[grzesiek811]

I have an HP Prodesk 600 G3 computer with an i3 7100 processor. Additionally, I purchased an optional HDMI port to output True HD audio to the receiver. Everything was fine as long as I watched everything in 1080p. I use Kodi on Windows 10 as a player.
This week I changed the TV from old Full HD plasma to a TCL 55C805. I also have a Denon X2200W receiver. Unfortunately, there was a problem with playing 4k HEVC 10 bit movies. Actually, I don't even know if 8 bit works. Everything works on the TV (kodi on google TV), but the sound is poor, so I'm trying play on HTPC + X2200W, for True HD audio. The TV even has HDMI earc, unfortunately, the receiver only has old arc, so True HD or DTS HD are out of the question. I can only try to send DD and DTS. If I have a True HD audio track, can I only send AC3 to the receiver?
I also read that Android can only send AC3 and DTS, and not True HD. So I wouldn't send this sound via earc anyway.
With HP Prodesk HD, audio worked fine on the receiver, but unfortunately it doesn't play 4K movies. The screen goes blank until I turn off the movie, then the Kodi menu returns. Full HD Blu-ray works fine.
i3 7100 is Kaby Lake, so it should probably run 4k HEVC 10 bit, including HDR10 and Dolby Vision. This model had HDMI as an optional port that connected to the motherboard. I have this HDMI and 1080p works OK, including Dolby True HD and DTS HD. Everythings on Windows 10 wth kodi. I couldn't handle HD audio on Linux.
Unfortunately, I don't know what port it is, whether 1.4 or 2.0. Is there any way to check this? The question is, is it HDMI's fault? Maybe mine is only 1.4, and HDR requires 2.0? Or maybe it's just the HDMI cable's fault? Or maybe Kaby lake does not support Dolby vision and HDR 10?
Is there any way to solve this, or is it some hardware limitation?

[izprtxqkft]

GPU Specs https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/...newer.html

shows HEVC decode HEVC (H.265) 10 bit 4:2:0

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/...?q=i3-7100
Resolution Specs https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/...0-ghz.html

shows up to 4096x2304@60Hz on DP* only
hdmi only up to 24Hz


HP Does not show port specs

DolbyVision is only supported on an Android box, that android box may run CoreELEC in some instances but it still has to be licensed for Dolby Vision so as long as you're using a PC you can take that off the table

Windows may or may not support HDR10 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/wind...Windows_10

HDR10 is questionable as supported by Kodi on Windows, after i went down the rabbit hole finding your specs i had to come up for air


i would actually recommend testing librelec on that pc https://wiki.libreelec.tv/configuration/4k-hdr to eliminate any windows limitations


could be blank because Kodi is changing to an unsupported resolution or refresh rate
could be the video is 4:4:4 which your GPU does not support
could be windows version
could be, could be ... better to open a support thread with a full Debug Log so perhaps the blanking can be sorted out, in my opinion that should be solvable, do that here https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=59

hope that slows your spinning out, good luck

[CrystalP]

Good suggestions. Ability to decode 4k hevc 10 bit does not imply the ability to output 4k HDR 10 bit.
IIRC Intel igpu of that era required an additional chip for HDR output, which was not included in all PCs and laptops.

The debug log will help figure out your situation.

izprtxqkft I don't know what you find questionable about Kodi's support of HDR with Windows 10. If Windows 10's requirements for HDR are met (your link), then Kodi will be able to use that mode.

[izprtxqkft]

izprtxqkft I don't know what you find questionable about Kodi's support of HDR with Windows 10. If Windows 10's requirements for HDR are met (your link), then Kodi will be able to use that mode.

HDR i do understand should be supported under nominal condition, HDR10 is what i was questioning and i simply ran out of steam after i looked up all the other stuff to find out if there was a difference of support between HDR/HDR10

i don't personally use windows and would rather not state something works

since you're in a position, however, is there any difference in HDR and HDR10 as far as codecs supported by kodi?

[izprtxqkft]

i think i am using these incorrectly

what i am referring to is this

SDR=8bit
HDR=10bit
HDR10=12bit (aka 10+)

(this may be where i am confusing things)

[grzesiek811]

i don't personally use windows and would rather not state something works

But there's no point in assuming straight away that it won't work. I returned to Windows after a few years from Ubuntu. I still have issues with True HD passthrough  on Ubuntu, but it works perfect on Windows.
Libreelec is nice, but it doesn't have some of the programs I use. I liked XBMCbuntu, it's a pity it was abandoned.
On Ubuntu, I still have problems with HD audio, because there is Pulseaudio instead of Alsa. It worked for me on Core i3 4th gen, but now it doesn't work on 6th gen, so I went back to Windows.

But back to the topic. On HDMI I have 3840x2160@60Hz, on DisplayPort with an HDMI adapter I only have 3840x2160@60Hz. It's probably the adapter's fault, because it was bought a long time ago for 1080p. I would have to buy a new adapter or a DP to HDMI cable. Which is better, adapter or cable? I would bet on cable, but I could be wrong.

When I reduced the frequency from 60Hz to 30Hz, it turned out that the HDR mode on Kodi started working and the video played fine. I can run librelec from USB and check if it's the same there.

[CrystalP]

OK the problem is likely hdmi bandwidh related then.
Could be cable quality/length, hdmi version supported by the GPU or the TV.

For a given resolution+refresh rate, activating HDR will use more bandwitdh and high bitrate audio will use even more. Those options can push the situation from "borderline" into "not working"
Hardware upgrade is the solution for full support.
With your current hw, 1080p leaves a lot more bandwidth headroom, you could probably use 1080p with HDR + passthrough of high bitrate.

[izprtxqkft]

But there's no point in assuming straight away that it won't work.

no assumptions were made, questionable 12bit HDR support and i still don't know for certain that being able to play HDR 10bit also indicates 12bit or if they are separate, "HDR10+" vs "HDR"

but at least you figured out what you needed

[noggin]

OK the problem is likely hdmi bandwidh related then.
Could be cable quality/length, hdmi version supported by the GPU or the TV.

For a given resolution+refresh rate, activating HDR will use more bandwitdh and high bitrate audio will use even more. Those options can push the situation from "borderline" into "not working"
Hardware upgrade is the solution for full support.
With your current hw, 1080p leaves a lot more bandwidth headroom, you could probably use 1080p with HDR + passthrough of high bitrate.

Audio formats won't change the bandwidth requirements of an HDMI cable/connection - the audio bandwidth required for max bitrate HD Audio is accommodated with HDMI 1.4b bitrates (and is carried in blanking over the same data pairs as is used for video). Switching from 2.0 PCM 48k or low bitrate Dolby Digital to high bitrate True HD with Atmos or DTS HD MA or DTS:x won't require a connection to change HDMI bandwidths.

100% correct that some modes - like 2160p50/59.94 4:2:2 12-bit will require a higher bandwidth connection than 2160p50/59.94 4:2:0 8-bit - and the former can fail to connect over cables that are fine carrying the latter.

[noggin]

But there's no point in assuming straight away that it won't work.

no assumptions were made, questionable 12bit HDR support and i still don't know for certain that being able to play HDR 10bit also indicates 12bit or if they are separate, "HDR10+" vs "HDR"

but at least you figured out what you needed

HDR10 and HDR10+ are both 10-bit formats. The only difference is that the accompanying metadata is static for HDR10 and dynamic for HDR10+ (changing scene-by-scene or shot-by-shot rather than per movie)

(This metadata is there to help tone-mapping on displays that can't display the full ST.2084 PQ curve - which next-to-none can)

The 10-bit vs 12-bit HDMI issue is more to do with the fact that some HDMI format and frame rate options don't include 10-bit options and only support 12-bit (thanks to the HDMI specs) - as a result 10-bit HDR10 and HDR10+ video is padded to 12-bits when carried over a 12-bit HDMI connection. 

One common issue people have is that 2160p50/59.94 12-bit 4:2:2 HDMI connections require higher bandwidth 18Gbs connections than some other 2160p frame rates and bit depths/subsampling formats.  There isn't an option to use 4:2:2 in 10-bit (at least at 2160p50/59.94) in the HDMI 2.0/2.0a spec ISTR.

[izprtxqkft]

thanks for the explanation noggin, putting that in my knowledge base


(i already buy/bought 18Gbps cables but only because i never want to have an issue with a cable, now i have a real reason)

[CrystalP]

Pretty sure I read something in drivers' release notes (nvidia or maybe amd) about audio sometimes interfering when high resolutions are used, but there could be a nuance I didn't notice.

Number of bits on the wire and rgb vs ycbcr is yet another thing, some drivers let you choose, but applications don't have access to that and just see the 8 or 10 bit standard Windows formats, remapped by OS + driver to the wire format.
There is a 16 bit floating point format that could in theory allow an application to feed 12 bits to the screen, but I've not seen any evidence supporting that.

[noggin]

Pretty sure I read something in drivers' release notes (nvidia or maybe amd) about audio sometimes interfering when high resolutions are used, but there could be a nuance I didn't notice.

Number of bits on the wire and rgb vs ycbcr is yet another thing, some drivers let you choose, but applications don't have access to that and just see the 8 or 10 bit standard Windows formats, remapped by OS + driver to the wire format.
There is a 16 bit floating point format that could in theory allow an application to feed 12 bits to the screen, but I've not seen any evidence supporting that.

At very low video resolutions (e.g. SD 480p/576p/480i/576i) it's sometimes required to pixel-double (or for interlaced 480i/576i video even pixel quadruple) to get the clock rate high enough to carry all the audio payload in blanking (hence HDMI having pixel doubled 1440x480 and 1440x576 modes to allow this) - but once you're into HD resolutions that's not necessary even for 192k/24bit multichannel PCM stuff (which is higher bitrate than HD Audio like True HD and DTS HD MA). (*)

Audio is carried on the same data pins as video via HDMI - it's carried in the blanking periods where the audio data replaces active video - and HDMI doesn't require any pixel repetition in HD formats to carry the max audio payloads as the video clock rate is already high enough to mean that the audio will fit in the gaps.  

It's the opposite of what you thought I think - in HDMI it's high bitrate audio that can require LOW resolution SD video to move to a higher HDMI bandwidth to provide enough capacity for the audio in blanking.  (I think even the reduced blanking HD options in HDMI still support full HD Audio)

RGB and 4:4:4 YCbCr are only supported for some resolutions, frame rates and bit-depths over HDMI 2.0/2.0a connections - for the higher frame rates and resolutions you need to go to 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 YCbCr to get the higher bit depths of 10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit (though I've not seen 16-bit HDMI in the wild). Some RGB/4:4:4 stuff is limited to 8-bit in certain combinations of frame rate and resolution as even HDMI 2.0a runs out of bandwidth.  (HDMI 2.1 introduced compression ISTR)

(*) In HDMI 1.0 there were some limitations that stopped 480p/576p carrying 7.1 192k/24bit audio - and thus possibly HD Audio - (even with pixel repetition) - but these are possible with HDMI 1.4.