SDR vs HDR10 vs Dolby Vision Comparison, Halo the Master Chief Collection. Possible Issues...

FYI: Very long and informative post.

Hello friends. I’ve been part of the Insider Beta trying out Dolby Vision gaming for some time now. In my time using it, I’ve noticed some prominent issues with Dolby Vision on my current hardware, predominately in chrominance overshoot (I believe) resulting in an over brightened image, that results in a washed out on certain games. Some people haven’t believed I am experiencing this, so I decided to make some comparison screenshots regarding the issue. I will note that some users may actually “prefer” this kind of image over a more darker “saturated” image, but a picture tells 1000 words.

I will start off with some of the basics, all 3 picture modes (SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision) were calibrated to all the same settings across the board for parity. I am using a 4K HDR LG OLED E7P, and recorded these screenshots on an IPhone X in HDR mode. I uploaded these photos to Flickr so that minimal loss of quality and resolution is experienced. It’s also important to note, that without viewing on an HDR display, some photos may seem “over saturated” than they actually appear, and is hard to truly represent 100% what I am seeing in person.

To see which photo is which, press the “information” icon to see which is Dolby Vision, HDR10, and SDR. Feel free to zoom in to see the additional details up close. It is best to view these photos, either on a desktop, or through the Flickr mobile app.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193129917@N03/shares/Rk2DV9

First screenshot: Main Menu.

Pay close attention to the Nameplate and exchange item banner. In both SDR and HDR10, both cards display accurately, however in Dolby Vision, it is over brightened, and “blown out”.

Second Screenshot: Sierra 117, beginning scene.

3 areas to note in comparison of these images is the assault rifle, the blades of grass, and the structure in the middle. In both SDR and HDR10, the highlights of the structure are brightened without losing detail, but in the Dolby Vision version, the highlights are once again blown out and you loose highlight detail. Also take note of the blades of grass, where the blades are more pronounced in the HDR10 version, whereas Dolby Vision looses some of those details in terms of sheer brightness. The assault rifle in HDR10 offers a more darker tint while still preserving shadow detail while once again the Dolby Vision version tends to “over-brighten” the assault rifle.

3rd Screenshot: Halo Beginning Scene

This one is harder to see in picture but is much more noticeable in person. In general you can see that HDR10 offers a more darker punchier image, compared to a brighter more blown out one in Dolby Vision. Note again the grass in the Dolby Vision version appears over brightened and “neon” compared to the HDR10 and SDR counterpart. Also take note of the slighter darker Assault Rifle in the HDR10 version, and how the battle damage is visible, however is missing in the Dolby Vision version.

4th Screenshot: The Silent Cartographer Beginning Scene

This one is definitely the most noticeable and surprising. Again, important places to note is the assault rifle, the grass in the photo, the sand on the ground, the exhaust of the pelican, the trees in the corner on the left, and the structure in the distance. In the Dolby Vision version, you can see a massive over-brightening of the entire image. The image is more “blown out” resulting in a more washed out look. The trees in the background as well as the structure completely lose the shadow detail. You can see the neon tint in the grass and sand, as well as the texture detail that is lost in the Dolby Vision version compared to its HDR10 and SDR counterpart. Take note how brightened the Assault Rifle is in the Dolby Vision version, which again looses some shadow detail compared to its counterparts. The final thing to note is the exhaust fumes on the pelican, despite the Dolby Vision picture being “brighter” you can notice in the HDR10 version, the exhaust is actually hitting higher peak lumems in HDR10, which is something I’ve noticed in my time comparing the two. HDR is about the difference between the darkest black, and whitest white, which I think HDR10 hits better in this scenario.

Other issues I’ve noticed with Dolby Vision in my playing is a general “over-softening” of the image in general, as well as noticeable input lag despite being in “Dolby Vision Game Mode”

Again, this is just a small collection of comparisons I have made, and these issues are prevalent across a multitude of games. I have talked to other insiders who have reported similar issues regarding Dolby Vision, while others have said they love it. This could simply be down to preference of the image but I think there may be other factors involved as well.

Their could be issues with the TV manufactures, and not running the most up to date version of Dolby Vision on older TV sets, it could be an issue on Microsoft’s end regarding it implementation, or even an underlying problem with Dolby Vision itself from Dolby Laboratories. Maybe this is how they wanted it to be, but I don’t think that is the case, as Dolby Vision for streaming gives you those deep blacks and bright highlights as it should, compared to a general over-brightening and washing out that in seeing here.

Another theory I have, is that Dolby Vision on my set, is simply just taking a Rec709 (8-bit) image and adding some kind of colour/brightness filter over top of it to perceive an “HDR effect” (similar to what Red Dead Redemption 2 implemented it HDR10), rather than rendering the image in native DCI-P3 or REC2020 as it should be (10-bit and 12-bit), but this I wouldn’t know for certainty either. Maybe this is just an issue with the fact that none of these games were designed with Dolby Vision in mind, and that these games need to be designed with Dolby Vision in the first place to take full advantage of it. All I know, is that for many games, I prefer the darker more contrasty HDR10 image compared to the brightened over saturated Dolby Vision counterpart, to the point where I’ve had to disable Dolby Vision entirely from the console, loosing out on my streaming access.

What Microsoft can do to help mitigate these issues.

First thing is within the console wide HDR calibration tool, is to let us calibrate HDR10 and Dolby Vision independently, along with HGIG compatibility for Dolby Vision.

Another great suggestion is to allow us to choose which HDR method we prefer on a game-by-game basis, rather than having to disable it from a console wide setting, that way we don’t have to choose between bad Dolby Vision games and Good ones, or even Dolby Vision streaming.

3rd is Microsoft needs to work with Dolby Laboratories, as well as the TV manufactures, to make sure all firmware and software is up to snuff, so that you don’t have one TV set that does have issues, and another one where it’s working perfectly fine.

This isn’t a dig at Dolby or anything like that, I’m actually a huge Dolby Vision fan, but I’m hoping this post will shed some light over some of the issues I’ve experienced on my set. How has your experience been with Dolby Vision, have you noticed some of the same things I have, comment below along with what TV your using it on. The more information Microsoft has, the better Dolby Vision gaming will improve over time.

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