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More HDR10 than Dolby Vision UHD Blu-rays

1866 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Panson, Jan 25, 2020

SpeedDemon

Discussion Starter · Oct 14, 2019

I'm wondering why there are so many more HDR10 UHD Blu-rays given that Dolby Vision is backwards compatible with HDR10.

All comparisons I've personally made between Dolby Vision and HDR10 have favored Dolby Vision every time and it seems like everyone agrees Dolby Vision is better if/when compatible/capable equipment are available.

So, why are the vast majority of UHD Blu-rays being released in HDR10 and not Dolby Vision?

Additionally, why are so many of these HDR10 UHD Blu-rays released in Dolby Vision to streaming services (Movies Anywhere, Vudu, and iTunes)? It seems that if a Dolby Vision version was mastered for streaming that the UHD Blu-ray should utilize the same HDR metadata as well.

Or, am I missing something... are the streaming services only using Dolby Vision in a less optimized way just so that they can simply say they have "Dolby Vision"? I have no interest in Dolby Vision if its simply just HDR10 automatically pre-tone-mapped without an actual mastering engineer calling the shots.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.

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Worf

· #2 · Oct 14, 2019

Easy, HDR10 was available from the get go. And as such, everything ends up supporting it - all the TVs, receivers and sources support it.

Dolby Vision was available a couple of years later, and it took longer for devices to start supporting it. Plus, Dolby wants royalties for its use, so hardware manufacturers are much more reluctant to license it and make their product more expensive. It's why there are other standards like HLG and HDR10+ - cheaper licensing or such.

Dolby vision for streaming services is different from Dolby vision on discs. The one on discs requires special licensing, which is why no media player supports playback of Dolby vision disc images. Some rippers though offer the ability to convert the disc version to the streaming version, which lets the ripped video play back in Dolby vision.

As for why streaming services support it, well, I can only think Dolby is trying to encourage it's use to get the licensing money. And it seems that it's easy to make existing hardware support it which is why devices that can't do HDR can support Dolby vision,

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SpeedDemon

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 14, 2019

@Worf Thanks! I had no idea that Dolby Vision had a different licensing model for streaming vs physical. It makes more sense now, but I find it disappointing regardless given that UHD Blu-rays are supposed to be a premium media.

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jamesb23

· #4 · Jan 24, 2020

Worf said:
Easy, HDR10 was available from the get go. And as such, everything ends up supporting it - all the TVs, receivers and sources support it.

Dolby Vision was available a couple of years later, and it took longer for devices to start supporting it. Plus, Dolby wants royalties for its use, so hardware manufacturers are much more reluctant to license it and make their product more expensive. It's why there are other standards like HLG and HDR10+ - cheaper licensing or such.

Dolby vision for streaming services is different from Dolby vision on discs. The one on discs requires special licensing, which is why no media player supports playback of Dolby vision disc images. Some rippers though offer the ability to convert the disc version to the streaming version, which lets the ripped video play back in Dolby vision.

As for why streaming services support it, well, I can only think Dolby is trying to encourage it's use to get the licensing money. And it seems that it's easy to make existing hardware support it which is why devices that can't do HDR can support Dolby vision,

I was going to make a new thread but then saw this. So my question is between DV streaming vs HDR10 on a physical 4K disc, which is superior? I've always preferred the look of DV on my LG OLED from 2016, and I've tried to calibrate my HDR with Masciola's patterns as best I can, but DV just seems to have better shadow detail and highlights. That said, AV experts would always say that physical is going to be crisper than streamed... Thoughts??

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Worf

· #5 · Jan 25, 2020

That answer will depend so much on the content, actually.

Dolby Vision is great because it's dynamic HDR - hdr10 is static. So in theory, DV will be better.
but so much depends on how the video was mastered - you can misuse either and end up with a muddy mess, or you can be careful and end up with stunning images.

And yes, disc has advantages since the video bit rate is much higher so there can be plenty of details. But again, the variables are many, and there are those who cannot tell between streaming and disc. Also depends on the content, you do end up with crappy discs too.

I would check out the official disc reviews to find out how good a particular movie is with regards to HDR and all that.

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Panson

· #6 · Jan 25, 2020

Not enough TV owners have the display panels or the nits for DV to impressively strut it's stuff, or strut it at all. Too, some like Samsung resist Dolby licensing fees. Too, some like Sony have their own DV, and don't enable auto HDR switching on their 4K players.

DV media buzz is stronger, but without consumer demand and manufacturer passion to improve product, it's all for naught.

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