How to play Dolby Vision content ?

Hi Admin,

I've downloaded a MKV file with DV, but my TV (LG OLED 55B9) only recognize the stream as HDR, not DV.

Is MPC-HC & MadVR able to play DV content ?

Media Info:

Code:

Format                      : Matroska
Format version              : Version 4
File size                  : 77.1 GiB
Duration                    : 2 h 27 min
Overall bit rate mode      : Variable
Overall bit rate            : 74.8 Mb/s
Movie name                  : Mission: Impossible Fallout
Encoded date                : UTC 2020-11-20 15:14:45
Writing application        : mkvmerge v51.0.0 ('I Wish') 64-bit
Writing library            : libebml v1.4.0 + libmatroska v1.6.2

Video
ID                          : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format                      : HEVC
Format/Info                : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile              : Main 10@L5.1@High
HDR format                  : Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.07.06, BL+EL+RPU, Blu-ray compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Codec ID                    : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                    : 2 h 27 min
Bit rate                    : 68.5 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 (Type 2)
Bit depth                  : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.344
Stream size                : 70.5 GiB (91%)
Language                    : English
Default                    : Yes
Forced                      : No
Color range                : Limited
Color primaries            : BT.2020
Transfer characteristics    : PQ
Matrix coefficients        : BT.2020 non-constant
Mastering display color pri : Display P3
Mastering display luminance : min: 0.0001 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2
Original source medium      : Blu-ray

Audio #1
ID                          : 2
Format                      : AC-3
Format/Info                : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name            : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                    : A_AC3
Duration                    : 2 h 27 min
Bit rate mode              : Constant
Bit rate                    : 640 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                : 675 MiB (1%)
Title                      : VFF
Language                    : French
Service kind                : Complete Main
Default                    : Yes
Forced                      : No

Audio #2
ID                          : 3
Format                      : MLP FBA 16-ch
Format/Info                : Meridian Lossless Packing FBA with 16-channel presentation
Commercial name            : Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos
Codec ID                    : A_TRUEHD
Duration                    : 2 h 27 min
Bit rate mode              : Variable
Bit rate                    : 5 026 kb/s
Maximum bit rate            : 8 175 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 8 channels
Channel layout              : L R C LFE Ls Rs Lb Rb
Sampling rate              : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                  : 1 200.000 FPS (40 SPF)
Compression mode            : Lossless
Stream size                : 5.17 GiB (7%)
Language                    : English
Default                    : No
Forced                      : No
Number of dynamic objects  : 11
Bed channel count          : 1 channel
Bed channel configuration  : LFE

Audio #3
ID                          : 4
Format                      : AC-3
Format/Info                : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name            : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                    : A_AC3
Duration                    : 2 h 27 min
Bit rate mode              : Constant
Bit rate                    : 640 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                : 675 MiB (1%)
Language                    : English
Service kind                : Complete Main
Default                    : No
Forced                      : No

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Format                      : UTF-8
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info              : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                    : 2 h 3 min
Bit rate                    : 0 b/s
Count of elements          : 15
Stream size                : 308 Bytes (0%)
Title                      : Forces
Language                    : French
Default                    : Yes
Forced                      : No

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Language                    : English
Default                    : No
Forced                      : No

Menu
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02:19:48.046                : en:Chapter 16

No, Dolby Vision is not yet supported at this moment.

I don't know if or when it might get supported.

I see. Thanks. Is it even possible to play DV content on Windows ?

I don't know any player that supports it.

So sad. I just bought an HDR monitor but found DV is still not supported by any player on the Internet.
Any progress from MPC-HC/LAV/MadVR?

It is very unlikely that DV will get supported anytime soon.

The only option for playback right now is this plugin for Windows Movies&TV player:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/dolby-vision-extensions/9pltg1lwphlf?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
But it only works with DV licensed devices!
Having a DV compatible HDR screen is probably not enough.

Admin wrote:It is very unlikely that DV will get supported anytime soon.

The only option for playback right now is this plugin for Windows Movies&TV player:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/dolby-vision-extensions/9pltg1lwphlf?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
But it only works with DV licensed devices!
Having a DV compatible HDR screen is probably not enough.

I installed "Dolby Vision Extensions" from Microsoft Store but not working, likely still requiring Dolby licensed hardware.

You also need the HEVC video decoder:
http://codecguide.com/media_foundation_codecs.htm

Admin wrote:You also need the HEVC video decoder:
http://codecguide.com/media_foundation_codecs.htm

This one is also installed. So far DV ripped files on my PC HDR monitor could be played but presenting with a purplish red background on the screen, looks like all pictures are covered a purple red overlay. I don't know LAV/MadVR could be configured for correction.

Purple/green color is normal when DV is not supported.

LAV/madVR do not support DV, so there is nothing you can configure differently to correct it.

Movies&TV does not use LAV/madVR.

Admin wrote:Purple/green color is normal when DV is not supported.

LAV/madVR do not support DV, so there is nothing you can configure differently to correct it.

Movies&TV does not use LAV/madVR.

I also tried "Movie & TV" app, no difference, looks like Dolby Vision requires hardware/software verification in every node of the chain?

I did some more research.

The license file is installed as part of a "Dolby Vision" driver for licensed devices. For example Lenovo Legion 5 laptop:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/legion-series/legion-5-15arh05/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Graphics%20Processing%20Units%20%28GPU%29%20and%20Server-AI%20Accelerators

The name of the license file that it installs:
C:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\color\PQCONFIG.DV

Check the website of your monitor manufacturer. Maybe they have such a driver available if your screen is truely DV compatible, and not just normal HDR. But I suspect you need a licensed OEM build computer.

In addition to "Dolby Vision Extensions", you also need "Dolby Vision" app:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/dolby-vision/9mvmz93n61t9?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

My mainframe is assembled, not OEM. My monitor is ViewSonic XG321UG, with NVIDIA 2080Ti & DisplayPort 1.4 cable. The monitor can reach 1400 nits yet still far from 10,000 nits which utterly required by Dolby Vision. ViewSonic does not recognize DV availability on it, they don't even disclose any of their products could support DV.
https://www.viewsonic.com/library/photography/what-is-hdr-hdr-vs-sdr/

I also wonder any consumer level computer monitor could actually emit 10,000 nits. All that matters for monitors like Lenovo produced might be a license file.

"Dolby Vision" app tells me "This app is not compatible with this device", while "Windows HD Color settings" shows "Stream HDR video", "Use HDR" and "Use WCG apps" are all positively available after I turned "Use HDR" and "Stream HDR video" on.

Your monitor does not support DV. You should download HDR10 videos instead.

DV is not the same as normal HDR (which is called HDR10). Monitors do not need to support 10,000 nits. You are misinformed.

That's fine. I can wait for another app update of converting DV HDR to general HDR just like madVR did on converting HDR to SDR. Maybe I am wrong but as I remembered 10,000 nits was described by Dolby.

Not sure anyone made a software solution like this without external hardware dependence:
https://www.hdfury.com/enjoy-dynamic-dv-content-from-lldv-source-on-any-hdr10-display/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ittN2L593LY