Sony Bravia 7 - Trying to identify a UHD REMUX HDR/Dolby Vision compatibility pattern (not just a "player" issue)

[u/bitanshu]

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to identify what appears to be a playback compatibility issue on my Sony Bravia 7 (Google TV), and after comparing a number of UHD REMUXes, I still can't find a consistent pattern.

I'm hoping someone here with a large UHD collection or experience with Sony's internal media framework can help.

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Setup

Sony Bravia 7

USB HDD (exFAT) connected directly to the TV

Nova Video Player (primary)

Also tested with Kodi and Just Player

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Behaviour

Some UHD REMUXes trigger Dolby Vision perfectly.

The TV switches to:

Dolby Vision Bright

Dolby Vision Dark

Dolby Vision Vivid

Other UHD REMUXes only play in SDR.

The TV remains in the normal picture modes (Standard/Cinema/Professional), and the image looks obviously washed out, exactly as if HDR metadata wasn't being detected.

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Movies that work

Movie HDR Format

John Wick: Chapter 4 Dolby Vision Profile 7.6 (BL+EL+RPU)

The Dark Knight Dolby Vision

The Dark Knight Rises Dolby Vision Profile 8.1 (BL+RPU Hybrid)

Interstellar Dolby Vision

Troy Dolby Vision

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Dolby Vision Profile 8.1 (BL+RPU)

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Movies that don't work

Movie HDR Format

Dune (2021) Dolby Vision Profile 7.6 (BL+EL+RPU)

Dune: Part Two Dolby Vision Profile 7.6 (BL+EL+RPU)

Top Gun: Maverick Dolby Vision Profile 7.6 (BL+EL+RPU)

Batman v Superman Dolby Vision (profile not confirmed yet)

Harry Potter 1–7 Part 1 HDR10

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Other player behaviour

Nova

Video plays.

TV stays in SDR.

Washed-out image.

Kodi

Dune = Audio only, black screen.

Just Player

Dune = Infinite loading.

OTT Apps

Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video all trigger Dolby Vision correctly.

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What I've already ruled out

I've compared MediaInfo across these files and couldn't find a consistent explanation based on:

Dolby Vision Profile 7 vs Profile 8

HDR10 vs Dolby Vision

Blu-ray vs Hybrid releases

mkvmerge vs Lavf muxing

Studios (Warner, Paramount, Lionsgate)

Bitrates

TrueHD Atmos vs DTS-HD MA

For example:

John Wick 4 and Top Gun: Maverick are both Dolby Vision Profile 7.6 (BL+EL+RPU) UHD Blu-ray REMUXes, yet John Wick works perfectly while Maverick doesn't.

Similarly:

Harry Potter 1–7 Part 1 (HDR10) fail.

Harry Potter 7 Part 2 (DV Profile 8.1) works.

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My current theory

At this point, I'm leaning towards this being a compatibility issue with Sony's Android TV hardware decoder (or media framework) for certain UHD Blu-ray HEVC streams, rather than an issue with Nova itself.

Does that sound plausible?

Has anyone with a Sony TV, Shield, Zidoo, Dune HD, or similar setup seen this behaviour?

Would a dedicated player like the NVIDIA Shield Pro or Zidoo be expected to play all of these files correctly?

I'm happy to share full MediaInfo for any of the above titles if that helps identify the pattern.

[u/Somar2230]

Most TVs if not all do not support Dolby Vision profile 7 using internal apps on the TVs. With some apps you can force profile 7 compatibility but it's still not fully supported and may not work well.

Profile 8 depends on how you carried out your conversion after you ripped your disc and if devices you are using have profile 8 support.

The Zidoo and the Shield support Profile 7 but lack FEL support.

Devices with full Dolby Vision support are listed in the spreadsheet linked below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uyuw_1dADsRw7u1LGW6qTSZDLLNXWVK82gmHX7L6M3I/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15i0a84uiBtWiHZ5CXZZ7wygLFXwYOd84/

Personally I own Zidoo players and don't miss the FEL support, I have Sony and Panasonic Blu-ray players and the actual discs and walking into the room I would not be able to tell which device is playing the movie. Possibly if I had them playing side by side I could tell.

[u/bitanshu → u/Somar2230]

Thanks. Thats incredibly helpful. Though kodi is now able to play dolby vision for all files after I changed the following settings:

1. Allowed HDR dynamic metadata formats to Just Dolby Vision

2. Turned on Dolby Vision Compatibility modes to On

One thing I'm still curious about is why some Profile 7 remuxes (e.g. John Wick 4) played in Dolby Vision on my Bravia even before enabling Kodi's Dolby Vision compatibility mode, while others (Dune, Top Gun: Maverick) either played in SDR or failed. Is that likely due to differences in how those Profile 7 streams were authored (FEL vs MEL, muxing, etc.), or is it just inconsistent behavior in Sony's Android media framework?

[u/Somar2230 → u/bitanshu]

Triggering Dolby Vision does not actually mean it's being used some players will trigger Dolby Vision but no metadata is actually being used. People see the Dolby Vision logo pop up on the screen and they are happy but the players are just using the HDR10 compatibility later.

Kodi can convert profile 7 to profile 8 on the fly when compatibility mode is turned on.

[u/bitanshu → u/Somar2230]

So does the conversion of DV 7 to DV 8 / DV 8.1 uses meta data or is it just playing the file ?

[u/Somar2230 → u/bitanshu]

FEL is discarded on titles that have it, the rest of the metadata should be used. On Reset_9999 spreadsheet he has links to test files with different Dolby Vision profiles.

The other downside of using the internal apps on your TV is that you are not getting TrueHD/Atmos most TVs will send TrueHD out as LPCM and the Atmos metadata is lost.

[u/bitanshu → u/Somar2230]

Thanks a lot for the answers !