So one thing that I understood from the launch live is that google has collabbed with Snapchat to bring full implementation of HDR within the app.
My biggest doubt is.. will it also fully integrate with all the other social network apps or not? I mean apps like TikTok, Instagram and most of all, Whatsapp..
What makes an android phone so bad for socials is that they totally cripple camera performance once you use a third party camera app. On the other end iPhone's do it perfectly. If only the Pixel filled this gap, it would be a no brainer choosing Android over iOS..!
I currently have a Pixel 3 XL and every time I use the camera to take photos in Whatsapp or videos in tiktok, its utterly ugly, it looks like the pic was taken from a Galaxy s4.
I'm still not so sure if we even have "true" HDR10 (or better, like Dolby Vision on Iphone 13Max) on the Pixel. Did anyone actually try to look at picture/videofootage at a HDR capable monitor/TV and did HDR kick in?
As far as I know, it's all some fake-ass SDR vivid-algorithm BS.
Morgrain said:
I'm still not so sure if we even have "true" HDR10 (or better, like Dolby Vision on Iphone 13Max) on the Pixel. Did anyone actually try to look at picture/videofootage at a HDR capable monitor/TV and did HDR kick in?
As far as I know, it's all some fake-ass SDR vivid-algorithm BS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used HDR Display Check
plasticarmyman said:
I used HDR Display Check
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Click to collapse
I wasn't talking about the Panel. All Pixels have HDR10 Display capabilities, I was talking about the camera.
Morgrain said:
I wasn't talking about the Panel. All Pixels have HDR10 Display capabilities, I was talking about the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah fair enough, i need more coffee i guess
Morgrain said:
I wasn't talking about the Panel. All Pixels have HDR10 Display capabilities, I was talking about the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how would I potentially test this?
plasticarmyman said:
how would I potentially test this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess we/you'd have to transfer footage of your phone (video/photos) to a HDR capable device (like an LG CX or something like that) and see if HDR kicks in. It's also possible to detect this with Windows tools like MediaInfo. If the video is recorded with HDR it will have a color space of BT. 2020 also know as REC.2020.
Even though it's kinda tricky to determine if it really is shot in 10bit. There is a differenec between color depth and color space, meaning a video can be shot in 8bit and can still output a HDR signal, even though it lacks all basic features that HDR should offer. This whole HDR story is a joke at this point, it's basically broken in Windows, the whole industry is split in several factions (HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision...), there is almost no cross-compatibility and then you can't even trust the output of a file, as explained earlier.
It sucks, and it sucks hard. I - for example - tried to get Mass Effect: Andromeda working with Windows 11 (Dolby Vision) and stopped after about 9 hours of troubleshooting because of Black Screen problems, rainbow color issues, crashs, forced restarts because the Windows UI crashed/became invisible...
HDR is just a mess. It only works well if you put a streaming device directly into an HDR capable Television and use Apps like Disney+, Netflix, HBO MAX or something like that.
It's a shame, because footage shot in true HDR look simply stunning.
Morgrain said:
I guess we/you'd have to transfer footage of your phone (video/photos) to an HDR capable device (like an LG CX or something like that) and see if HDR kicks in. It's also possible to detect this with Windows tools like MediaInfo. If the video is recorded with HDR it will have a color space of BT. 2020 also know as REC.2020.
Even though it's kinda tricky to determine if it really is shot in 10bit. There is a differenec between color depth and color space, meaning a video can be shot in 8bit and can still output a HDR signal, even though it lacks all basic features that HDR should offer. This whole HDR story is a joke at this point, it's basically broken in Windows, the whole industry is split in several factions (HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision...), there is almost no cross-compatibility and then you can't even trust the output of a file, as explained earlier.
It sucks, and it sucks hard. I - for example - tried to get Mass Effect: Andromeda working with Windows 11 (Dolby Vision) and stopped after about 9 hours of troubleshooting because of Black Screen problems, rainbow color issues, crashs, forced restarts because the Windows UI crashed/became invisible...
HDR is just a mess. It only works well if you put a streaming device directly into an HDR capable Television and use Apps like Disney+, Netflix, HBO MAX or something like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm getting ColorSpace YUV with video and pictures, even when using Open Camera with HDR enabled.
I haven't had any issues in Windows with my second Monitor that has HDR capabilities....but there are times when I turn it off because it doesn't look the best in some games.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition was having wash out issues on my pc until I turned it off
Hi guys, I've tried to watch some movies with HDR (1080 and UHD movies) but the image is really really dark even on max brightness level in a dark room; I've tried both Plex and MX Player Pro but still nothing, even the HDR videos on YouTube are very dark.
Also I am sure that the HDR of the video works correctly because on a samsung galaxy s10 it works perfectly and I can see it very well.
Here is a comparison to show you the difference indicatively (S10 VS Mi Pad 5): Imgur Comparisons
Does this happen to you too?
My tablet: International Xiaomi Pad 5 with MIUI 12.5 (12.5.8.0 Stable)
different display, different hdr format. s10 use hdr10+ with a amoled screen so def better than ips panel with standard hdr10.
different display, different hdr format. s10 use hdr10+ with a amoled screen so def better than ips panel with standard hdr10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a question of better or worse panel, here with the mi pad 5 the HDR does not work completely.
It is sold as HDR10 & Dolby Vision certified but then they don't work at all; I've also seen a user on reddit report the exact same thing so I'm starting to think it's a software problem...
Filippo255 said:
It's not a question of better or worse panel, here with the mi pad 5 the HDR does not work completely.
It is sold as HDR10 & Dolby Vision certified but then they don't work at all; I've also seen a user on reddit report the exact same thing so I'm starting to think it's a software problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you open hdr video, if it's too dark, yes, that's because hdr is working, but ips panel is not really good at dark color so that's the problem.
I also subscribe to this issue, I own the Non-Pro and HDR videos are way too dark, some movies on Netflix are almost impossible to watch despite cracking the brightness up manually (it makes the subtitle too bright compared to actual video).
I hope Xiaomi will implement a fix in future updates.
Also, when playing Dolby Vision files, the aspect ratio is something bad such as 20:9 (actual videos are played in some ultra-wide aspect ratio), the actual dark frames on top and bottom eat 50% of the vertical space, this is also a bug.
If I knew the software is that bad I would had gone with Samsung tablet instead.
@OP is not wrong at all, this is a software issue, the screen is bright enough for HDR content but the software is lacking.
Bug has been reported on a lot of forums, including here :
https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/rofr22
icsterm said:
I also subscribe to this issue, I own the Non-Pro and HDR videos are way too dark, some movies on Netflix are almost impossible to watch despite cracking the brightness up manually (it makes the subtitle too bright compared to actual video).
I hope Xiaomi will implement a fix in future updates.
Also, when playing Dolby Vision files, the aspect ratio is something bad such as 20:9 (actual videos are played in some ultra-wide aspect ratio), the actual dark frames on top and bottom eat 50% of the vertical space, this is also a bug.
If I knew the software is that bad I would had gone with Samsung tablet instead.
@OP is not wrong at all, this is a software issue, the screen is bright enough for HDR content but the software is lacking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for confirming my theory, it needs a bug fix otherwise so the device is really unusable for HDR content.
Have you also reported this to Xiaomi hoping that it will solve as soon as possible?
The problem is that hdr videos are made for really bright screens (hdr10 1000nits, hdr10+ 4000nits, DV up to 10tsd nits). Now on TVs this is normally not a problem because the TVs know what there max. brightness is and they can adjust the brightness of the movies. The tablet itself does also know the max. brightness but the Netflix or whatever player does not (or at least it does not work). What you can do is, use a player like mpv, and set the target-peak or, which i would not recommend, set the video brightness. Sadly, once again, the users who pay and watch movies legally are the ****ed once.
Its a night and day difference.
Filippo255 said:
Have you also reported this to Xiaomi hoping that it will solve as soon as possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you used the feedback app that they include in the actual ROM? Or on a website?
icsterm said:
I also subscribe to this issue, I own the Non-Pro and HDR videos are way too dark, some movies on Netflix are almost impossible to watch despite cracking the brightness up manually (it makes the subtitle too bright compared to actual video).
I hope Xiaomi will implement a fix in future updates.
Also, when playing Dolby Vision files, the aspect ratio is something bad such as 20:9 (actual videos are played in some ultra-wide aspect ratio), the actual dark frames on top and bottom eat 50% of the vertical space, this is also a bug.
If I knew the software is that bad I would had gone with Samsung tablet instead.
@OP is not wrong at all, this is a software issue, the screen is bright enough for HDR content but the software is lacking.
Bug has been reported on a lot of forums, including here :
https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/rofr22
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed that the "standard" display mode was way better for me than Vivid on Netflix. I can see dark scenes way better with it
manu_jedi said:
The problem is that hdr videos are made for really bright screens (hdr10 1000nits, hdr10+ 4000nits, DV up to 10tsd nits).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By your logic, DV must be completely black but instead, it's the only HDR that works on Pad5.
icsterm said:
Also, when playing Dolby Vision files, the aspect ratio is something bad such as 20:9 (actual videos are played in some ultra-wide aspect ratio), the actual dark frames on top and bottom eat 50% of the vertical space, this is also a bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a "just player" bug, use mpv.
Critical Hit said:
By your logic, DV must be completely black but instead, it's the only HDR that works on Pad5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, bad wording. It is made for screens up to ...nits. Now when you want to display it on a screen, not as bright, you need to map the colors to a lower brightness. And you don't wan't to simply cut it off on the dark or bright side. But you can tweak the mapping and the default players are really bad at it. Also i have no clue why DV should be the only one working.
Critical Hit said:
This is a "just player" bug, use mpv.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also highly doubt that mpv fixes anything. It uses the same HW decoding than any other player for DV or if it uses the SW decoder the colors will not be correct. Here is the issue: https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/issues/7326
You don't understand. DV _and_ hdr10 should work, but right now it's only DV and only with mpv and JP. The image is dark but not too dark as with hdr10. Just Player has a bug with black bars (it's not the aspect ratio because the image is cut on top and bottom.), not colors.
Critical Hit said:
You don't understand. DV _and_ hdr10 should work, but right now it's only DV and only with mpv and JP. The image is dark but not too dark as with hdr10. Just Player has a bug with black bars (it's not the aspect ratio because the image is cut on top and bottom.), not colors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't wan't so sound rude but mpv just does not support DV. IF mpv playes your DV files i would be highly interessted in those files. I can imagine that you have some hdr10 compatible DV files? These will play in mpv just like hdr10 files. You can check with mediainfo and look for the HDR format string. E.g Lotr DV BD would be :
Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.07.06, BL+EL+RPU, Blu-ray compatible / SM PTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible"
you can also see the mastering brightness here
Mastering display luminance : min: 0.0050 cd/m2,m ax: 4000 cd/m2
Also the cropping for files happens on all DV files (that i could find). All of these players have in common that they use the HW decoding for DV and afaik there are no DV players which do not use HW
manu_jedi said:
These will play in mpv just like hdr10 files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, it looks like you're right but results are still completely inconsistent.
manu_jedi said:
Mastering display luminance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe this is the problem. But I can't get this info in MI.
This sample has this mediainfo:
Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.05.06, BL+RPU
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Click to collapse
JP plays it perfectly (or ok) without cropping problem and mpv has broken colors (so it really can't play DV).
Sample
Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.08.06, BL+RPU, HDR10 compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just Player plays it perfectly but has the cropping problem. With mpv picture is completely broken and with VLC&MXP it's ok (not too dark).
Sample
Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.08.06, BL+RPU, HDR10 compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JP has cropping&brightness problems, mpv doesn't. But it looks like mpv is using tone mapping (?) - if you pause the file in VLC and tilt the pad the image would be the same as in mpv.
IMO this is a limitation with the physical screen itself, the fact is pad 5 only had a peak brightness of around 500, 478 nits iirc. Trying to play HDR content on a 478 peak brightness screen is impossible without doing some sort down- "tone mapping" which if it does, it's not HDR anymore, just capable of displaying HDR video. (the S10 iirc has 1000 nits max brightness and can peak to 1200 when required on a short time, that;s why the dark part is clear there).
on a 478 nits screen, even if you crank the brightness as high as it could, the dark part of the video is probably too crammed together, thus you're seeing a crushed black on HDR videos, where the dark part actually blends into a blob instead of just being really dark with some sort of defining shape clarity. The only solution is to change the tone mapping to SDR (BT.709 color space) either by transcoding the video itself or use a player with a tone mapping function (which if exist only useful for video files and not streaming services).
Etmors said:
(the S10 iirc has 1000 nits max brightness and can peak to 1200 when required on a short time, that;s why the dark part is clear there).
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Click to collapse
You talking about marketing numbers. Here is a test of S21 https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s21-review-2218p3.php 416 to 856 nits. https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_pad_5-review-2317p3.php pad5 has 478 nits and they guessing there can be more "Unfortunately, there is no Sunlight Boost even if the settings page suggests that. Maybe it will be enabled with a future firmware update, maybe not. Still tablet can be much brighter when watching HDR content, of course,". Iirc there was a review with 500+ nits max test with this Boost.
And the question is why there is only one player that can show you decent results with dv&hdr10 but has a cropping bug? Why Xiaomi with these hardware specs marketing it as compatible when even their own player can't play this content with decent results?
Updated to miui13 and it looks like the cropping problem on Just Player is gone.
Critical Hit said:
You talking about marketing numbers. Here is a test of S21 https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s21-review-2218p3.php 416 to 856 nits. https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_pad_5-review-2317p3.php pad5 has 478 nits and they guessing there can be more "Unfortunately, there is no Sunlight Boost even if the settings page suggests that. Maybe it will be enabled with a future firmware update, maybe not. Still tablet can be much brighter when watching HDR content, of course,". Iirc there was a review with 500+ nits max test with this Boost.
And the question is why there is only one player that can show you decent results with dv&hdr10 but has a cropping bug? Why Xiaomi with these hardware specs marketing it as compatible when even their own player can't play this content with decent results?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will refer to displaymate, while 400-800 nits are brightness in manual mode, when used in automatic brightness at high ambient light it could bring up to 900 nits for 50% apl, and 1200+ nits for 1% (which is probably where the 1300 nits marketing came from, while 1% APL is practically useless it's not entirely false either).
I did once owned an S10, and when you play HDR content, the screen will enter that automatic brightness mode, as it does becomes really-really bright, as if I was using it outdoor (high ambient light). So I would assume when comparing HDR vs HDR then the S10 probably should be assumed operated at 800-900 nits. Playing SDR content, you can't achieve the same brightness when playing HDR. I can't comment on s21 since i don't owned one, and can't tell if this automatic brightness thing still exist.
This is the same issue with HDR400, while by specification it is HDR, it sucks. And pad 5 being "Support Dolby Vision" is not equal to a brilliant dolby vision experience, it could be just technicalities that means that it could receive dolby Vision Input.
HDR10 contents usually are mastered at 1000-4000 nits, (I would assume DV is around that or bit higher). HDR TVs are usually only start to have good HDR experience from 600 nits or more, 1000 nits preferable. So I really can't complain if I don't get the same experience with seeing HDR10/DV on a 1000 nits TVs.
OTOH I do agree that there's also a software issues because the inconsistencies I've also experience, like when playing HDR content, even when i pump the brightness to full, it felt like it is not as bright as playing SDR at full brightness. And playing HDR10 in youtube is usually just fine (idk if youtube tone-mapped the HDR), only when playing hdr10 video files or streaming service like netflix/prime that the issue exist.
The only thing I wish it had is a turn off HDR switch or tone-mapping enable switch. Like most dark scene on netflix with DV are unviewable in this device, because it's way too dark, and I'd just rather see the SDR version.
Etmors said:
The only thing I wish it had is a turn off HDR switch or tone-mapping enable switch. Like most dark scene on netflix with DV are unviewable in this device, because it's way too dark, and I'd just rather see the SDR version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Youtube app doesn't do tone mapping but you can manually set quality to SDR in the smartube app.
With files (or netflix), if it's too dark, you can set the color scheme to "standard" but the image would be low saturated or use built-in brightness&contrast settings in mpv (+10 both is good).
Tone mapping is an app feature not global, so until Netflix does something you can't do much. Only fake the hardware id/specs that it can't support HDR (idk if it's possible).
Just some more info on mpv with hdr (all for normal hdr, no DV):
Use this if you want to use the hardware decoding that normal player use (like the integrated video player):
vo=mediacodec_embed
hwdec=mediacodec
wid=(intptr_t)(*android.view.Surface)
this will directly use HW decoding and present the result on the screen.
Use the following if you want more details in dark scenes (i think this are the default settings):
hwdec=mediacodec-copy
gpu-context=android
I don't know exactly what mpv uses internally here but the main idea is to use the HW decoding, copy the image back to memory, do some post processing and present it on the screen
What i like to use:
hwdec=mediacodec-copy
gpu-context=android
hdr-compute-peak=yes
tone-mapping=hable
Mostly the same, but not as aggressive in my opinion (only personal preference).
more to read: https://mpv.io/manual/stable/#options-tone-mapping
it's my understanding that playing back hdr video content should kick the display into high brightness mode to achieve the proper effect. I'm not sure this is happening on my 6 pro. I have various shows and movies that I use to test hdr playback and know very well what they should look like. on the 6 pro they all play back way too dark. tried using plex and mx player, both of which usually support hdr playback. however when viewing hdr content on youtube, for example the channel 'mostly walking', footage looks the correct brightness. the phone also gets a bit warmer, leading me to believe it's behaving correctly.
so so far, I don't think it's working properly for movie local content in hdr. because of this I'm thinking of rooting to allow me to force into high brightness mode for video playback.
interested to hear other experiences.
whatsisnametake2 said:
it's my understanding that playing back hdr video content should kick the display into high brightness mode to achieve the proper effect. I'm not sure this is happening on my 6 pro. I have various shows and movies that I use to test hdr playback and know very well what they should look like. on the 6 pro they all play back way too dark. tried using plex and mx player, both of which usually support hdr playback. however when viewing hdr content on youtube, for example the channel 'mostly walking', footage looks the correct brightness. the phone also gets a bit warmer, leading me to believe it's behaving correctly.
so so far, I don't think it's working properly for movie local content in hdr. because of this I'm thinking of rooting to allow me to force into high brightness mode for video playback.
interested to hear other experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I'm having the same issue, I was trying to play some HDR content on MX Player Pro, and video looked very dark, then I copied that file to iPhone 13 Pro Max and played in infuse and it looked way better and brighter, then I felt something is wrong with my Pixel 6 Pro, so I downloaded VLC and video was still dark, then I played that video in Google Photos and it was same.
also there was an instant when I was playing HDR video on Youtube and HBM was not kicking in, but that got solved by restarting my phone.
Are you on December update or November? I'm on December update, I suspect that is the issue.
whatsisnametake2 said:
it's my understanding that playing back hdr video content should kick the display into high brightness mode to achieve the proper effect. I'm not sure this is happening on my 6 pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. "Just" playing HDR content does not trigger the HBM. HBM gets triggered by high ambient lighting, and that's about the only trigger of importance. Get a flashlight and shine it next to the ambient sensor, you will notice the increase in brightness. Google does not give you a handy tool/way to manually force HBM, except you are willing to root.
Is that meant to happen on Google Photos or do you need an external app to auto brightness for HDR content? I'm not sure if HDR is broken as on Vanced HDR doesn't work either but is fine in stock YouTube app.
I ended up rooting to get high brightness mode control, amongst other things. all the usual video playback apps are definitely not kicking in to high brightness mode because when the brightness is on full during playback of an hdr video and I activate HBM, you see it notch up in brightness. it's better, probably just about ok now, but i've definitely had better phones for this. it's a combination of total nits and the tuning of the screens gamma. the s20 plus I had was stunning for hdr. some content you even had to turn it down. there's an image file you can use called something like nearlydark.jpg with numbers on it of decreasing brightness. it's a good ruler for seeing how well any given screen is going to perform in this area.
I noticed a problem when watching Youtube videos. For example this video
I can watch that video just fine on a Poco x3 pro (also SD 860 and 120hz), but on the Pad 5 there is a problem. I don't see anything until 10 nits in the video. I also cranked up the brightness to the max. On my mobile I can see something much earlier - with normal brightness.
Does anybody have an idea what the problem could be?
Mine starts from 1 nit onwards, if I enable screen balance app 0.5 nit. Tbh I hate the screen. This device is called 'media consumption'. I can't enjoy a movie when blacks are absent
I am regretting my decision tbh. Should have bought a basic oled device.
I just realized that when I use Newpipe instead I can see the colored boxes from 0.2 nits onwards. So it is not necessarily a screen issue?
I am wondering what could be the difference between Newpipe and Youtube?
Could also be youtubes own codec for videos. However, the ips panel used on mi pad 5 lacks any depth or contrast. checked couple of reviews. One says contrast is 1300:1 the other says 550:1 . What I can tell is, I am not gonna watch a movie on this tablet.
I was reading someone today saying that YouTube only displays HDR with the AV1 codec.
No idea if true or not
With max brightness after 2 nit , in normal brightness after 3 nits
Thanks for your answers and testing!
I guess, there is indeed something broken in the Xiaomi Pad 5. I noticed that the display problem only happens when you play HDR movies. The Netflix movie quality is good in my case. but only because my plan does not include HDR apparently. HDR movies look ok with Newpipe, because Newpipe does not support HDR ...
HDR is basically broken on all Pad 5 tablets. Wow!
Atheosun said:
I was reading someone today saying that YouTube only displays HDR with the AV1 codec.
No idea if true or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to be multiple Codecs for hdr.
Well I am stuck w this tablet. Have to find a way to enjoy it, somehow
Thank you for the added information @parser
What application is that? Very cool the way it displays all formats available
Atheosun said:
Thank you for the added information @parser
What application is that? Very cool the way it displays all formats available
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My pleasure,
This is an app called smart tube next. Just Google it. Devs name is yuliskov. It has a github page.
Even though I have youtube premium, I use his YouTube app on my firetv.
Ah yes, i hear it is a superb application.
I too pay for Youtube Premium, but will load it up on my Shield TV as Shield users mention how good it is, all the time.
Thank you! @parser