How to add Dolby Vision to an HDR10+ file, without re-encoding
An HDR10+ file can gain Dolby Vision profile 8.1 made from its own HDR10+ metadata. Here’s how that works, what it is and isn’t, and how to do it on a Mac.
HDR10+ and Dolby Vision do a similar job. Both add dynamic metadata to an HDR10 picture, describing scene by scene how bright it is, so a display can map it to what the screen can actually show. The trouble is that plenty of displays support only one of the two. If yours does Dolby Vision but not HDR10+, an HDR10+ file falls back to plain HDR10 and the dynamic metadata goes unused.
Making Dolby Vision from HDR10+
Because both formats describe the same thing, the HDR10+ metadata can be used to generate Dolby Vision metadata (an RPU) for every frame. The result is a Dolby Vision profile 8.1 file: the same HDR10 picture, with the new Dolby Vision metadata added. The HDR10+ metadata stays too, so the file carries both.
The picture itself is never touched. Only metadata is added.
What it is, and what it isn’t
It’s worth being clear about this. Dolby Vision on a disc is authored by a colourist, with trims made for different displays. Dolby Vision generated from HDR10+ is a conversion of the HDR10+ metadata, not a new grade. It’s as good as the HDR10+ metadata it came from. Some people prefer the result on their setup, some can’t tell the difference, and some prefer plain HDR10. Try it on one film before converting a library.
What a file needs
- HEVC video in HDR10, carrying HDR10+ metadata.
- HDR10+ on every frame. If the metadata stops partway, Dolby Vision can’t be made for the whole film.
- No Dolby Vision already. If a file has both, there’s nothing to add.
HDR10+ shows up on a number of UHD Blu-rays and on many streaming releases.
The manual way
Extract the HDR10+ metadata with hdr10plus_tool, generate an RPU from it with dovi_tool (along with a small config describing the mastering display), inject the RPU into the HEVC stream, then mux everything back together in MKVToolNix and declare the track as Dolby Vision. Check the frame counts match at every step, because a mismatch puts the metadata out of sync with the picture.
With Remux Doctor
Remux Doctor does it as one fix from a file’s page.
- Drop in the file. Remux Doctor tells you in plain English whether it has HDR10+, alongside its other HDR details, audio and subtitles.
- Choose Add Dolby Vision 8.1 made from HDR10+. If the file’s metadata doesn’t cover every frame, it says so and saves nothing.
- Check the result. The new file is checked before it’s kept: the picture is unchanged, there’s Dolby Vision on every frame, and the HDR10+ is still there.
The fix works on MKV files; when the steps run together, an MP4 is remuxed into MKV first. Your original stays where it is, so you can compare the two on your own setup and keep whichever you prefer.
Remux Doctor makes no promises about what any display or player will do with a file. It tells you, factually, what’s in it. Examining files is free, and your first three files can be fixed free; after that, fixes are a one-time unlock with Family Sharing. Remux Doctor is coming soon for Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 15 or later.