YouTube HDR... finally

[Kuschelmonschter]

YouTube HDR content is finally available!

You will find a playlist here. However, these clips will be played as SDR on Sonys for now.

With youtube-dl you can find vp9.2 encodings for those clips:

330          webm       256x144    144p60  156k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 2.38MiB
331          webm       426x240    240p60  256k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 3.87MiB
332          webm       640x360    360p60  485k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 7.35MiB
333          webm       854x480    480p60  909k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 13.83MiB
334          webm       1280x720   720p60 1991k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 28.18MiB
335          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 3201k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 49.70MiB
336          webm       2560x1440  1440p60 11166k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 170.23MiB
337          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 20122k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 335.45MiB

Those are webm however which the native Video app won't play.

We will see whether we will get support for it soon, even for the early 2016 models with the old MediaTek SoC from last year. At least Sony promised that back at CES:

Spoiler

YouTube will also start streaming in HDR quality later this year, using a new VP9-Profile 2 codec that brings HDR support to Google’s VP9 video format. Sony’s Motoi Kawamura, Head of TV Product Planning for Sony Europe, confirmed to FlatpanelsHD that the 2016 models will support VP9-Profile 2 and be capable of streaming YouTube in HDR. We saw a demo at CES and it looked very good.

Source

[dutchice]

Is your Prime Video app at revision 4.4?

[Kuschelmonschter]

Think it is the latest one from the Play Store, so 4.5.17. But it does not matter a lot, as the app is only a WebView displaying some web page which can be changed in the back without updating the app. Depending on the region, you might see a different web page anyway...

[dutchice]

With my Prime Video app at 4.5.17, I have the row order as follows:

1. Watch Next
2. Included with Prime: Recommended TV
3. Included with Prime: Recommended Movies
4. Included with Prime: Prime Original Series in 4K Ultra HD
5. All the rest (e.g. video channels, more like, Drama movies, ...)

Maybe you need to flush the cache for the app for it to fetch the right order (post your upgrade from Amazon Prime to Prime Video).

[stormyuk]

---

@Kuschelmonschterwrote:

---

@stormyukschrieb:

Yeh I had the same issue, you have to manually scroll down pages to find the 4K stuff, it's rediculous. Using the search does not result in 4K. So yeh it's a case of just scrolling down the main screen and finding the 4K section.

---

Thanks. Found it. They really seem to be hiding 4K stuff now as you really have to scroll a long time to get there.

---

Yup, it's really hidden now as though they don't want people using it!!

[Jecht_Sin]

So... my brother in law has got a 4K HDR Telefunken TV with an anonimous quite skinned OS and.. HDR does work in YouTube. The YouTube app is not even the latest release, it's like the v2.0 in Android TV (medium size red menu panel, the same in the PS4 and Apple TV 4K).

Is it really too much to ask Sony/Mediatek to fix those awful API/Codecs??

[Kuschelmonschter]

All newer TVs can play Google's YouTube HDR by now, just check FlatpanelsHD reviews... the likes of Samsung, LG, Panasonic... they all can do it. Only Google's own platform can't play it. That's really a testament to where Android TV stands...

[rooobb]

I do not think is anything technical since we have all seen now the the app working also on android. It is something to do with Google strategy that is really incomprehensible 

[dutchice]

As far as I am aware and can share, support for the HDR10 VP9.2 as well as HLG VP9.2 is part of the 2018 SONY product roadmap. It will be initially introduced packaged with Oreo on the 2018 models and subsequently also on the older models as part of their upgrade to Oreo. Keep an eye for IFA Berlin where other welcomed announcements will be made. 

[Jecht_Sin]

---

@rooobbwrote:

I do not think is anything technical since we have all seen now the the app working also on android. It is something to do with Google strategy that is really incomprehensible 

---

So in your opinion Google is forcing Sony to not play correctly VP9.2 videos? We have seen already that the ATV2 models are capable of playing VP9.2 HDR content using non Google apps like Plex and Smart YouTube, but they fail to show the right colour space (BT.2020). Other apps like Sony's Video and Kodi didn't even play them in HDR the last time I checked. Actually, I doubled checked now: Video doesn't play VP9.2 videos in HDR indeed:

As we had seen in this post that even the app v1.0 was able to play AVC1 HDR videos (now removed by Google) in HDR. I tested them myself at the time. If there is any Google policy about HDR I believe it's about not showing HDR videos not in VP9.2 format.

Seriously, I'd love to know how Google can tell Sony: "Hey! You're not allowed to play in HDR videos coded with my open and royalty free video standard!" 

[rooobb]

Simply i do not think Sony can implement anything in YouTube app. Do you know if any other android tv platform is capable to play them? Afaik even Nvidia shield cannot and it is using the only an more powerful chipset available for android tv