Video playback

[Heyjake]

What are you guys using for video play back? Been trying to find something that will actually play 4k Blu-ray quality from my server that isn't jellyfin or plex. I've tried VLC (it sucks) and MPC-BE (much better but still at like 1080 quality). So let's hear it, what have you guys been using?

[Alex Atkin UK]

24 minutes ago, Heyjake said:

What are you guys using for video play back? Been trying to find something that will actually play 4k Blu-ray quality from my server that isn't jellyfin or plex. I've tried VLC (it sucks) and MPC-BE (much better but still at like 1080 quality). So let's hear it, what have you guys been using?

Your PC specs would be useful, as it sounds like you are lacking the right GPU acceleration if you're having problems.

[LAwLz]

What is your issue exactly?

 

What do you mean by "still at like 1080 quality"? Does that mean you think your 4K files look like if they were 1080p?

 

 

If you have already tried two different media players then I suspect the issue is with expectations rather than the video player especially if the issue you experience is purely about the visual quality and not some stuttering or other performance-related thing.

[starsmine]

afaik the only software that can play a UHD HDR bluray is PowerDVD which is paid software. You can also use this to communicate with files on an external server.

The other option would be to rip the blu-ray like the way linus talked about recently. 

For streaming from streaming apps, MS edge actually has the best compatability

If you already have the files, I dont understand what the issue with VLC is. PotPlayer may also be a solution, but its not even close to as easy to use. 

[ChrisLoudon]

2 hours ago, Heyjake said:

What are you guys using for video play back? Been trying to find something that will actually play 4k Blu-ray quality from my server that isn't jellyfin or plex. I've tried VLC (it sucks) and MPC-BE (much better but still at like 1080 quality). So let's hear it, what have you guys been using?

I use the K-Lite code pack with MPC-HC and MadVR with Lav Audio filters for TrueHD + Atmos / DTS.... audio to my AVR.

 

As far as I know, its the only PC solution that allows you to keep the Windows HDR toggle off and have the media type being played dictate whether the toggle will automatically turn on or off.

 

Unfortunately, given the lack of DV support on PC media playback, I now use an Nvidia Shield as my front-end and PLEX as my back-end.

[HanZie82]

This.

3 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Your PC specs would be useful, as it sounds like you are lacking the right GPU acceleration if you're having problems.

But mostly this.

1 hour ago, ChrisLoudon said:

I use the K-Lite code pack with MPC-HC and MadVR with Lav Audio filters for TrueHD + Atmos / DTS.... audio to my AVR.

 

As far as I know, its the only PC solution that allows you to keep the Windows HDR toggle off and have the media type being played dictate whether the toggle will automatically turn on or off.

 

Unfortunately, given the lack of DV support on PC media playback, I now use an Nvidia Shield as my front-end and PLEX as my back-end.

K-lite codec pack for PC with MPC-HC should play everything.
But so should VLC.

If they dont with default settings theres other stuff wrong.

Since i have some 4K content on my Jellyfin server and it works fine. Just make sure you have enough bandwidth.
And turn off transcoding if you play back on the Jellyfin app. To make sure you get the source quality.

[Heyjake]

14 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Your PC specs would be useful, as it sounds like you are lacking the right GPU acceleration if you're having problems.

I use AMD 6800xt

[Heyjake]

12 hours ago, LAwLz said:

What is your issue exactly?

 

What do you mean by "still at like 1080 quality"? Does that mean you think your 4K files look like if they were 1080p?

 

 

If you have already tried two different media players then I suspect the issue is with expectations rather than the video player especially if the issue you experience is purely about the visual quality and not some stuttering or other performance-related thing.

My personal issue is that some media players play the same file at a lower quality. Maybe it's in the settings but I have been unable to find anything anywhere that I could change to make it better. I was looking around on reddit and found a suggestion yo not us VLC and that did help the quality. Maybe my expectations are to high? I figured it would be the same quality as the disk.

[Alex Atkin UK]

9 minutes ago, Heyjake said:

My personal issue is that some media players play the same file at a lower quality. Maybe it's in the settings but I have been unable to find anything anywhere that I could change to make it better. I was looking around on reddit and found a suggestion yo not us VLC and that did help the quality. Maybe my expectations are to high? I figured it would be the same quality as the disk.

It should be, although dedicated standalone Bluray players usually have better picture quality than software decoders in my experience.  But I've never noticed a huge difference between one software player and another (on a computer).

I find ShieldTV produces a better picture than my TVs native app however.

[MarkPol88]

On 10/1/2024 at 9:19 AM, ChrisLoudon said:

As far as I know, its the only PC solution that allows you to keep the Windows HDR toggle off and have the media type being played dictate whether the toggle will automatically turn on or off.

Kodi does that, and if you have java installed it will show Blu-ray menus too.

Been using it for few years now. I am ripping my movies with makemkv (like LTT showed in their video)

[ChrisLoudon]

1 minute ago, MarkPol88 said:

Kodi does that

Interesting, been years since I've used Kodi. In fact, I think the last time I dabbled with Kodi, it was XMBC.

 

Does the Windows HDR toggle on / off automatically?

 

Not sure what happened with Windows HDR! When it was first introduced, movies and games would toggle it automatically but from memory, the 'Creators' Windows 10 update kinda broke it.

[circeseye]

i use K-lite codec pack with MPC-HC. it plays 4k hdr (no dv) and everything lower without issues and im on a 5800x w/ 6800xt. also full br rips (60+ gig size) work (just the movie not the menu stuff)
 

[LAwLz]

On 10/1/2024 at 9:16 PM, Heyjake said:

My personal issue is that some media players play the same file at a lower quality. Maybe it's in the settings but I have been unable to find anything anywhere that I could change to make it better. I was looking around on reddit and found a suggestion yo not us VLC and that did help the quality. Maybe my expectations are to high? I figured it would be the same quality as the disk.

This does not sound right.

How are you measuring the quality? What resolution is the video and what is the native resolution of your screen?

 

When you say "it would be the same quality as the disk", what do you mean exactly? Did you play a disc in some blu-ray player, and you are now playing the same blu-ray by putting the disc into a blu-ray reader connected to your PC? Or have you converted the disc into a file that you are playing on your PC? If it's the latter (converted disc into a file), how did you convert it?

 

 

In general, if you are playing a file that matches the native resolution of your monitor, there should be very little difference in quality between video players.

Even in cases where the resolution of the file does not match the screen resolution, the various upscaling algorithms don't make that much of a difference. You really need to pixel peep to even notice a difference. 

 

 

Ignore everyone talking about hardware acceleration and stuff. This is clearly not your issue since you seem to be talking about visual quality. If it was some decoding issue then the video would be stuttery or not play at all. 

[Heyjake]

On 10/2/2024 at 3:39 PM, LAwLz said:

This does not sound right.

How are you measuring the quality? What resolution is the video and what is the native resolution of your screen?

 

When you say "it would be the same quality as the disk", what do you mean exactly? Did you play a disc in some blu-ray player, and you are now playing the same blu-ray by putting the disc into a blu-ray reader connected to your PC? Or have you converted the disc into a file that you are playing on your PC? If it's the latter (converted disc into a file), how did you convert it?

 

 

In general, if you are playing a file that matches the native resolution of your monitor, there should be very little difference in quality between video players.

Even in cases where the resolution of the file does not match the screen resolution, the various upscaling algorithms don't make that much of a difference. You really need to pixel peep to even notice a difference. 

 

 

Ignore everyone talking about hardware acceleration and stuff. This is clearly not your issue since you seem to be talking about visual quality. If it was some decoding issue then the video would be stuttery or not play at all. 

I have taken the files off the Blu-ray disk and have put it on my server. I was checking the quality on my 2k monitor and the first media player mentioned looked like it was playing back at 720p. Maybe makeMKV was messed up, so I reset it, reconfigured it, and tried again. Same thing. I posted on reddit and someone mentioned that the software I was using might not be able to play back Blu-ray at 2 or 4k. So I looked for a different software. the next one was better but more like 1080p and still not like just playing the movie off the disk. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I've spent what feels like hours looking for a better solution or for my mistake and have not been able to figure it out.

[circeseye]

16 hours ago, Heyjake said:

I have taken the files off the Blu-ray disk and have put it on my server. I was checking the quality on my 2k monitor and the first media player mentioned looked like it was playing back at 720p. Maybe makeMKV was messed up, so I reset it, reconfigured it, and tried again. Same thing. I posted on reddit and someone mentioned that the software I was using might not be able to play back Blu-ray at 2 or 4k. So I looked for a different software. the next one was better but more like 1080p and still not like just playing the movie off the disk. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I've spent what feels like hours looking for a better solution or for my mistake and have not been able to figure it out.

wait. so you only transferred the files from the br disc? that "may" be the issue.
most br are ripped/redux (ripping without compressing) hence to 40+gig sizes

just transferring the files would still (i think) require br software to play it.

other then ripping to a iso to keep disc features, which again its ripped

[HanZie82]

On 10/4/2024 at 3:31 AM, Heyjake said:

I have taken the files off the Blu-ray disk

If you just copy them it will not lose quality.
You need to be precise about this procedure.
There is nothing you said that would lower the quality in a technical way.

If you just copied them you have several folders and will have a hard time finding what actually plays back video.
And yeah there will be no menu or chapter select. But the video files will be as is on the Blu-Ray, exact same quality to the pixel.

Unless you used special software to convert the video to another format. Only then it might be different quality.
Else its most likely the playback hardware thats introducing the flaws or lack of quality.

[LAwLz]

On 10/5/2024 at 4:40 PM, HanZie82 said:

Unless you used special software to convert the video to another format. Only then it might be different quality.

This is what I suspect is happening, but we need OP to describe HOW they "take the files off the Blu-ray disc" before we confirm that's the case.

 

As I said earlier, the playback software should be very close to each other in terms of quality, especially if there is little or no rescaling going on. If there are some issues then it should be very obvious and not just a "drop in quality". I'm talking like completely black screen, colors being messed up or things like that. Not just "it looks more pixelated" or whatnot.

[MarkPol88]

52 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

This is what I suspect is happening, but we need OP to describe HOW they "take the files off the Blu-ray disc" before we confirm that's the case.

He did - using makemkv can yield only two results - one-to-one backup (only decrypted) with folder structure intact or mkv file which is still one-to-one but only with main video track (no extras etc unless specified) and selected audio/subtitle tracks.

[QuantumRand]

How are you playing the files from your server? Plex, for example, will automatically transcode during playback if your player doesn't support the video/audio format. That transcode setting is usually tuned for speed rather than quality.