Improved color reproduction (saturation, color contrast) in mpv (SDR)

[Jokerss2]

Hey guys!

Anyone know if it's possible to improve color rendition in viewed content in mpv player? Maybe some commands, shaders, or something else?

Because if you do it through the usual combinations 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, which are responsible for brightness, contrast, etc., then, for example, increasing saturation makes the colors lose detail and are very harsh on the eyes.

But I want a setting that has balance, but at the same time conveys the image and its color better than the standard.

I would be very grateful to anyone who helps me set this up!

[Raza-0007]

Color reproduction is mostly hardware dependent. If you have a low end gpu or a budget monitor, it does not mater what you do in mpv settings, yours colors will look washed out.

For decent hardware, I get the best color reproduction by using profile=high-quality with vo=gpu-next and gpu-api=vulkan, and also set Nvidia gpu to manage color for both my desktop and videos, enabling the highest color depth and dynamic range that my monitor can support..

Hope this helps...

[hooke007]

--vf=format

It just Applies video parameter overrides. Not upscale at all.

[Jokerss2]

Upscaling might not be there, but the colors definitely improve. I've been comparing the image with and without the filter all day, and I prefer the color rendition with the filter, even the brightness is better in some moments.

It's much more pleasant to watch, and the colors are more natural.

As I mentioned above, the main downside of this filter is that the skin of anime characters and actors in movies/series becomes darker (giving the skin a dark orange tint).

I would be very grateful if someone could help solve the problem with this skin tone

[Jokerss2]

Here's a screenshot comparison.

Top: without filter. Bottom: with filter.
Screenshot with filter has deeper, more detailed colors, but skin has an orange tint.

Unfiltered:

With filter:

[hooke007]

It just Applies video parameter overrides

the main downside of this filter

The format filter is mainly designed for 'fix' the wrong metadate in the encoding. Apply it on the common video would only show the wrong output. But you like the mistake it made. What can I say man...

[Jokerss2]

I dislike the grayish color tone in regular SDR content.

This filter makes blacks deeper and other colors more detailed and vibrant.

I prefer this to the gray and incomplete rendering without the filter.

The filter's only issue is inaccurate skin tones, which I understand is unfixable because the filter is designed to correct metadata in HDR content, right?

[Raza-0007]

Got it. I found a filter that supposedly upscales SDR content to pseudo-HDR.
I added --vf=format=colormatrix=bt.2020-cl:colorlevels=full:primaries=bt.2020:gamma=pq to my mpv.conf.
The picture looks great, but skin tones are shifted to a yellow-orange hue.

Putting a filter in between the source and output does not enhance anything, you actually lose information by using a filter. A filter is only justified when the source file is broken, or poorly encoded, and you are trying to force it back to its original parameters.

What you are doing with your example above is that you are forcing an incorrect color conversion and rendering of your source. For example, gamma=pq should only be used if your source file is encoded in 4K with HDR, and you are watching it on a HDR capable 4K screen. Otherwise it will render your file incorrectly, and this is most likely why you are getting the wrong skin tone on your SDR content. The accidental color enhancement is just due to the gamma shift causing a color imbalance.

If you are trying to watch SDR content on a 4K screen and your picture looks washed out, what you actually need is a good upscaler that will upscale your SDR content to 4K while still preserving the original color balance of the video. Your picture will look sharp and all the colors will look good and balanced. Look here for a list of some good shaders and upscalers.

If you really need excellent color reproduction then I recommend upgrading your monitor or TV to an OLED panel.

[Jokerss2]

Wow. Thanks for the reply and the shader link for quality improvements, etc.
Too bad the filter was useless.

Maybe in the future, when AI technology is advanced enough, the player will add artificial image enhancement like HDR metadata.

[Jokerss2]

Tried to figure out the filter for a couple more days.

In the end, I arrived at this balance, and now it looks the way I originally wanted.

The left photo is without the filter, the right, which is brighter, is with the filter.

If anyone is interested in the settings that helped me achieve this final result, let me know and I'll provide them.

[Jules-A]

Huh? Isn't that blue in the background meant to be sky? It looks hideous now.

[Jokerss2]

Rec.2020 has more color shades, and the sky isn't always blue, sometimes it's light blue. It's a matter of taste, of course.

Because it's just a parody of HDR. But, in my opinion, the result is good and I'm happy with it.

And if there are people who, like me, like this color rendition, it won't be difficult for me to send the settings that made this result possible. And if someone can do better (accurate color reproduction), I'll only be happy.

[kasper93]

For SDR on HDR display you might want to try --inverse-tone-mapping

[Jokerss2]

Thanks for the advice. I should try it, it might even turn out better

[Jokerss2]

I was looking for a balance to make the image brighter and the colors more saturated.

After trying many variations and command combinations, I arrived at this result.

The left screenshot is without the filter, the right one is with it:

[Jokerss2]

The following settings helped me achieve this result:

[SDR]
profile-cond-p["video-params/primaries"] and p["video-params/primaries"] ~="bt.2020"
profile-restore=copy
profile=Color-SDR
hdr-compute-peak-no
hdr-peak-percentile 99.995
hdr-contrast-recovery-0.5
hdr-peak-decay-rate=100
allow-delayed-peak-detect=no
target-colorspace-hint-yes
target-peak=100
target-prim-bt.709
target-tro-=bt.1886
tone-mapping-bt.2446a
gamut-mapping-mode=auto
tone-mapping-param=1.15
inverse-tone-mapping-yes
tone-mapping-max-boost=10
contrast-0
brightness=0
gamma-20
saturation=-40
hue=0
vf=format=fmt=nv16: colorlevels-limited:colormatrix-bt.2020-ncl:primaries=dci-p3: gamma=pq

And script:

//!HOOK OUTPUT
//!BIND HOOKED
//!DESC signal range scaling
vec4 color = HOOKED_texOff(vec2(0.0, 0.0));
vec4 hook() {
const float REFBLACK = ( -32. / 1023.);
const float REFWHITE = ( 1023. / 1023.);

color.rgb *= REFWHITE - REFBLACK;
color.rgb += REFBLACK;
return color;

}