why does 2160p colors look so bad?

[rocketman122]

im using mpc hc and im playing a 2160p file and it looks so bad. colors look flat, also seems like flat profile hdr is on. wrong colors all around. no proper contrast. something is wrong. its an mkv file.

I remember a month ago i also got a file from a friend and it looked really weird.

maybe a codec or some setting?

[davexnet]

Older release of mpc-hc required the madvr renderer; not sure if that's true with more recent releases.
mpc-be works out the box

[ProWo]

Should be HDR10 or HLG, but is encoded without the HDR metadata and so it needs tonemapping.

[usually_quiet]

im using mpc hc and im playing a 2160p file and it looks so bad. colors look flat, also seems like flat profile hdr is on. wrong colors all around. no proper contrast. something is wrong. its an mkv file.

I remember a month ago i also got a file from a friend and it looked really weird.

maybe a codec or some setting?

You could try installing MPC-BE (v1.5.4.4876 or newer) to use with MPC Video Renderer. (MPC-BE is a newer app based on MPC-HC.) You will need to install MPC Video Renderer separately.

1. Open MPC-BE and right-click the window.
2. Choose Options->Video from the pop-up menu.
3. Select MPC Video Renderer from the drop-down list of available Video renderers.
4. Press the "Properties" button, located to the right of the Video Renderer selection box.
5. Use the pop-up for MPC Video Renderer's Properties to set up HDR processing.
6. If your PC is connected to a regular HD display, make sure the box for "Convert to SDR" is checked.
7. If your PC is connected to an HDR-capable display/TV, check the "Passthrough to display" box.
8. If the display supports Dolby Vision, check the box for "Prefer Dolby Vision over PQ and HLG" too.
9. Press the "OK" button at the bottom of the MPC Video Renderer's Properties window.
10.Press the "OK" button at the bottom of the Options window.

Try playing your video to see if it looks better.

[Edit]
I decided to try using MPC Video Renderer with the latest version of MPC-HC. That combination also worked for a non-HDR display. It isn't convenient for me to try it with my UHD TV at present.

1. Open MPC-HC and click on "View" in the menu bar.
2. Choose "Options" from the View" pop-up menu. Then select Video->Output on the options page.
3. Select MPC Video Renderer from the drop-down list of available Direct Show video renderers.
4. Press the "Settings" button to the right of the Direct Show video renderer selection box.
5. Use the pop-up for MPC Video Renderer's Properties window to set up HDR processing.
6. If your PC is connected to a regular HD display, make sure the box for "Convert to SDR" is checked.
7. If your PC is connected to an HDR-capable display/TV, check the "Passthrough to display" box.
8. If the display supports Dolby Vision, check the box for "Prefer Dolby Vision over PQ and HLG" too.
9. Press the "OK" button at the bottom of the MPC Video Renderer's Properties window.
10.Press the "OK" button at the bottom of the Options window.


I forgot to say that MPC Video Renderer can use tone-mapping to simulate HDR on an SDR display.

[rgr]

MPC-HC continues to be developed, even more frequently than MPC-BE. And MPC Renderer also works in it, it is even included in the MPC-HC installer