Does the XG1v4 box support Youtube HDR?

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to reach out here. I think 4K content is super exciting. I was able to research this further and it does look like there is certain content on YouTube that is capable of 4K HDR: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/uhd-4k-faqs. 

If you wish to manually change your settings, the video display must be set to 2160p30 or 2160p60 resolution on the 4K capable Xfinity TV Box. On the XG1v4 or Xi6 TV Box, this can be done in the Settings menu on X1, and the cables provided are compatible. 

Thanks for the response, but I think you missed some details.  First, I am fairly sure the box and TV are configured correctly because the Amazon Video app shows the HDR indication on my Sony TV when I check using the action menu on the TV remote and then pick 'Picture Adjustments'.   And, for example 'The Man in the High Castle' Amazon episodes look very realistic.

However, while the Youtube app delivers 4k content which also looks 'pretty good', it does not show the HDR indication on the TV, so I am not convinced the XG1v4 is processing the VP9 profile 2 codec from Youtube and delivering it as HDR10 to the TV.    Youtube will deliver a non-HDR version to devices that do not handle their version of HDR content.   I am somewhat familiar with this issue because the Youtube app on the TV itself did not orginally handle HDR, but after some time was updated to have the necessary codec and now most Youtube content marked as HDR will show the indication when played throught the TV's own app (although some does seem to be mis-labeled...).

So, now I am curious as to whether I have missed some setup option or if everyone who thinks they are watching Youtube HDR content through the  XG1v4 is actually getting the non-HDR version instead.   Has anyone else been able to verify that their TV is displaying HDR - or is there documentation to show it handles VP9 profile 2?

Thanks, @Comcast_Support, for verifying that the app does not yet support the VP9.2 codec, and @RobertWy  for pointing out the https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/x1-youtube-app-overview which does not mention HDR specifically but does show how to display 'stats for nerds' which reveals the codec being received, among other things.  When watching an HDR video using my (Sony)TV app, this will show codec vp9.2 and color bt2020, where the same video on the Xfinity app will show codec vp9 and color bt709.   Interestingly it also shows the TV networking isn't so great and drops some frames where the X1 box does not.

I'm not sure anyone would really know the difference without a side-by-side comparison but if anyone is playing those YouTube 4k HDR demos to show off  their new TV they should know that they aren't really getting HDR from the Xfinity YouTube app yet.   As I mentioned earlier, you do get HDR through the Amazon video app.  I can't verify Netflix since I don't have the premium subscription, but I'll take their word for it.

[Another user having similar problem]

I've just tried that Stats for Nerds and the Youtube App on the X1 says it's using a 720p viewport. The content is clearly at a lower resolution than the TV or with the TV's own Youtube App. Is there any way to make the X1 app use 1080p or 4K?

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@thiagomacieira wrote:

[Another user having similar problem]

 

I've just tried that Stats for Nerds and the Youtube App on the X1 says it's using a 720p viewport. The content is clearly at a lower resolution than the TV or with the TV's own Youtube App. Is there any way to make the X1 app use 1080p or 4K?

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Time for you to learn how to use the "stats for nerds" The widow view of the stats is 720p. The rest is shown in the stats window for the rest of the screen.

It's clear to me you don't understand how to interpret the nerd specifications.

However; the best sound and picture wiil always come from using your "smart televison's" apps which get the signal directly over the high speed Internet. Getting the signal sent through another company's equipment (cable or otherwise), may end up with a degraded signal due to incompatiblities between equipment and coding.

The program coding used by You Tube, Netflix, etc., in not the same as the app found on your television in the recommended apps for your brand of television. There a way more viables that come into play. Using the correct HDMI cable carrying the largest frequency range; understanding your television's manual to obtain the best settings; connecting the S.S. sound sytem's correctly.

I have been using You Tube for 4K HDR and 3D since January 2016. It has all the test patterns, explanations, required to make sure your television has a fast enough broadband signal to get the best video or audio produced by your television.

The picture is in the eyes of the beholder. If it looks better one way you are most likely correct. I would never bother to watch something through other equipment (cable or satellite) if I can get it directly over broadband through the television. I have had no problem getting the best my 3D UHD curved television can produce.

I don't expect other companies to get all the bugs out due to the huge number and variation of UHD/HDR televisions coming on the markets. It's near impossible to make all tv's compatible with their equipment.

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@MNtundraRET wrote:

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@thiagomacieira wrote:

[Another user having similar problem]

 

I've just tried that Stats for Nerds and the Youtube App on the X1 says it's using a 720p viewport. The content is clearly at a lower resolution than the TV or with the TV's own Youtube App. Is there any way to make the X1 app use 1080p or 4K?

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Time for you to learn how to use the "stats for nerds" The widow view of the stats is 720p. The rest is shown in the stats window for the rest of the screen.

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Hello MNtundraRET

Thank you for your reply, but I didn't understand it. If the window view was 720 px tall, it should have been 1/3 of the screen at 2160px. It isn't. So what did you mean?

Also, the Youtube app on the TV has the same functionality and it says the viewport is 1920x1080 for 1080p video (same video). I can also clearly tell that the video quality is better with the TV app compared to the XG1v4.

I'm pretty sure I can understand the details, if you explain your reasoning in more detail.

At this point, I'm just interested in knowing what the Viewport entry means and why it shows 1280x720 in the X1 YouTube App but 1920x1080 in the Android TV app. All other details are the same.

Not positive, but I think 'viewport' is for the user interface GUI where you interact with the YouTube app - it is rendered to those dimentions and upscaled to fit the screen.

When a fullscreen video is showing, it is the current/optimum resolution that matter, where network bandwidth might account for a difference.   And as for HDR, youtube uses the vp9.2 codec for hdr which apparently the x1 version of the app does not support yet - possibly because Google hasn't included it in the app (which was originally the case with my Sony TV, but changed with an update) or the hardware isn't sufficient to handle it.

Got it. You're saying that the full screen video and the application control overlays may be rendered at different resolutions. The HW will do the blending after any upscaling, if necessary.

The "stats for nerds" say it's using the same codecs as the TV app, so I had assumed that it was downloading 1080p content, downscaling to 720p to fit the viewport, and then allowing the HW to upscale to 4K. If this is not it, then 

But if you're right that's not it. I still don't know why the video quality is objectively worse with the X1. 

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@lesmikesell wrote:

What setting are you using for your X1->TV connection?   And what current resolution do you see on the stats display?   On mine, I get 3840x2160@60 on both the TV and X1 apps on a video with that as the source (COSTA RICA IN 4K 60fps HDR is a good example).   And the resolution is pretty clearly the same on either app.    The difference is in the color depth and contrast in the extreme bright spots with the TV using the vp9.2 codec and bt2020 color space.   Youtube has different versions of each vidoe to match the capabilities of the apps on different devices.   The color on the non-HDR version is 'good enough' that you don't think anything is missing.   Most TVs can't display the full bt2020 color space or the nits of brightness HDR can deliver anyway, so the difference you see will depend on your TV set.

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I'm seeing 3840x2160@60Hz in both the Xfinity menus and the TV's., even while playing videos on YouTube at lower rez. Anyway, I chose a 1080p video so the codec wouldn't be an issue: the "stats for nerds" shows the same information except the Viewport on both apps.

I that case the only difference "should" be the upscaler on the TV vs the X1 box.  I'd expect a high end TV to be better, but I really can't see any difference on my Sony XBR55x900E which has pretty good video processing.     How does your other video content look?    When I first connected the XG1v4 box I thought it looked worse than the non-4k box it replaced especially with motion blur, but then found I had to connect to HDMI 2 or 3 only, and make a settings change to get HDR @60hz to the TV.  I don't understand why I had any picture at all with mismatched settings but maybe the box autoadjusts or something.  In any case I don't see any video quality problems from the X1 box now.   Do you have Amazon Prime so you can do a similar comparison with those apps?    The scenery in 'The Man in the High Castle' episodes should be good enough to show any differences and to see if your HDMI cable can carry HDR @60hz (an 18Ghz signal).

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@lesmikesell wrote:

I that case the only difference "should" be the upscaler on the TV vs the X1 box.  I'd expect a high end TV to be better, but I really can't see any difference on my Sony XBR55x900E which has pretty good video processing.     How does your other video content look?    When I first connected the XG1v4 box I thought it looked worse than the non-4k box it replaced especially with motion blur, but then found I had to connect to HDMI 2 or 3 only, and make a settings change to get HDR @60hz to the TV.  I don't understand why I had any picture at all with mismatched settings but maybe the box autoadjusts or something.  In any case I don't see any video quality problems from the X1 box now.   Do you have Amazon Prime so you can do a similar comparison with those apps?    The scenery in 'The Man in the High Castle' episodes should be good enough to show any differences and to see if your HDMI cable can carry HDR @60hz (an 18Ghz signal).

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I have a Sony XBR65x850E. So almost the same HW... The content from the TV channels themselves looks fine, as good as the previous decoder.  On your suggestion, I tried Amazon Video, the same scene from The Man in the High Castle. There's a difference, but not as glaring as with YouTube.

The display is also darker, which the TV input has always been, as I configured the brightness and contrast differently (I read somewhere that it could help reduce the audio/video lag that this TV has). So I suppose the TV is applying some post-processing that could account for this, because it definitely reverts to the defaults when starting one of the built-in apps.

I'll play with the settings and see what happens.