Imprex 2.0 image processing Experiences/Tutorial (impacting PQ seriously)

[Mount81]

 you can see clearly that the dark scenes are not dar enough, colours are not vivid and there is major greyishness present as if it is 8bit source. I have tried many-many settings and combos and it is no go. I hope the newer firmware will solve this issue soonest.

- No settings for DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD in Kodi - thus, they do not reproduce correctly. Only correctly when played via Himedia Wrapper from inside Kodi, including the Dolby Atmos.

- And, unlike HiMediaPlayer, the Kodi built-in player has issues with FPS matching - think all play at 60fps.

1. Even with 1080p/4:4:4 and HDR set in the menu, are the dark/black scenes outwashed and distorted. This one nags me the most with the Picture Quality. Even my H6400 Samsung TV's built-in player produces better and more accurate, natural picture in darker scenes in general. But I have not such a problem with the normal/"more enlighted" parts in the videos, only meanly perceptable in the darker parts (but still dissapointing enough).

2. Kodi v16 Jarvis doesn't support HD audio, such as True-HD, Atmos. (Promises are that HD audio will work in the upcoming v17 KODI, as far as I know. )

3. Theres a Topic in this forum for a KODI add-on apk, which can make KODI to be able to correct and auto framrerate switching. Here: http://www.futeko.com/newforum/index.php?topic=1015.0

[Djinn]

Futeko admin:

I think it would be desireable an official response from HiMedia about this issue. HiMedia should revise this option and clarify if the Imprex mode is actually entirely disabled when is turned off via the UI, because some users don't agree, and some others think the contrary.

Thanks in advance.

there is no processing happening, about 99% is turned off.

99% is NOT 100%. 'OFF' should mean ZERO processing. This is what we are discussing here.

[EazyVG]

Mount81>>

1. Well, HDR is only available for 4K content, as none 1080p/FHD screens can sport the specs required and not sure ever will. I have not seen any 1080p content with HDR, gaming might be a different, but again a 4K screen with specs needed.

2. Kodi, incld. 16.x actually supports TrueHD, DTS-HD (MA/RS) and Atmos - I have it on HTPC working nicely. Guess in this case it is their Android version which doesn't support.

Will give a try to SPMC (Kodi fork for Android, supported by Kodi developer(s) - read it has full HD pass-through support.

3. Yups, read about the patch, but would prefer to see it built-in - again not sure who is the culprit, the Kodi (Android version) or the HiMedia. As on HTPC the Kodi does it well. But then again - no HD Audio pass-though still.

Djinn>>

I know we need 100% OFF option, but this 99% is better than nothing, using the workaround I have described.

[futeko.com]

Kodi Android has 7.1 audio passthrough on hardly any hardware, and where it does it is via unofficial forks / patches where you are relying on the manufacturer for Kodi updates. The HiMedia solution of using the wrapper is better because it works with any vanilla Kodi.

Auto frame rate switching is also unavilable on standard Android Kodi and where it works it relies on patches supplied by manufacturers. There is a Kodi add-on available for Q5/Q10 Pro which works well: http://www.futeko.com/newforum/index.php?topic=1015.0

I have a requested a statement from HiMedia regarding turning Imprex off completely and will report back here what they say. The issue had previously been mentioned to them in a bug report filed last week.

[futeko.com]

For clarity, to turn Imprex off to it's fullest extent when playing a video go:

Menu - Advanced Options - PQ Settings, and select Imprex Engine.

Set options as follows:

[Nice Monkey]

Very strange. Most people including myself presume that Engine OFF results in all other (sub)parameters not being used (=Master Switch). Are you sure about this? Anyway will follow the advise and try it myself.

Be aware that using Imprex 2.0 again for a (single) bad quality resource will require putting all sliders back to the relevant positions. After watching they all need to be reverted again. Bad idea.

[Djinn]

A solution for the incoherent behaviour of the Imprex Engine menu has been posted here:

A new suggestion for future firmware: When users set the "Engine OFF" option to "Off", the firmware should gray all other options out PRESERVING its current values but, internally, these options would be set to OFF and "Sharpness" and "HDR Saturation" set to "50" (users won't notice in the UI this internal change). When users reenable the first option (enable the engine), the firmware should apply previously saved values for all other options and they should be unlocked. This will avoid misunderstandings and will allow users to preserve their previous setting when changing Imprex status. I insist that the UI should be intuitive and users don't have to remember the proper values to entirely disable the Imprex Engine. That will make users' life a bit more easy.

What do you think? Could it be the final solution for this issue?

[Djinn]

Any word on this? (see previous post).

Thank you again

[Eriol]

Any word on this? (see previous post).

Thank you again

Try this:
1. Launch a movie and turn on Impex if its not already
2. Go to Settings -> More -> Advance options and select "SDR" under "TV HDR Mode"
3. Launch a movie and turn off Impex completely
4. Head back to Advance options and select either "Auto" or "HDR10" if your TV supports it

This should turn off imprex almost completely. Afaik this is the only method right now to get as close as possible to "as-is" picture quality on the device.

[hdmkv]

Some discussion here @ Kodi forum.