I use Pop!_OS on my laptop without any trouble, but my main home PC still runs Windows 10 because I watch many different types of media on it. I have an OLED display and increasingly watch Dolby Vision content. On Windows, I use MPC-HC with madVR for 4K and Dolby Vision files, although some files still require MPV. VLC handles most of the other formats. Since I already need several players on Windows, I'm wondering how practical this is on Linux. What players or setup do you use for 4K HDR and Dolby Vision, and how reliable is playback?
2 Answers
Plex, MPV, and Kodi are all available on Linux and can handle Dolby Vision content, depending on the file and display setup. For video quality, make sure you’re comparing the same source—for example, two encodes made from the same Blu-ray—because differences in mastering and transcoding can matter more than Dolby Vision versus HDR itself.
Dolby Vision support can be awkward even on Windows, especially with downloaded files. On an LG OLED, standard HDR10 is often much simpler and more dependable. If a Dolby Vision file gives you trouble, looking for an HDR10 version may be the easiest solution.
That makes sense, but I do prefer the look of Dolby Vision when it works. Around 80% of my files play correctly with MPC-HC, so I’m mainly trying to find out whether MPV, Kodi, or another Linux player can provide similarly reliable HDR playback.