, like a scene selection menu on Blu Rays. On the K menu there is a chapter selector but it doesn’t show anything and asks for which chapter to jump to but no option to actually jump to one.

Well can you get to chapter 5 of Equalizer 2 and see if the issue exists? Note that it is not just this film, I see it all the time - flashes and flickering like things are being very visibly adjusted on the fly. This only happens with K at least for me.

 

[Jin-X]

Well can you get to chapter 5 of Equalizer 2 and see if the issue exists? Note that it is not just this film, I see it all the time - flashes and flickering like things are being very visibly adjusted on the fly. This only happens with K at least for me.

So I just checked them out and at first I was going to say it was fine on mine, but I let the chapter 5 one run for a bit and it’s very noticeable on the scene with Denzel on the bench with the old man. Check that scene out because it’s very blatant.

Went back to start of chapter 5 and noticed it a bit though it’s more subtle than the bench scene. Couldn’t really see it on chapter 2 but it may just be a very quick flicker, which I’m not susceptible to.

I watched A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back the last 2 days and didn’t notice any flicker but did notice one split second audio drop out in Empire when Leia is yelling at Luke that’s it’s a trap.

 

[FenceMan]

So I just checked them out and at first I was going to say it was fine on mine, but I let the chapter 5 one run for a bit and it’s very noticeable on the scene with Denzel on the bench with the old man. Check that scene out because it’s very blatant.

Went back to start of chapter 5 and noticed it a bit though it’s more subtle than the bench scene. Couldn’t really see it on chapter 2 but it may just be a very quick flicker, which I’m not susceptible to.

I watched A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back the last 2 days and didn’t notice any flicker but did notice one split second audio drop out in Empire when Leia is yelling at Luke that’s it’s a trap.

Thank you at least I know I am not crazy. For me I see it in almost every movie I watch (DV), these are just the most recent examples I documented.

I have been beta testing this new Valerion projector and originally thought it was their issue but it clearly is not. In this case I seem to be beta testing the Kscape not the Valerion. Hopefully they will work on fixing this.

 

[DarkEnigma]

What you're describing is what I experienced with Black Panther. It seems the MCU, at the very least, is a very subpar experience with DV. Ultimately my experience is DV is the same or worse than HDR10 so why bother with it. I can't think of a single time where DV improved upon HDR 10 with anything I've watched.

I'll try a few other MCU movies and see if they are similar. The difference for infinity war is pretty blatant. Seems like an encode issue.

Oh I meant jump directly to the chapter, like a scene selection menu on Blu Rays. On the K menu there is a chapter selector but it doesn’t show anything and asks for which chapter to jump to but no option to actually jump to one.

I thought I was crazy. I couldn't figure this out either. Not sure if it's bugged or if we're missing something.

I'll check the equalizer tonight as well.
I haven't sat through a full movie yet so I haven't experienced any of the other major issues.

 

[FenceMan]

I'm more than halfway through John Wick 2 watching DV with zero issues, it's perfect.

So is some content just buggered?

Not really fair that we have to just try movies to see if DV works, shouldn't this stuff be tested?

 

[rafaelsmith]

I'm more than halfway through John Wick 2 watching DV with zero issues, it's perfect.

So is some content just buggered?

Not really fair that we have to just try movies to see if DV works, shouldn't this stuff be tested?

I guess im lucky since I have a projector so I only download HDR10 versions of movies.