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Best way to confirm Netflix etc. is in Dolby Vision?

Ralfi

Ralfi

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 22, 2016
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Australia
I’ve just connected the ATV4K to a new 4K TV which supports DV/HDR10+ via an AVR.

Firstly, when connecting direct to the TV, sans AVR, the ATV Video Format is “4K Dolby Vision” & the TV temporarily displays the Dolby Vision logo as well as adding extra Dolby Vision picture modes within its settings.

But when the AVR is introduced, the ATV Video Format is “4K HDR” & the TV doesn’t indicate any Dolby Vision detection.

But when testing Dolby Vision content on Netflix, the DV tag only appears within the program’s summary description, leaving my unsure if the DV data is being passed through the AVR.

Is there a better way to confirm this, without having any UHD BD’s at my disposal?

YouTube App on the ATV maybe?
 
for me, I can pull up the TVs info header thing, and it has all the signal info in it. but it sounds like your AVR isn't dolby computable.
model numbers of your TV and AVR would help a lot in troubleshooting this.

I have an LG OLED from a couple years ago, if I click the wheel in the middle of the remote, it will bring up a header with the input, I then move the cursor over that header and click that, and it shows all of the relevant info.

Depeding the make of your TV you could try hitting ht OK or INFO buttons on the remote.

it could be your AVR doesn't support dolby,

you might have better luck using the ARC function of your TV & AVR, and plugging the aTV directly into the television.
HDMI-CEC control will still pass though the tv, so you can control power on TV & AVR and volume on the AVR
(I'm assuming TVs and AVRs compatible with 4k support also support HDMI-CEC)

I don't think the youtube app supports HDR of any kind.

your best bets for dolbyvision are Netflix and Apple's movie app (you must rent/purchase the movie, trailers are not HDR)

it gets a bit more complicated, but you can download dolbyvision test files, you would then need an app like infuse or VLC on the aTV, and to use file sharing to access the file on your computer.
 
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Hey waw74. Thanks for that.

Tv is Panasonic TH-65GZ1000U.
AVR is Yamaha Aventage RX-A2050.

I’d be a bit bummed if it wasn’t Dolby Vision-capable. The manual mentions Dolby audio only, & “HDR”.

But the Netflix shows display the Dolby Vision logo (when swiping down on the ATV remote), I’m just not sure if this indicates Dolby Vision in the program summary only, or if it’s what’s playing currently?

Edit...

Just used the TV ‘info’ button & all it said was “3480x2160/24Hz/HDR(PQ)”, but as mentioned, dragging down on the ATV remote states 4K Dolby Vision...

I’ve also just disabled Dolby Vision & HDR10+ on the TV, yet the “4K Dolby Vision” tags remain on the swipe down menu...which leads me to believe my AVR can only pass through basic HDR?
 
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it will say that in the aTV's menu, as that's what's available, not what it's actually sending.
Your TV is a much better indication of what's actually being sent.

looking at your model, and comparing to the "top of the line", the TotL says "dolby vision", yours doesn't
so I don't think your model supports dolby vision pass though.

you'll need to wire the aTV directly to your TV, and use the HDMI-ARC (audio return channel)
on your TV (and most others) it's input 2,
so connect the output of your AVR to HDMI input 2 on the TV.
and connect the aTV to any other HDMI input on the TV.
The audio can now flow "both ways" on that cable now,
The audio coming out of your TV, will probably be on the TV input on your AVR.
turning the aTV on, should change both the TV and AVR to the proper inputs. and the Volume buttons can be configured to control either the TV or AVR over HDMI.
 
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The RX-A2050 is not Dolby Vision compatible, only the RX-A2060 and newer got the Dolby Vision update.
 
JWort93 said:
The RX-A2050 is not Dolby Vision compatible, only the RX-A2060 and newer got the Dolby Vision update.
Click to expand...
:mad:

This is so...ugh!

Loved the simplicity of connecting everything to the AVR & a single HDMI to the TV (also for Harmony remote wise).

So now I’ve got to connect all DV devices to the TV (PS4 & eventual UHD player...maybe even the cable box) to get DV...

Kind of hoping PS4 games don’t play in DV as the less devices connected to the TV the better...
 
Ralfi said:
So now I’ve got to connect all DV devices to the TV (PS4 & eventual UHD player...maybe even the cable box) to get DV...
Click to expand...
This way you'll lose all the modern lossless / immersive audio options, unless your TV and AVR are eARC compatible.
HDfury comes to rescue with splitting hi-res audio to AVR without involving ARC.
 
priitv8 said:
This way you'll lose all the modern lossless / immersive audio options, unless your TV and AVR are eARC compatible.
HDfury comes to rescue with splitting hi-res audio to AVR without involving ARC.
Click to expand...
This is what I was going to ask next, thinking the TV couldn’t transfer hi-res audio to the AVR.

But what if the UHD player I eventually get, has 2 HDMI ports - one for routing picture to the TV & another for audio to the AVR....then again, this may introduce syncing issues.

What a mess...just to get Dolby Vision.

Curse this Rx-A2050!...
 
Ralfi said:
But what if the UHD player I eventually get, has 2 HDMI ports - one for routing picture to the TV & another for audio to the AVR....then again, this may introduce syncing issues.
Click to expand...

I had this setup for a while. (went to a sonos sound bar, much less space in my small apartment)
(and the blu-ray player is in the closet until I need it.)

the main problem I had was auto input selection, (it's been a while so details are fuzzy)
every time I hit play on the blu-ray player, it would select the blu-ray input on the receiver, and the TV would automatically switch to the receiver input, instead of the input coming directly from the player.
I had to turn off hdmi-cec to watch anything,
 
Ralfi said:
:mad:
. . . Kind of hoping PS4 games don’t play in DV as the less devices connected to the TV the better...
Click to expand...

My AVR is 19 years old and won't do the newer stuff. Except it has HDMI and some really common and great Codecs that give me what I want for now, 7.1, DTS, DTS:X, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS Neo:6 and other stuff like the Dolby's. I have all my gear running through my TV, a Samsung KS8000, and am using ARC to send and all is good if not better. This way they all talk and interact properly with on/off and volume control. And the remote for the TV becomes the remote for the device, TV and AVR as necessary. Even though it's a severely simple control.

I have noticed that with Netflix the DV fare comes over as 4K UHD HDR. The TV shifts into 4K HDR and the settings change themselves. That's how I know I'm getting what I should. And with Youtube I turn on the "Stats for Nerds" and technically give me an on screen readout showing the stats. But when I change inputs I get a drop down banner that tells me what the input is giving me.

Once I get a new AVR, looking at an upper end Yamaha. My Pioneer has sucked since I got. Pioneer isn't what they use to be since the merger . . .
 
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FarmerBob said:
My AVR is 19 years old and won't do the newer stuff. Except it has HDMI and some really common and great Codecs that give me what I want for now, 7.1, DTS, DTS:X, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS Neo:6 and other stuff like the Dolby's. I have all my gear running through my TV, a Samsung KS8000, and am using ARC to send and all is good if not better. This way they all talk and interact properly with on/off and volume control. And the remote for the TV becomes the remote for the device, TV and AVR as necessary. Even though it's a severely simple control.

I have noticed that with Netflix the DV fare comes over as 4K UHD HDR. The TV shifts into 4K HDR and the settings change themselves. That's how I know I'm getting what I should. And with Youtube I turn on the "Stats for Nerds" and technically give me an on screen readout showing the stats. But when I change inputs I get a drop down banner that tells me what the input is giving me.

Once I get a new AVR, looking at an upper end Yamaha. My Pioneer has sucked since I got. Pioneer isn't what they use to be since the merger . . .
Click to expand...

If your AVR is 19 years old, there is no way it will do DTS Master HD (after 2004) and certainly won’t do DTS-X (2015)

Jason
 
Ralfi said:
But what if the UHD player I eventually get, has 2 HDMI ports - one for routing picture to the TV & another for audio to the AVR....then again, this may introduce syncing issues.
Click to expand...

That's what I do. My ATV4K is connected to my Media Player (an Oppo 205) which splits the video and audio. The HDMI video is connected to the TV, the HDMI audio goes to my older Yamaha receiver. I don't have any sync problems.

I don't know of any current UHD players that have an HDMI input for the ATV4K. Neither the Pioneer LX500, Cambridge CXUHD (based on the Oppo UDP-203) have HDMI inputs. I'm waiting until Fall when most of the new receivers will have been released to get a better solution with Atmos support.
 
Ralfi said:
But what if the UHD player I eventually get, has 2 HDMI ports - one for routing picture to the TV & another for audio to the AVR....then again, this may introduce syncing issues.
Click to expand...
You can also get syncing issues with only one connection, that’s why lipsync adjustment has been invented. Unless you mean HDMI sync/handshake issues, then the answer is no assuming there’s no firmware bug.
 
Tested out this scenario as mentioned above...

ATV4K————TV————AVR (ARC HDMI ports).

Result was Dolby Vision & Dolby Atmos according to what the TV picked up.

But the audio was downgraded to “Dolby Digital +” according to the AVR.

So, I gain in picture, but I lose in audio.

I think for now, I prefer the audio to be at it’s best & with HDR to the TV, it’s good enough for streamed content.

But when the time comes to purchase a UHD player for 4K Blurays, then I’ll need to reassess things.

priitv8 said:
A BD player with separate HDMI 1.4 output for audio only would also be a solution, that is correct.
Click to expand...

Yep, this could be the way to go, unless AVR sales kick in...then it may just be simpler to replace the Yamaha...
 
Ralfi said:
But the audio was downgraded to “Dolby Digital +” according to the AVR.
Click to expand...
That is strange! On my Sony Bravia, I can ask for Dolby Digital + to be output over the classic ARC, and that does not strip the Atmos part of the stream. In fact, in DD+ Atmos, the objects are embedded in a backwards compatible way, so any device that can handle DD+ passthrough, shall not affect Atmos.
It can be the problem is in Netflix app.
 
Try playing these and see what happens:
https://download.dolby.com/us/en/test-tones/dolby-atmos_leaf.mp4
https://download.dolby.com/us/en/test-tones/dolby-atmos_amaze.mp4
Should be DD+ with Atmos. You can try playing those with ATV and/or from the TV with the ARC connection.

Could be any number of things, the whole ARC thing is a sh*tshow and honestly HDMI isn't much better with the constant upgrades and compatibility issues. Panasonic among others have a history of screwing up ARC, so also be sure to install the latest firmware to every component in the chain.
 
I would like to ask a similar question:

Does Netflix actually broadcast a superimposed Dolby Vision logo in the corner of the screen when you are actually receiving DV correctly? The reason I ask is because I have been trying to see that logo and it never shows up, even though:

1. I am using an Apple TV 4k and it indicates it's formatted for Dolby Vision 4k in the settings.

2. My TV is a brand new SONY XBR-75X950G LCD unit that does support DV. In fact, when I switch to a show that is supposed to be in DV, the TV responds by switching to offering me 3 specific Picture Settings in Dolby Vision (Bright Dolby Vision, Dark Dolby Vision and Vivid). So I THINK I'm getting it properly -but I have yet to see the dang logo.

I'm not talking about the tag that comes within the show's Description, the one you can see if you swipe down on the Apple TV 4K remote. I'm talking about an indicator that is supposed to pop up onscreen for a few seconds, at least so I'm told by at least one TV-savvy blogger:

www.macobserver.com

How to Visually Verify Dolby Vision Content with Apple TV 4K - The Mac Observer

There are several indicators that your Apple TV 4K is enabled for Dolby Vision, but John shows the final visual cue to look for on the TV's screen itself.
www.macobserver.com www.macobserver.com

Thanks for any help,
Rob from AZ
 
AZRob said:
Does Netflix actually broadcast a superimposed Dolby Vision logo in the corner of the screen when you are actually receiving DV correctly?
Click to expand...

I've never seen any Netflix logo on my LG showing that the title is playing in Dolby Vision. When the Apple TV starts up I do get the DV logo which then goes away. If you install the Developer HUD on your Apple TV the display shows SDR or HDR.
 
HDFan said:
I've never seen any Netflix logo on my LG showing that the title is playing in Dolby Vision. When the Apple TV starts up I do get the DV logo which then goes away. If you install the Developer HUD on your Apple TV the display shows SDR or HDR.
Click to expand...

That Developer HUD option sounds interesting, but knowing that I'm getting HDR doesn't necessarily mean that the DV is working too, above and beyond that HDR level. Or am I missing something?
 
Look under
Settings > Display > Notification:
IMG_0095.jpg
PS you can confirm that the TV is in DV mode by going
Action Menu > Picture and look under picture mode - it shall say Dolby Vision.
 
priitv8 said:
Look under
Settings > Display > Notification:
View attachment 867811
PS you can confirm that the TV is in DV mode by going
Action Menu > Picture and look under picture mode - it shall say Dolby Vision.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, my version of the Android software (8.0) doesn't seem to have that option. How exactly do you get notified when you ARE watching DV?
 
Priitv8 (or anyone),

Here's a screenshot from the article I linked to above that shows what it looks like, or at least what it used to look like when the DV logo pops up at the beginning of a show:

1570592018204.png


Is this the kind of notification you see? Or are you referring to something else?

Has anyone seen this on Netflix recently? I'm beginning to think that they no longer do this....(superimpose the logo)...

Thanks,
Rob
 
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