RPi + Other Software Ambilight with RPi4, hdmi grabber and Denon AV-reciever

Hi all,
I am not sure if the forum language must be englisch, or if german would be also ok. But I will write in englisch due to the fact that more people will understand it.

I am planning to buy an LG OLED tv 65” and mount it onto the wall. Furthermore, I will buy a Denon AV receiver x3600h which has 8 HDMI in and 3 HDMI out (4k60Hz) ports. To the HDMI in ports I will connect an Apple TV 4k and ps3/4. The HDMI Out 1 will directly connected to the LG OLED tv and the HDMI Out 2 to an HDMI grabber (which would you recommend?). The grabber will be connected via USB3 to my Raspbi 4b 4GB with Raspbian and Hyperion NG. (see attached picture) This should work fine, or did I understand something wrong?

Now, if I am watching TV over the AppleTV I should have Ambilight. If I watch Netflix/Prime/Disney+/… with the AppleTV do I also have Ambilight? Or is there an encryption which the Raspbi isn’t capable of?

I have read that there is a problem with Ambilight in combination with HDR/DolbyVison. Would it somehow be possible that I convert the video signal from the HDMI Out 2 (which goes to the Grabber) to SDR in order to not have the problems even if I am watching HDR/Vison content on the LG TV?


Thank you in advance!

Best regards,

Franz

 

For HDR go with HDfury or a webcam grabber.

 

Hey @u20p17

Did you ever get a finalized set up? I have an onkyo with a second HDMI out and want to do the same thing.

@Claudio Branco

What webcam grabber do you advise? I have looked over the forums and don't see any specific mentions.

 

I tested similar setup on newest Denon x2700h (HDR10+ and Dolby Vision theoretically possible) and I failed with simply HDR output on both devices. The devices received the split & processed signal but the quality was affected. I suspect the grabber is the problem as it probably reports EDID that causes amplifier to choose wrong (not optimal) format that fits both.

 

Is it possible to use the component out without a loss in resolution? Could be paired with those rca capture cards

 

the problem with this kind of setup is AVR always decides the lowest quality of both outputs. since OUT2 will say it can't handle HDR and/or cant do HDCP handshake, Netflix and other 4K HDR sources will output SDR and even sometimes 1080p signal. that means your shiny 4K HDR tv is worthless .

Solution (i am still working on this):
option1: put a HDfury DrHDMI right after out2 of AVR. you can set a profile in this device and the Sources will see 4K HDR and no HDCP problem. after DrHDMI you have HDR signal, which needs to be converted to SDR...for this you can use HDfury X4.

option2: HDFury DIVA....this device takes a HDMI source (actually it has 4 HDMI input), and spits 3 signal...4K HDR (goes to TV), 1080p SDR (goes to RPi), 1080p with full audio (can be hooked to a AVR, but you can ignore if you use this after AVR)

unfortunately whole setup cost a lot

 

Knowing just a little about HDR content and HDMI standards, I am not surprised this is such a complicated process. I just wish there was a simpler/cheaper way to get ambilight working with quality content.

As far as all the HDfury stuff goes, at this point there is no way I am paying that much for a diva. Its literally half the cost of my TV and more than I paid for my AVR. The reason I got the receiver I have is because I thought the second HDMI would allow for a less complicated setup for ambilight, but I have now learned HDR completely screws that up.

 

It costs just around 50 euros and almost everything works with 4K, HDCP and HDR.

https://feintech.eu/hdmi-splitter-fuer-2-displays
WisFox USB Grabber

Regards pclin

 

I've got a Denon x3500h so should work similarly to the OPs, this allows you to select one of the monitor ports to get the handshake info from and force it onto the other. I know this works with 1080p at least as that's how I found out the capture card recommended by @pclin won't accept a 1080p 24Hz signal. If I set it to auto you get the scenario you describe where the signal is changed to 60Hz which the grabber does support. Ironically it claims it accepts 2160 24Hz!

What I need is a grabber that can accept 1080p 24Hz if anyone knows one that is a sensible price? No need for 4k input currently if that helps.

 

Have you tried forcing it to use the handshake from one output under HDMI Video Output?

http://manuals.denon.com/AVRX2700H/NA/EN/GFNFSYmlxuhedk.php

 

No, because I dont want to set any constant resolution on TV as my player PC using best resolution (both 1080 & 4K and various refresh rate, always HDR) for each movie. Possible solution would be passthrou on OUTPUT1 (TV) and forced format on OUTPUT2 (ezcap 269 grabber) but it seems that it's not possible, Ezcap can handle HDR for some extend but if I connect it to the OUTPUT2 on AUTO denon disables HDR for both: TV and ezcap.

Currently my PC has graphic card with 2 outputs and I use it: one to the ezcap->tv, second to the denon only for sound output.

 

You totally misunderstood, I didn't say anything about fixing the output to the TV, in fact the complete opposite, the TV will accept any output it is capable of like it should and you want, Monitor 2 just gets the same regardless of it's capabilities. So if the TV can accept HDR, both outputs will get HDR.

 

No, thats not the case. TV didnt received the HDR if that grabber was connected to the denon. The image was downgraded.

 

Have you actually tried setting it to Monitor 1 with the TV connected to Monitor 1 because that is how it works. you only say you've tried Auto and that doesn't work which is what you would expect.

 

I have the same challenge, using monitor out of my Denon X3700H connected to the cheap WisFox USB Grabber while keeping HDR capabilities on the main screen. I understand this is probably not possible, but I'm curious what exactly you mean by "forcing it to use the handshake from one output under HDMI Video Output" @Biggles, because I can't find any settings on the Denon to do so.

 

As per above post, set HDMI Video Output to Montior 1, see page below for details, which your TV should be connected to and connect the grabber to Monitor 2. The source will only negotiate with the TV so keeps the HDR and then pushes the same signal out of Monitor 2 ignoring what it would report as it's capabilities.

http://manuals.denon.com/AVRX2700H/NA/EN/GFNFSYmlxuhedk.php

 

Thanks for the clarification. I'll play around with this later today and will share my results.

 

So if I set HDMI Video Output to Monitor 1 instead of "Auto (Dual)" Monitor 2 just doesn't output anything: Hyperion gets a black screen as input (even on non HDR content). Setting it to "Auto (Dual)" works again, but no HDR on both outputs. So I am not sure how this works for you.

 

Strange, perhaps they've changed the way it works on the 700s but it's still worded the same way in the 500 manuals.

What do you get for the below under 'Information' when set to Monitor 1? On mine 1 and 2 say the same thing and when set to Auto, Monitor 2 changes to the grabbers info.

 

@Biggles
What happens when you play an HDCP signal?

Normally you shouldn't get a picture with either monitor.
That should actually only work with FeinTech Splitter/Matrix or HDFury.

Regards pclin