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It's 2023... still NO WORKING HDR video players? (IINA, Optimus, Movist ALL FAIL!)

HDR said:
Hi,
Disclaimer: I'm hardly a Mac expert, but tried to follow your guide, with no success :( IINA still displays the content in this green-purple hue.

I'm using the regular IINA (not nightly version) - do you think it makes a difference? (although you wrote it shouldn't)

I downloaded the .zip file from the GitHub link you shared, then created a ".config" file (it wasn't there), on \Users\<my laptop's name>\, then created "mpv" folder inside, then created "shaders" folders and inside I pasted the entire .zip (but unzipped of course) file downloaded from GitHub. Finally, I referenced to the dynamic.glsl file, on the Advanced setting window in IINA, as you showed.
Anything I did wrong, or missed? I have MacBook Pro 16", 2019 with Ventura 13.4.1.
Click to expand...
you could try creating a blank mpv.conf text file in the .config/mpv/ folder.

then try Getting Started point 3. from here

github.com

GitHub - natural-harmonia-gropius/hdr-toys at 6de021848bdb9da87a6f9cc451d05c8f3155454e

A set of color conversion shaders. Contribute to natural-harmonia-gropius/hdr-toys development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

and tick the option "use config directory"
 
tornado99 said:
you could try creating a blank mpv.conf text file in the .config/mpv/ folder.

then try Getting Started point 3. from here

github.com

GitHub - natural-harmonia-gropius/hdr-toys at 6de021848bdb9da87a6f9cc451d05c8f3155454e

A set of color conversion shaders. Contribute to natural-harmonia-gropius/hdr-toys development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

and tick the option "use config directory"
Click to expand...

I created the file (it resides with the "shaders" folder, if I understood you correctly). Still not working.. :(
 
IINA doesn't support Dolby Vision 5 yet. There is nothing you can do. Well actually you could download IINA source code and implement it, but I guess it's not something you would want to do.
 
Nermal said:
IINA has always played videos too dark on my machine, whether HDR or not. I've tried searching for this in the past, but haven't been able to find anyone talking about it.
Click to expand...
Now I need to correct this post after a bit of playing around. With SDR videos, IINA plays them darker than other players. But with HDR videos it seems to be brighter.

I've just played the same HDR video (.m4v file) in three different players. VLC plays it the darkest, QuickTime Player a little brighter, and IINA brighter still. Is there some way to figure out which is "most correct"?

Edit: IINA seems to be the most correct. I did some testing using a movie that I have in both SDR and HDR and IINA's rendering of the HDR version is closest to the overall brightness of the SDR version.
 
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Dochartaigh said:
Short version for Infuse: I swallowed my pride and paid to test it (as there's not even a free trial...). Long story short, it lacks a ****-ton of features I kinda HAVE to have when running a large torrented (of movies I own though) library. I can't adjust subtitles how I like them, no option to change sub delay. No option to chance audio delay. No ability to even see the details of a movie. Can't change the forward/backward default of 15 seconds so literally adds ~10 minutes to the movies I watch (I always need to go back like a mere 2 seconds to hear something I missed... not have to waste 6 times as much time for that...).
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VLC is the only one I use. I have Infuse but it does not have an Apple Watch remote.....VLC does and that is the deal breaker for me. As well as all the troubles you have described using Infuse.
 
"Is there some way to figure out which is "most correct"?"

Without having access to the referemce monitors that were use for mastering it becomes an issue of most pleasing.

The one which is closest to what my OLED TV shows is IINA. Can't test Quicktime as MKV file. Clockwise Plex, Infuse, VLC, IINA

Screenshot 2023-10-28 at 12.54.06.png
 

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HDFan said:
"Is there some way to figure out which is "most correct"?"

Without having access to the referemce monitors that were use for mastering it becomes an issue of most pleasing.

The one which is closest to what my OLED TV shows is IINA. Can't test Quicktime as MKV file. Clockwise Plex, Infuse, VLC, IINA

View attachment 2303622
Click to expand...
You can easily remux the MKV to an MP4 with Subler if the video is H.264 or HEVC.
 
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To play them in a player that actually supports Dolby Vision Profile 5 and HDR in a good way, aka QuickTime Player.
 
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Nermal said:
Now I need to correct this post after a bit of playing around. With SDR videos, IINA plays them darker than other players. But with HDR videos it seems to be brighter.

I've just played the same HDR video (.m4v file) in three different players. VLC plays it the darkest, QuickTime Player a little brighter, and IINA brighter still. Is there some way to figure out which is "most correct"?

Edit: IINA seems to be the most correct. I did some testing using a movie that I have in both SDR and HDR and IINA's rendering of the HDR version is closest to the overall brightness of the SDR version.
Click to expand...
Argh. This is so difficult. A different movie (Starship Troopers) is far too bright in IINA. Even the opening TriStar logo is wrong, with half of the pegasus' feathers just a solid blob of white.

it looks "OK" in VLC, but I have no idea how accurate it is.
 
Been doing some research/experimenting with this on my Macbook Pro M2. So far I've just tried Infuse, IINA and VLC since I don't feel like remuxing all my stuff to .mp4 just to get it to work with Quicktime.

It seems like there's not really any perfect solution - Infuse is probably the most well rounded in terms of detail preservation, but costs money and isn't as tweakable as IINA. IINA has a lot more impactful highlights/contrast, but this comes at the expense of both very bright and very dark areas getting blown out/crushed. VLC wasn't really impressive either way and the colors seemed off in the files I tried.

What I did find interesting and that kind of levels the playing field a bit is going into System Settings -> Displays and setting the display profile to HDR Video (P3-ST 2084). It brings Infuse and IINA a lot closer together in their presentation but since it's a reference mode you won't get the super punchy image that you do with the XDR 1600 nit mode. For what it's worth, the reference mode looks pretty close to what I see on my OLED TV.
 
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Any updates to this thread? Is there still no "confirmed" good player yet? How are Infuse and IINA after any of the recent app updates?
 
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Asked VLC to check for updates and it says:

VLC media player 3.0.20​

VLC 3.0 is a major update to VLC, introducing hardware decoding by default, allowing 4K with low-cpu usage (and 8K on recent machines), supporting HDR and 360 video. It also improves audio passthrough, allows to stream to ChromeCast, Blurays and local network drive browsing.
More info on our release page.
Click to expand...

Seems like it's supposed to support HDR. No idea if it works.
 
A quick updated comparison on my M3 pro:
  • VLC 3.0.20 STILL couldn't do HDR or Dolby Vision and looked terrible
  • Movist Pro handled HDR and DV very well, the UI isn't so pretty but it makes up for it with customisation
  • Infuse did HDR very well and I slightly prefer the colours to any other app but I have a bug and so do a few others it seems where DV videos flash/flicker every now and then making it unwatchable (thread). Best UI out of the bunch but AWFUL customisation. Can't even change something simple like how far it goes forward when you click and arrow key. Deal breaker.
  • Didn't try IINA, has very mixed reviews and no major releases for months
  • Didn't try optimus player, seems good but also no updates in ages
Going forward Movist Pro is my main video player, coming from MPV on windows I need the customisation it provides. The price isn't too bad and it isn't an expensive subscription like Infuse.
 

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To all the OSX video app software engineers ! Program and learn how HDR Tone mapping works on LG , Sony, Samsung etc..!
My current rig: M2 Studio Max OSX14 connected to LG 27” 500 nits Monitor .

Yet here we all are at this embarrassing pathetic situation in regards to Still NOT having a working True HDR output video player App . It is Jan.2024 I have purchased and tried over five of the mentioned video apps . Infuse , Optimus, Movist ,VLC, IINA, and what I have experienced with the latest update on OSX14 for all except IINA is:

Supposedly detected HDR output , but very very poor implementation on the software side . I am most certainly OSX has some access restriction for these Apps or the apps need to be updated with every OSX update or officially licensed for HDR through Apple for security reasons????.
But what remains as of now is bad HDR on all of the above Apps ! Except for IINA .

BAD as in HDR Tone mapping bright scenes or points are not high nit precision or are very LOW and so the light point seems washed out . HDR will be missing the crispy pop and maximum nit luminance that it should be pushing. All except for the Buggy but semi working IINA!! IINA sadly suffers a bug where the screen goes to dark when in full screen .

Pretty pathetic BUT as a work around you can ,manipulate settings to get it to work!However IINA gives you True Tone Mapping HDR and even gives you the critical setting that let’s you set the maximum NIT level signal to the monitor for tone mapping to work properly! This Is crucial , as I believe all the garbage Apps mentioned above rely in auto detecting the monitors Max HDR nits and “TRYs” to auto detect this but fails miserably to an incorrect flat low nit default . Giving you poor HDR output.

At this moment after tweaking around on the IINA setting nitts max to 650 I am watching a 4K HDR MKV file with true HDR Tone mapping and it looks proper as it does on my PS5 through Sony Bravia .
For a rig as expensive as my MAC LG setup this whole pathetic situation should t be so complicated and time wasting.
To all these idiots swearing they think that VLC or Movist Infuse , etc have true HDR , are full of crap or work for them (I’m thinking OSX updates are causing many of these issues.)

For now I am getting a very impressive HDR from my Mac M2 MAX to my LG5K finally! it did take hours of research and trial.
Hope IINA gets an official release and support from Apple and sales this player . I’d pay 12.99 for it.
 
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I use Ventura and iina and both on the Macbook's internal XDR screen as well as on the XDR Display the HDR output is flawless with no darkening issue in fullscreen. Tried a couple times switching between window and fullscreen and the picture remains identical.

I am confused as to what HDR experience could be expected from a 500 nits panel anyways, HDR requires local dimming and at least 1000 nits peak brightness, with a 500 nits panel that might even have a static backlight there can be no actual HDR. The monitor can of course be HDR capable in that you can play HDR10 material (10 bit signal processing is then a monitor requirement). It will end up looking like SDR content since the monitor is missing hardware to display in HDR. I have seen monitors that claim to have local dimming and when checking the specs it was 8 dimming zones on 40" (that was some Gigabyte one I once had for testing) which made HDR content look accordingly, so even if it does say local dimming it can still be utter trash.

Since you specifically mentioned LG and 500 nits I'd assume you got a 5k ultrafine. That monitor can play HDR10 content since it can accept 10 bit but as mentioned it does not have HDR hardware. With the static backlight, low brightness and low contrast this monitor simply cannot do HDR. LG neither advertises this monitor with HDR nor makes any references to HDR capabilities in the specs.

You are confusing the ability to play HDR media which is done in software (including a monitor's signal processing) with actual HDR capable hardware to produce what the name says, high dynamic range.

MikeDiaz said:
For a rig as expensive as my MAC LG setup this whole pathetic situation
Click to expand...
Price has nothing to do with it. You could have bought the much more expensive Studio Display and it wouldn't do HDR either. It's like buying an expensive sports car and then complaining it got stuck offroading. Similarly, HDR monitors have drawbacks in other applications, just like a 4WD truck will be great for offroading but fuel economy and a couple other things go out the window. Apple's XDR screens have very slow response times with none of them actually capable of refreshing 120 times a second making the 120HZ mode on MBPs look terrible. They also got blooming issues. OLED monitors solve that but they introduce other issues like a special subpixel layout causing blurry text.

Long story short, your expensive LG monitor excels in the disciplines it was meant for, HDR isn't one of them and there is no technology widely available that eliminates all the mentioned issues. HDR monitors aren't great allrounders.
 
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okkibs said:
I use Ventura and iina and both on the Macbook's internal XDR screen as well as on the XDR Display the HDR output is flawless with no darkening issue in fullscreen. Tried a couple times switching between window and fullscreen and the picture remains identical.

I am confused as to what HDR experience could be expected from a 500 nits panel anyways, HDR requires local dimming and at least 1000 nits peak brightness, with a 500 nits panel that might even have a static backlight there can be no actual HDR. The monitor can of course be HDR capable in that you can play HDR10 material (10 bit signal processing is then a monitor requirement). It will end up looking like SDR content since the monitor is missing hardware to display in HDR. I have seen monitors that claim to have local dimming and when checking the specs it was 8 dimming zones on 40" (that was some Gigabyte one I once had for testing) which made HDR content look accordingly, so even if it does say local dimming it can still be utter trash.

Since you specifically mentioned LG and 500 nits I'd assume you got a 5k ultrafine. That monitor can play HDR10 content since it can accept 10 bit but as mentioned it does not have HDR hardware. With the static backlight, low brightness and low contrast this monitor simply cannot do HDR. LG neither advertises this monitor with HDR nor makes any references to HDR capabilities in the specs.

You are confusing the ability to play HDR media which is done in software (including a monitor's signal processing) with actual HDR capable hardware to produce what the name says, high dynamic range.


Price has nothing to do with it. You could have bought the much more expensive Studio Display and it wouldn't do HDR either. It's like buying an expensive sports car and then complaining it got stuck offroading. Similarly, HDR monitors have drawbacks in other applications, just like a 4WD truck will be great for offroading but fuel economy and a couple other things go out the window. Apple's XDR screens have very slow response times with none of them actually capable of refreshing 120 times a second making the 120HZ mode on MBPs look terrible. They also got blooming issues. OLED monitors solve that but they introduce other issues like a special subpixel layout causing blurry text.

Long story short, your expensive LG monitor excels in the disciplines it was meant for, HDR isn't one of them and there is no technology widely available that eliminates all the mentioned issues. HDR monitors aren't great allrounders.
Click to expand...
Nothing about what you said has any answer to the problem in this original post. Read the original post and post the same findings you have . Do you program for OSX ? Can you fix the IINA or ask why VLC can’t do HDR For OSX ?
 
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bogdanw said:
IINA is and will be free and open-source, but you can donate.
Become a sponsor to IINA https://github.com/sponsors/iina
Click to expand...
It is buggy but it’s the only one that does HDR !! Hope you find a way to recoup and make some income from it .God know Apples Subscription model and percentage of cut ,makes it hard for devs to come out OK . I thinks it’s a great App keep up the great work.
 
MikeDiaz said:
Nothing about what you said has any answer to the problem in this original post. Read the original post and post the same findings you have . Do you program for OSX ? Can you fix the IINA or ask why VLC can’t do HDR For OSX ?
Click to expand...
I read the original post, it's about the darkening issue. I now plugged in an external monitor and followed the instructions to reproduce the issue exactly, I am on Ventura too. Started a HDR video in iina and moved the cursor to the other screen so that the iina osd disappeared. There was sudden darkening of the video or any such issue. The github threads are from 2022 to mid 2023. HDR works perfectly fine with iina. I suspect it was fixed in MacOS as my iina version is from end of 2022 still. There is a recent one from last week as well.
 
So much "App pain" with HDR

It all has led me to just not bothering with HDR stuff yet, still, for my personal collection on Plex
 
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