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[platinum00]

Building a HTPC for 4K HDR tone mapping to Epson 5050 PJ.

100% Movies at 23.976 FPS. No need for streaming services or 60FPS. Must support high quality audio with Atmos 7.2.4

GPU: Looking at the RX570/580's. I have a buddy that has a few extra so could get one cheap. However it seems the GTX1060 is more stable and proven card. There not very expensive either. Would these be OK?
CPU: Ryzen 5 3400.
Memory: 12GB DDR4 2666
HDD: 256 SSD (OS), 16TB SATA (Media)

JRiver MC27, I haven't figured out the MadVR settings yet but at least RedOctober-HQ, Best Quality, plus the HDR ton map using pixel shaders. Surely more once get it up and can start playing with the configs.

Is there a JRMark score that indicates it can handle HDR tone mapping appropriately?

Any feedback appreciated

[jmone]

Unfortunately, JRMark does not give much in the way of evaluating GPU performance for ROHQ.

Madshi (madVR dev) seems to have a preference for nVidia so I've tended to stick with them and can't comment on the RX line.  I'd suggest that a great mid range card option to the 1060 would be the 1660Ti if you can get it for a similar price.  I'm running these on my HTPC and the are small, quiet, and plenty powerful enough for ROHQ with HDR ToneMapping with decent quality settings, esp at 23.976.

[wer]

Just to muddy the waters, personally I've had better luck with AMD and video playback/MadVR.   

[platinum00]

thanks.. I found a good deal on a 1660TI and plan on going that route.

another question, maybe for another thread. Do you guys bypass your AVR and connect directly to the projector for video. Less things in the chain seem better to me but not sure.

was plaining on 1 HDMI out going to AVR for audio and other HDMI out going direct to projector.

If going through AVR, is this the proper video range JRiver (16-234) -> Video card (0-255) - > AVR (16-234) - > Projector (16-234)

Appreciate the feedback

[wer]

I have the signal go through my processor. That way the OSD from the processor (or AVR) is available.  If you see video degradation by doing that, you bought the wrong unit.

The presence or absence of the AVR does not affect the video range. That is a matter between the source (madvr/video card) and the sink (your projector).

[jmone]

+1 - I go through AVR's on all my HTPCs without issue.  It is also the only way if you ever want to do Atmos or DTS:X etc .... and if so you will need to bitstream from MC to a Atmos/DTS:X compatible AVR.

[wer]

It is also the only way if you ever want to do Atmos or DTS:X etc

Well, you could use dual outputs or split it out, but that would be unusual. But people with projectors sometimes do unusual things...

[platinum00]

ok, I will go through AVR. I have a Denon 4500H so want to utilize Atmos/dts.x.

Right now it's showing up as multi in. How do I enable MC to pass Atmos to the AVR?

[jmone]

Tools --> Options--> Audio--> Settings--> Bitstreaming--> HDMI

[platinum00]

Found it and it worked. I was messing with DSP studio which obviously not right..

Any input on my video range throughout the chain?

thanks

[jmone]

At this stage leave it all as is using ROHQ and see how it looks before starting tweak (if you need to).  Once thing with the nVidia card nVidia Control Panel --> Manage 3d Settings --> Power management mode = "Adaptive" & Vertical sync = "On"

[platinum00]

Everything set to 0-255 looks pretty good and about the same as the nvidea shield to PJ setup. Have not run a calibration to compare yet though.

When enabling HDR tone mapping, I notice it switches to rec 709 and 8bit. With it off im BT.2020 10bit.

Really just want to get the tone mapping working better than the Epson 5050 and I'll stop there for now.

[wer]

You will need to match the PC output to what your projector expects.

Look in your projector documentation for information on input range or black level.  Some have adjustable settings, some don't, and many use alternative terminology.

Once you have found that and configured the PC to match, get a black level calibration video to check your work. 

Nothing we say can substitute for doing that yourself.

Remember, bluray video has a different range than your desktop, so you have to check with a video through madvr.

[platinum00]

I can set the projector to 16-235 or 0-255.  using the nvidia shield setting the PJ to16-235 worked best but by eye 0-255 seems to be better for this HTPC.

I'll run some Greyscale, Chroma Alignment and other tests this weekend.

Anything to change on the tone mapping to get 10bit BT2020?

[wer]

by eye 0-255 seems to be better for this HTPC.

That's what I would expect.  You should expect to do a bit of tweaking to get your low IRE levels (17-20) to fade out properly, unless you are lucky. 17 should be almost invisible. However (although it varies with different equipment) you may find you get a more pleasing picture if you crush blacks a bit, as not all movies are encoded as ideally as one might expect, given the money put into them.  You'll understand what I mean when you can actually see what should be the blackness of outer space appear grey on a well calibrated display.

I'll leave it to jmone to comment on the tone mapping.

[platinum00]

what does the Manage 3d Settings --> Power management mode = "Adaptive" & Vertical sync = "On" do.

I only have 3 options.
Optimal power
Adaptive
Prefer max performance .

There is no adaptive with vertical sync option

[InflatableMouse]

what does the Manage 3d Settings --> Power management mode = "Adaptive" & Vertical sync = "On" do.

I only have 3 options.
Optimal power
Adaptive
Prefer max performance .

There is no adaptive with vertical sync option

Adaptive will clock the GPU down when the load is low. When the load increases, it will increase the GPU clock frequency higher (increasing power usage). THere will be some delay in increasing clock and thus applications might see some lag, drop some frames in the first few seconds.

Prefer max performance will always clock the gpu at max frequency regardless of the load or use.

Optimal power will dynamicly reduce the power when max is requested but not actually used. Its a more intelligent mode.

I think you'll want optimal power mode, as adaptive has a small delay and prefer max will just waste power at idle.