I will need to capture a log. The Ghost in the Shell release in question is a hybrid remux with P7 FEL, but from a very well known group.
I can confirm I have the same behavior on Gran Turismo and Dune. Both at the times you mentioned.
Ghost in the Shell does the exact same thing for me, but I wonder if it’s something specific to the hybrid release that’s causing it.
All 3x play fine on my Zidoo Z9X Pro with the Zidoo fork of PM4K
Here is a log file while playing Dune. It freezes at 1:25. Doesn’t look like there is anything in the log.
kodi.log (8.1 KB)
Behavior seems random, Men in Black plays fine most of the time, I got Gran Turismo to play a couple of times but Dune always freezes.
With P7 MEL files try switching CE DV compatibility to 8.1
No, there is no MEL to P8.1, only FEL to P8.1
Try building from bdmv files via mkvtoolnix, that’s what I did. I checked like first 7 minutes it was fine. I plan to watch some movies today and maybe over weekend, I’ll update if there will be any issues with playback.
Have you tried switching CE DV compatibility to 8.1 for problem MEL files.
“YES” because MEL is actually closer to 8.1.
Presumably those guys with freezing problems in P7 MEL have compatibility set to Lossless, which is fine for P7 FEL but causes problems in some MEL.
SO to explain P7 MEL is basically a HDR10 base layer plus RPU.
P8.1 is also just HDR10 base layer plus RPU.
So CE set to P8.1 actually works better for MEL files as it just plays the HDR10 base layer plus RPU.
Yes, as expected this fixes the issue.
But I hope something can be done about this. Otherwise to avoid interruptions while watching something I would have to keep track of what is mel or fel and change settings.
Also, I just checked monsoon’s build of Kodi on Android and I didn’t have any freezing issues there.
To devs, if it’s possible to fix this issue I’m more than willing to help provide logs etc.
By the way, it seems blu-ray players also have issues with st mel files:
Dolby_Vision_stuff - Google Sheets
Thanks for testing @Kaan
I actually posted about this issue with MEL in lossless 21 days ago and also provided the hopefully temporary fix.
We will need a sample to reproduce the “issue”.
So please share some file or at least a piece of to be able to test.
Where would one share such a file exactly? They aren’t exactly…
@Portisch, I can add you to my Plex server. You will find the remuxes discussed hosted on there.
If you agree, send me your e-mail.
I tried to make samples with mkvtoolnix.
Unfortunately when I test the samples in CE they play perfectly with no pause. Played the complete remux and again and it paused at the usual place. Unfortunately the movie is 76Gb…
The Fifth Element Studiocanal (7:20) pauses on a Mondoshawan knee while they are walking into the Egyptian Temple.
Regarding the “issue” I would’ve tried to upload a sample earlier but as no one else had a similar problem with MEL in the following 3 weeks I just presumed it was a one off, maybe just my box or that particular file.
Is there a nightly for Amlogic-ng-dv? I see it listed in some of the nightly changelogs, but I don’t see a zip or tar on the relkai, only the non -dv version.
I also ran the whole file through mkvtoolnix minus a few subtitles and it still paused at the same place, kind of odd that it doesn’t with a 5.76GB sample file.
It also doesn’t happen every time but I couldn’t figure out why. Only Dune seems to never work.
Dolby vision is more hassle than it’s worth,and ive not seen one yet that I haven’t preferred the hdr version,most d vision I’ve seen has a horrible grainy look
First off - this is great work, really enjoying the DV from tiles like Beverly Hills Cop (regardless if the RPU is not ideally handled by the TV but on the SOC) along side the full lossless Atmos / X audio.
For me - using a Ugoos AM6B+, I can replicate the issue discussed consistently at the same points / timecodes for a subset of Minimum Enhancement Layer (MEL) DV mkvs made from UHD disks.
FEL play fine no issues on any so far
MEL where the EL layer is a HEVC of padded 0 data - normally around 2000 kbps HEVC (frames+RPU metadata) stream, also play fine no issues on any so far.
MEL where the EL layer is a HEVC with “no” data - normally around 50-100 kbps HEVC (frames+RPU metadata) stream, always has issues at same points, some right from the opening titles.
(Note: the MEL with “no” data also play fine when switching down from lossless to Convert to MEL, P8)
Dune is an example of the last type a “no” data MEL - HEVC EL layer, basically just the RPU metadata in SEI of the HEVC stream. For this title I see the same issues at the same point as seen by others.
Looking at the bitrate for EL layer is typically enough to identify MEL vs FEL, the “no” data MEL in particular.
For those who want to identify definitively what the EL layer is, (presuming you have a mkv with the video in a single HEVC Container track) do the following:
Extract the HEVC Container Track from the mkv - using ffmpeg or mkvextract
Demux the Enhancement Layer (EL) from the HEVC Container Track - using dovi_tool
Make a new mkv from the extracted EL and play.
You will see a consistent unchanging green screen played in VLC, Infuse, IINA etc. for the “no” data MEL and I also see the same unchanging green screen for the 0 padded MEL (though others have said they see a grey screen for these), for an FEL title I get light grey/grey with some changing patterns and mild magenta/green - with more detail the higher the bitrate of the FEL (this is the extra “2 bits” of information DV will reuse to reconstruct the final output close to the original 12bit master)
Thinking out aloud and depending how far down the chain the player is processing the layers - one theoretical solution to the playback issue maybe to pad the “no” data MEL in real-time to act like a 0 padded MEL.
Hope the above is useful!
You haven’t seen proper DV stuff, or there is something wrong with your equipment…
Care to mention which DV stuff has “horrible grainy look” ? If you think about converted old movies, than grain is something that’s meant to be present 
Btw, I also take DV to be overrated, except in “state of the art” equipment where it does bring some pleasing experience, but certainly nothing to die for IMHO…
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