How to remove Dolby Vision from an MKV and keep the HDR10 picture
Why some people strip Dolby Vision out of a 4K remux, what’s left afterwards, which files it works on, and how to do it on a Mac without re-encoding.
Most of the time Dolby Vision is the thing people want more of. Plenty of collectors want the opposite, though: a plain HDR10 file. Maybe something in their setup handles Dolby Vision in a way they don’t like. Maybe they want a simpler, more predictable library, or they just prefer the HDR10 version. Whatever the reason, for most remuxes it can be done without touching the picture.
Why it’s possible: the HDR10 picture is already there
In most Dolby Vision files, the Dolby Vision sits on top of an ordinary HDR picture rather than replacing it.
- Profile 7 (UHD Blu-ray) is an HDR10 base layer, an enhancement layer, and the Dolby Vision metadata (the RPU).
- Profile 8.1 is an HDR10 base layer and the RPU.
- Profile 8.4 is an HLG base layer and the RPU.
Removing Dolby Vision means taking the RPU out of every frame, and for profile 7 the enhancement layer as well. What’s left is the base layer, exactly as it was. The HDR10 metadata stays, and so does HDR10+ if the file has it.
When it isn’t possible
Profile 5 has nothing underneath. Its base layer only looks right with the Dolby Vision metadata applied, so there’s no HDR10 picture to keep. Turning profile 5 into HDR10 means re-encoding the video, which is a different and lossy job. Profile 5 mostly turns up in files from streaming services rather than discs.
Think twice about full enhancement layers. HDR10 playback never uses the enhancement layer, so the HDR10 picture you keep is the same either way. But if a profile 7 file has a full enhancement layer, the new file can never be turned back into the full Dolby Vision version. Keep the original if you might want that one day. There’s more in how to tell a FEL from a MEL.
The manual way
Broadly: extract the HEVC video from the MKV, use dovi_tool to strip the RPU (and, for profile 7, separate out the base layer), then mux the video back in with the original audio, subtitles and chapters in MKVToolNix. Make sure the container no longer declares Dolby Vision, or players may still treat the file as Dolby Vision. Then check nothing went missing. It’s fine for one film. It’s a slog across a library.
With Remux Doctor
Remux Doctor does it as one fix.
- Drop in files or a folder. Each file is explained in plain English, including its Dolby Vision profile and whether the picture underneath is HDR10 or HLG.
- Choose a target with no Dolby Vision. There’s a ready-made HDR10 · no Dolby Vision target you can use as it is or edit. Every Dolby Vision file is flagged, and a profile 5 file tells you why it can’t be fixed without re-encoding.
- Fix, one file at a time or with Fix All. MKV files are fixed directly. When the steps run together, an MP4 or MOV is remuxed into MKV first.
The result is a new file. Its video is read back and checked against what was written before the file is kept, and your original stays where it is.
Going the other way
If you change your mind later, keep the originals of anything you care about. And if you’d rather keep Dolby Vision but make a profile 7 file single-layer, that’s a different fix: converting profile 7 to 8.1.
Examining and checking files is free, and so is fixing your first three files, so you can try it on a film and check the result on your own setup first. 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.