HandBrake 1.7 Discussion Thread

[HandBrake]

Thread to discuss the 1.7 release. See viewtopic.php?t=43311 for details.

[Powerkey]

I am having trouble with DolbyVision files.

The issue could be my understanding/expectations of the process or, possibly, one of the settings I am (or should be) using. In any case, I am wondering if anyone can help me with this.

My expectation is that I can rip a 4K/UHD disk (or file) and use handbrake to compress the file with DV intact.

I am using Handbrake 1.7.1 on a Mac Studio with the H.265 10-bit (VideoToolbox) encoder. I have three test files, each containing a different DV profile (8, 7, & 5) in an mkv container.

None of the files resulted in a DV video track.

Any suggestions?

[Ritsuka]

DV is supported only in combination with x265 10-bit.

[Powerkey]

Is x265 10-bit not the same as H.265 10-bit?

I was under the impression that x265 is the open source version of the encoder and they produce the same output.

[Ritsuka]

x265 is a HEVC encoder (that supports Dolby Vision in HandBrake), VideoToolbox uses a different (hardware) HEVC encoder that can't be used to create a Dolby Vision video yet.

[Powerkey]

Thank you for the explanation. That worked.

[crosis]

Does anyone know if the new Dolby Vision implementation in Handbrake is baking the FEL into the BL or just dropping it entirely? I ask because I've discovered there are a rather large subset of UHD releases that their p7 and p5 FELs include enhancements in the 10-bit space. These enhancements can be baked into the BL so that the FEL can be dropped and you still get these enhancements in the profile 8 encode. These enhancements are largely better brightness however some are even grain reduction and better sharpness in details. Reset_9999 in the MakeMKV forums created scripts that do this process but I'd rather not do it externally to Handbrake if I don't have to. Also, if Handbrake is not doing this, does anyone know if it can be added in the next version? Looking at tutorials on Reset's scripts, they appear to just be encoding using various x265 HEVC parameters so I'd think the same could (and probably should) be done in Handbrake.

[Ritsuka]

FEL is dropped. Adding supports for decoding the FEL and merging it with the BL requires someone working on it, patches are welcomed

[crosis]

Upon more research and looking through Reset's script, I see that he is using an AVISynth+ plugin called DoviBaker to merge the base layer and FEL. Both before and after that step, it's pretty much the standard process that Handbrake is already doing. I'm hoping it wouldn't be a huge lift to add this into Handbrake, as in researching Dolby Vision these last few days, it seems baking in the FEL will nearly always introduce some improvements to the base layer encode even in HDR10 fallback. I'd love to help with this endeavor, however anything outside of Powershell scripting is not in my wheelhouse.

Side Note: Reset also keeps a spreadsheet that includes a running list of movies that see noticeable improvement when baking in the FEL. It also includes information on what containers play Dolby Vision well in different players and any issues observed with each container. It seems the TS container is the most compatible with regard to Dolby Vision playback. Would it be possible to add TS as an output container in Handbrake to avoid having to remux after the fact?