Best fix for washed out exports?

Hi

I've had a problem many have had whilst working in Resolve on a Mac, everything looks fine in the project, but then looks washed out/low contrast/lacking in saturation when exported, or uploaded to Youtube etc.

I have seen two apparent fixes to this shared a lot on Youtube. Most people advise to check 'Use Mac display color profile for viewers'. This changes the way everything looks in Resolve, and would mean re grading any old projects you might go back to.

The other option is on the Deliver page, in advanced settings, to choose :
Color Space Tag - P3-DCI (some people say P3D65)
Gamma Tag - Rec.709-A

This second option is what I've been using, and whilst not 100% identical, it's close...in VLC, Quicktime, and when uploaded to Youtube etc.

I'm just confused which is the best way to work out of these options? I know its a complicate issue, and these are essentially work arounds.But many of us are just working on our uncalibrated MacBook screens and just want exports to look as similar as possible to what we are working on.

The issues I worry about is that with one of these options you are either 'under grading' or 'over grading' footage, which surely has an effect on shadow noise, highlights etc. and that if you were to pass the project on to someone working on a different setup it would look all wrong to them. I'm so confused, and the more I read the more confused I get!

Also in project settings I have been using Rec709-A for Timeline color space and Output color space. What should I be using here? I read that Davinci WG/intermediate would be the best option for Timeline color space, but what to use for output color space?

If anyone can help me here in simple language I'd really appreciate it! Some of the long responses I've read elsewhere I've just not understood. I know it's a messy issue, but my goal is simply to have what I export look as similar as possible to what I see in Resolve, and for clients to see it similarly when using popular players like VLC or Quicktime, and obviously when ending up online, Youtube, Vimeo etc

thank you!

Anyone?

Don't use p3, stick with 709/709A

Don't use p3, stick with 709/709A

But then it comes out washed out/low contrast. As I mentioned I've seen the above 'fixes' and wondering which is the lesser of two evils!

The issues I worry about is that...you are either 'under grading' or 'over grading' footage

I believe this will help with that...

Jim's stock offering would only work if you have an external monitor but you have asked about working on a MacBook so that is pointless.

The simplest thing is to Use Mac Display Color Profile for viewers: From the manual: This lets DaVinci Resolve use ColorSync on macOS so your Viewer image should better match your output display.. Doing anything else and you are continually overgrading as you put it. Move on from your past projects and correct them if you ever do go back to them. Otherwise you are continually correcting an initial serious mismatch between the Resolve viewer and other color managed mac apps

I find Resolve Color Management works really well and is worth the small learning curve to get it right. Whatver way you do it, using Rec709A as your Output Color Space is the recommended way to go.

Jim's stock offering would only work if you have an external monitor but you have asked about working on a MacBook so that is pointless.

Well, my point (and Darren's) is that he can't do the job "correctly" without that external monitor.

Jim's stock offering would only work if you have an external monitor but you have asked about working on a MacBook so that is pointless.

Well, my point (and Darren's) is that he can't do the job "correctly" without that external monitor.

But that is not what he asked in the first place and it won't solve his issue of matching the Resolve viewer to other Mac apps. The simplest way is to just Use Mac Display Color Profile. Of course you wouldn't know anything about that since you have often expressed a dislike of Macs. In which case why answer this at all if you don't understand it?

You have been posting that Darren Mostyn link more or less since I came on this forum as a solution to numerous issues and then you posted a week or so ago that you don't have a calibrated monitor which is fundamental for accuracy (not necessarily precision which is a big part of the OP's question here). Now that to me is astonishing given how many times you have advocated that link, whether it is a solution to the question asked or not. What's going on here?

Here's the quote:

I handle this by calibrating the GUI as best I can, but everything is checked on the living room home theater, which has a better display more accurately calibrated. I usually get pretty close with the GUI, though not always perfect and corrections are sometimes necessary.

It's not the right way to do things, but for my own low end work it suffices.

For exports, I set the Color Space Tag to P3-DCI and Gamma Tag to Rec.709-A on the Deliver Page. It’s close to what I see in Resolve and looks good online. Using the Mac display color profile is a hassle and can mess up old projects, so I avoid it. Stick with Rec.709-A for both Timeline and Output Color Space for straightforward results.

Jim's stock offering would only work if you have an external monitor but you have asked about working on a MacBook so that is pointless.

The simplest thing is to Use Mac Display Color Profile for viewers: From the manual: This lets DaVinci Resolve use ColorSync on macOS so your Viewer image should better match your output display.. Doing anything else and you are continually overgrading as you put it. Move on from your past projects and correct them if you ever do go back to them. Otherwise you are continually correcting an initial serious mismatch between the Resolve viewer and other color managed mac apps

I find Resolve Color Management works really well and is worth the small learning curve to get it right. Whatver way you do it, using Rec709A as your Output Color Space is the recommended way to go.

Hi, thank you for your response. Yes I need to work on projects on the move, and having a calibrated monitor is not an option, so I appreciate you helping me find the best compromise.

I'm a bit confused though, as I have compared shots with 'Use Mac Display Color Profile' on and off, and it seems that when enabled, the image is slightly darker and more contrasty but with less saturation. The colours are quite different on both too, I'm not sure which is more correct! This clip only has a single node with LUT on

Here are screenshots with it on and off -

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

So either way I'd be 'over-grading', as I'd have to compromise on both.

I wondered if one way may also cause issues if for example I was to hand the project over to someone else, who was working on a PC for example, or a different setup. If so, which of these solutions is best

Someone else has just posted in this thread saying they just use P3DCI and Rec709 on the tags at the Deliver page! So I'm conflicted

Thanks for the help everyone

For exports, I set the Color Space Tag to P3-DCI and Gamma Tag to Rec.709-A on the Deliver Page. It’s close to what I see in Resolve and looks good online. Using the Mac display color profile is a hassle and can mess up old projects, so I avoid it. Stick with Rec.709-A for both Timeline and Output Color Space for straightforward results.

Thanks yeah this is what I've been doing, but I see so many people saying use 'Mac color profiles'. I just want to do whatever is 'least wrong' as everything seems to be a compromise

I'm a bit confused though, as I have compared shots with 'Use Mac Display Color Profile' on and off, and it seems that when enabled, the image is slightly darker and more contrasty but with less saturation. The colours are quite different on both too, I'm not sure which is more correct! This clip only has a single node with LUT on

OK rather than diagnose what is wrong with your method, I'll tell you what I do to get near-perfect matching between the Resolve viewer and other Mac apps such as Quicktime, Final Cut Pro, Motion etc. If you have a recent MacBook Pro with Display Presets, use the HDTV Video (BT709-BT.1886) preset. I don't know why you are using P3-DCI as a tag as that is for digital cinema. In any case I don't do any changing of tags in the Deliver page so that is irrelevant in my workflow.

I set up Resolve Color Management in the Project Settings as in the following screenshot. All you need to do before starting to grade is assign an Input Color Space if that doesn't happen automatically. That works for me and it should have a 1-1-1 tag in Quicktime Info and other color managed Mac apps should show it the same as in the Resolve viewer. Grade and export leaving the tags as default on the Deliver page.

The Rec709A tag should allow YouTube etc to interpret the file correctly but that is another story and beyond the scope of my experience.

Of course Use Mac Display Profiles should be on in the General prefs.

Thanks when I choose that display preset my screen goes incredibly dark and I can't adjust the brightness, so I don't know if that's a solution I can use

I am interested in the Color Space and Transforms section in Resolve. I currently use Davinci YRGB, not color managed one/ I have timeline color space as Rec 709 Scene

Is this not right?

Consider putting your system specs into your forum signature. What hardware on macOS are you running? The HDTV preset should not make your screen 'incredibly dark' on a more recent (Apple silicon) MacBook.

Consider putting your system specs into your forum signature. What hardware on macOS are you running? The HDTV preset should not make your screen 'incredibly dark' on a more recent (Apple silicon) MacBook.

Thanks I just changed my signature. I'm on an M2 MBP

Every preset makes me screen much darker than the standard Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 Nits)

And I can't adjust the brightness as it's locked. I wonder what's going on

I suppose if you are used to pushing your brightness up on the XDR P3 display, the normal HDTV BT1886 ... preset could look dark - it's supposed to be watched in a dimmed environment. When you select the HDTV preset it locks the brightness at 100 nits I believe (which is the standard for Rec709 gamma 2.4 cinema viewing). Does this make sense?

As Steve says, it is supposed to be dark at 100 Nits max for grading in Rec709 and should not be capable of being changed for consistent grading. This is a fundamental principle of color management and what happens when you calibrate a monitor. With the old CRT monitors with physical knobs, I used to stick a bit of tape over the knobs once I had set them.

The Apple presets are factory calibrated. They may not be absolutely accurate but they can be tweaked if necessary. Consistency is key. Having your monitor set so that it can be changed manually is fundamentally wrong. If it's too bright, your grades will be too dark and vice versa.

To be honest I think you need to do some basic background reading on color management in general if you want to get consistent grades. Resolve Color Management makes things a lot easier than using color space transforms once you get the basics right. It's not difficult at all - much easier in my opinion than messing with color space transforms if you don't know what you are doing and you get the benefit of consistency.

As Steve says, it is supposed to be dark at 100 Nits max for grading in Rec709 and should not be capable of being changed for consistent grading. This is a fundamental principle of color management and what happens when you calibrate a monitor. With the old CRT monitors with physical knobs, I used to stick a bit of tape over the knobs once I had set them.

The Apple presets are factory calibrated. They may not be absolutely accurate but they can be tweaked if necessary. Consistency is key. Having your monitor set so that it can be changed manually is fundamentally wrong. If it's too bright, your grades will be too dark and vice versa.

To be honest I think you need to do some basic background reading on color management in general if you want to get consistent grades. Resolve Color Management makes things a lot easier than using color space transforms once you get the basics right. It's not difficult at all - much easier in my opinion than messing with color space transforms if you don't know what you are doing and you get the benefit of consistency.

Ok thanks, yeah I've done quite a bit of reading but it's such a wormhole, and I don't think I'm alone in being confused about it all. I also am not the most technical person in the world and so many threads get into stuff I just don't understand.

But thank you for your help

As Steve says, it is supposed to be dark at 100 Nits max for grading in Rec709 and should not be capable of being changed for consistent grading. This is a fundamental principle of color management and what happens when you calibrate a monitor. With the old CRT monitors with physical knobs, I used to stick a bit of tape over the knobs once I had set them.

The Apple presets are factory calibrated. They may not be absolutely accurate but they can be tweaked if necessary. Consistency is key. Having your monitor set so that it can be changed manually is fundamentally wrong. If it's too bright, your grades will be too dark and vice versa.

To be honest I think you need to do some basic background reading on color management in general if you want to get consistent grades. Resolve Color Management makes things a lot easier than using color space transforms once you get the basics right. It's not difficult at all - much easier in my opinion than messing with color space transforms if you don't know what you are doing and you get the benefit of consistency.

Ok thanks, yeah I've done quite a bit of reading but it's such a wormhole, and I don't think I'm alone in being confused about it all. I also am not the most technical person in the world and so many threads get into stuff I just don't understand.

But thank you for your help

You don't need the theory really to get things working consistently. If you use the settings I posted above, you will be well on your way. You might need to manually apply an Input Color Space. What type of footage are you grading?

Thanks, I am mostly using SLOG3 footage, but often get sent stuff from others, CLOG and DLOG, and I used to work mostly with BRAW

OK. With BRAW you don't need to do anything apart from the settings I posted above, as Resolve does that automatically, so it would be the easiest to test. Just make whatever edits you want to start with in the raw tab and you're off.

With the log footage you might have to set the Input Color Space manually if it doesn't happen automatically. I use Nikon log and Resolve recognises that automatically. You can check this by right clicking a clip in a Color Page timeline and seeing what it has for Input Color Space. Change it if you do't like it. It is that easy.

OK. With BRAW you don't need to do anything apart from the settings I posted above, as Resolve does that automatically, so it would be the easiest to test. Just make whatever edits you want to start with in the raw tab and you're off.

With the log footage you might have to set the Input Color Space manually if it doesn't happen automatically. I use Nikon log and Resolve recognises that automatically. You can check this by right clicking a clip in a Color Page timeline and seeing what it has for Input Color Space. It is that easy.

thanks I'll have to do some more experiments! But I wish there was a simpler solution

thanks I'll have to do some more experiments! But I wish there was a simpler solution

Really that is simple. I don't think it could be any simpler.

Well… it is simple.

Having a decklink card
Having a calibrated monitor.

It
Works
Every
Time.

Well… it is simple.

Having a decklink card
Having a calibrated monitor.

It
Works
Every
Time.

As I've said, I travel quite a bit and have to work on the go, and I can't carry a calibrated monitor, and can't use a deckling card with it

Well… it is simple.

Having a decklink card
Having a calibrated monitor.

It
Works
Every
Time.

As I've said, I travel quite a bit and have to work on the go, and I can't carry a calibrated monitor, and can't use a deckling card with it

Ultra Studio
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... /W-DLUS-13

Well… it is simple.

Having a decklink card
Having a calibrated monitor.

It
Works
Every
Time.

As I've said, I travel quite a bit and have to work on the go, and I can't carry a calibrated monitor, and can't use a deckling card with it

Ultra Studio
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... /W-DLUS-13

And a calibrated monitor that fits in camera bag with everything else?

OK. With BRAW you don't need to do anything apart from the settings I posted above, as Resolve does that automatically, so it would be the easiest to test. Just make whatever edits you want to start with in the raw tab and you're off.

With the log footage you might have to set the Input Color Space manually if it doesn't happen automatically. I use Nikon log and Resolve recognises that automatically. You can check this by right clicking a clip in a Color Page timeline and seeing what it has for Input Color Space. It is that easy.

thanks I'll have to do some more experiments! But I wish there was a simpler solution

One of the issues that I think I detected in your earlier posts was that you set the output tags on the delivery page without necessarily transforming the output to the specified color space and gamma. This won't work, of course. The tags on the delivery page do not force a color space and gamma transform.

So, use DaVinci Color Managed project settings. Set your working color space (also called the timeline color space) to DWG/intermediate and your output color space to Rec709-A. This will transform your timeline color space and gamma to the output color space and gamma.

So far so good. The next step is to set the source color space and gamma of your individual clips in the media pool. For BRAW this information is built-in and Resolve knows how to get at it (which is why you can't change it). For other sources you will likely need to specify this information. This transforms your source color space and gamma to the timeline (working) color space and gamma noted above.

Now, not to confuse but I should mention that in the project-level color management settings you can indicate use of separate color space and gamma values. I use this because I shoot Canon CLog3 gamma but I use a Rec2020 color space. DaVinci, last time I looked, did not support this combination without separating the two settings. For your footage you may be able to use the harmonized default setting where the color space and gamma are combined into a single setting.

You can use 'Project Settings' for your delivery page color space and gamma tags rather than forcing them. The resulting output file should be tagged 1-1-1.

Viewing the output in QuickTime should look the same as viewing it in the Resolve viewers provided Resolve uses the color sync preference (which you have already stated you are using, I believe).

Here's a screenshot of the project level color management settings (these are a custom version of the settings recommended by mickspixels earlier in this thread):

IMG_2209.jpeg (285.05 KiB) Viewed 8716 times

I disabled my input device transform but this will make Rec709 footage flat if you input it back into Resolve so you might want to set it to DaVinci or Luminance Mapped. Typically with Log footage you don't need to perform an IDT mapping.

OK. With BRAW you don't need to do anything apart from the settings I posted above, as Resolve does that automatically, so it would be the easiest to test. Just make whatever edits you want to start with in the raw tab and you're off.

With the log footage you might have to set the Input Color Space manually if it doesn't happen automatically. I use Nikon log and Resolve recognises that automatically. You can check this by right clicking a clip in a Color Page timeline and seeing what it has for Input Color Space. It is that easy.

thanks I'll have to do some more experiments! But I wish there was a simpler solution

One of the issues that I think I detected in your earlier posts was that you set the output tags on the delivery page without necessarily transforming the output to the specified color space and gamma. This won't work, of course. The tags on the delivery page do not force a color space and gamma transform.

So, use DaVinci Color Managed project settings. Set your working color space (also called the timeline color space) to DWG/intermediate and your output color space to Rec709-A. This will transform your timeline color space and gamma to the output color space and gamma.

So far so good. The next step is to set the source color space and gamma of your individual clips in the media pool. For BRAW this information is built-in and Resolve knows how to get at it (which is why you can't change it). For other sources you will likely need to specify this information. This transforms your source color space and gamma to the timeline (working) color space and gamma noted above.

Now, not to confuse but I should mention that in the project-level color management settings you can indicate use of separate color space and gamma values. I use this because I shoot Canon CLog3 gamma but I use a Rec2020 color space. DaVinci, last time I looked, did not support this combination without separating the two settings. For your footage you may be able to use the harmonized default setting where the color space and gamma are combined into a single setting.

You can use 'Project Settings' for your delivery page color space and gamma tags rather than forcing them. The resulting output file should be tagged 1-1-1.

Viewing the output in QuickTime should look the same as viewing it in the Resolve viewers provided Resolve uses the color sync preference (which you have already stated you are using, I believe).

Here's a screenshot of the project level color management settings (these are a custom version of the settings recommended by mickspixels earlier in this thread):

IMG_2209.jpeg

I disabled my input device transform but this will make Rec709 footage flat if you input it back into Resolve so you might want to set it to DaVinci or Luminance Mapped. Typically with Log footage you don't need to perform an IDT mapping.

I appreciate you taking the time to write this and I hope one day to make sense of it all. I think as someone said earlier I'm going to have to learn more about all this as its over my head, and I've read and seen so many people saying different things about what to do when working on a MacBook Pro and editing.

I know it may sound silly to the more professional level people out there, but it still seems mad to me that there are so many different opinions and conflicting info on just getting something looking the same on export as it does in Resolve. A friend of mine uses Final Cut Pro and his exports look indentical, why is that?

Anyway, I'll read through this thread again when I have more time, and hope to make more sense of it

I know it may sound silly to the more professional level people out there, but it still seems mad to me that there are so many different opinions and conflicting info on just getting something looking the same on export as it does in Resolve. A friend of mine uses Final Cut Pro and his exports look indentical, why is that?

Resolve is a complex program with mulitple options which is why you are getting confused. Final Cut Pro has far fewer options but is much easier to use and integrates really well with Apple's color management. If you want an easy life, invest in Final Cut Pro and move on to Resolve when you have grasped the basics. That said, if you just follow the simple steps I gave you above using Resolve Color Management and forget about all the theory and all the other advice, you should be getting the same result in any color managed app on the Mac as you do in Resolve.

"I know it may sound silly to the more professional level people out there, but it still seems mad to me that there are so many different opinions and conflicting info on just getting something looking the same on export as it does in Resolve. A friend of mine uses Final Cut Pro and his exports look indentical, why is that?"

Understand the underlying cause. It's very simple, if absolutely maddening.

The standards for display transform for Rec.709 has been established for years, essentially close to gamma 2.4.

Most devices and all broadcast compliant systems follow that standard. Even on the "web", where most apps actually use that for Rec.709 video. (2.2 is the still image standard.)

But Apple set ColorSync to use essentially gamma 1.96 as the Rec.709 display transform for some reason.

Yet ... on their computers with Reference modes, set to Bt.1886, Macs use gamma 2.4.

Therein lies the problem. Period. As you see, it's not even consistent within Apple devices.

And as you cannot create a file that displays identically at two divergent gammas, there really isn't a fix that works everywhere.

But then, you can't even identically calibrate and match two identical screens fed the same signal. As has been demonstrated numerous times by color management experts. So what the Hades ....

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

Plus there was the problem of YouTube replacing the tags with 1-1-1 on upload which didn’t help if your footage out of Resolve was Rec709 gamma 2.4 (1-2-1 plus gamma 2.4). Not sure is this is still an issue - I believe it is.

I know it may sound silly to the more professional level people out there, but it still seems mad to me that there are so many different opinions and conflicting info on just getting something looking the same on export as it does in Resolve. A friend of mine uses Final Cut Pro and his exports look indentical, why is that?

Resolve is a complex program with mulitple options which is why you are getting confused. Final Cut Pro has far fewer options but is much easier to use and integrates really well with Apple's color management. If you want an easy life, invest in Final Cut Pro and move on to Resolve when you have grasped the basics. That said, if you just follow the simple steps I gave you above using Resolve Color Management and forget about all the theory and all the other advice, you should be getting the same result in any color managed app on the Mac as you do in Resolve.

I can't stand Final Cut! I love resolve, and despite my issues with this, I am quite proficient as an editor, and comfortable with the grading side too. You make it sound like this is a simple thing, but literally everything I read, every video I watch other people are also frustrated and confused, even the pros. There are so many different ways of viewing things, and no standard, mix that with uncalibrated monitors and its not really that simple

But I do plan to get my head around it, I just wish I didn't have to

"I know it may sound silly to the more professional level people out there, but it still seems mad to me that there are so many different opinions and conflicting info on just getting something looking the same on export as it does in Resolve. A friend of mine uses Final Cut Pro and his exports look indentical, why is that?"

Understand the underlying cause. It's very simple, if absolutely maddening.

The standards for display transform for Rec.709 has been established for years, essentially close to gamma 2.4.

Most devices and all broadcast compliant systems follow that standard. Even on the "web", where most apps actually use that for Rec.709 video. (2.2 is the still image standard.)

But Apple set ColorSync to use essentially gamma 1.96 as the Rec.709 display transform for some reason.

Yet ... on their computers with Reference modes, set to Bt.1886, Macs use gamma 2.4.

Therein lies the problem. Period. As you see, it's not even consistent within Apple devices.

And as you cannot create a file that displays identically at two divergent gammas, there really isn't a fix that works everywhere.

But then, you can't even identically calibrate and match two identical screens fed the same signal. As has been demonstrated numerous times by color management experts. So what the Hades ....

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

Thanks for the explanation, I did know some of this...and it's annoying that Apple do this kind of thing.

But this is my point, maybe simple was the wrong word...but maddening as you say. I just want a decent compromise across the most likely platforms it will be viewed, that looks as close to what I see as possible.

But you cannot get that... because Apple will not use the commonly accepted standard.

And yes, that is incredibly frustrating.



Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

I can't stand Final Cut! I love resolve, and despite my issues with this, I am quite proficient as an editor, and comfortable with the grading side too. You make it sound like this is a simple thing, but literally everything I read, every video I watch other people are also frustrated and confused, even the pros. There are so many different ways of viewing things, and no standard, mix that with uncalibrated monitors and its not really that simple

But I do plan to get my head around it, I just wish I didn't have to

What I am saying is simple is to get matching across all Mac color managed apps using RCM and the right settings on your own computer. That was a major part of your initial question. The reason I suggested FCP is that it makes this task very simple indeed. You mentioned that your friend has no issues. Howeve, it is simple in Resolve as well if you use the right settngs.

Getting footage to look uniform on YouTube across multiple platforms and devices on the web is not simple, in fact it's impossible. The best you can do is get it close to what you see on your calibrated machine using the appropriate monitor preset and output color space when you are exporting and hope for the best.

I can't stand Final Cut! I love resolve, and despite my issues with this, I am quite proficient as an editor, and comfortable with the grading side too. You make it sound like this is a simple thing, but literally everything I read, every video I watch other people are also frustrated and confused, even the pros. There are so many different ways of viewing things, and no standard, mix that with uncalibrated monitors and its not really that simple

But I do plan to get my head around it, I just wish I didn't have to

What I am saying is simple is to get matching across all Mac color managed apps using RCM and the right settings on your own computer. That was a major part of your initial question. The reason I suggested FCP is that it makes this task very simple indeed. You mentioned that your friend has no issues. Howeve, it is simple in Resolve as well if you use the right settngs.


Getting footage to look uniform on YouTube across multiple platforms and devices on the web is not simple, in fact it's impossible. The best you can do is get it close to what you see on your calibrated machine using the appropriate monitor preset and output color space when you are exporting and hope for the best.

Thanks, yeah I understood that. My initial question was to do with getting things to look as uniform as possible across players and Youtube/Vimeo etc. which as you say is impossible!

Thanks, yeah I understood that. My initial question was to do with getting things to look as uniform as possible across players and Youtube/Vimeo etc. which as you say is impossible!

Correct -- that is impossible. Look at it this way:

1) user A has a laptop display that's way too bright

2) user B has a very old display that's dark on the left and bright on the right

3) user C has a defective display that's too blue.

How will your export look on all three systems? It'll be different on all three, and yet none of them will tell you the truth about how the show actually looks. A few weeks ago, I was in the enormous Apple Store at the Grove mall here in LA, I saw five MacBook Pros playing back the same demo... and every one of them looked completely different. Could customers have screwed with the settings? It's possible. But the point is even Apple has no interest in making all the monitors look the same.

If the displays are at least "vaguely" in the neighborhood of Rec709/gamma 2.4, you might be able to get somewhat normal pictures out of all of them. These settings can work to a point on modern MacBook Pros, but bear in mind this is all anecdotal (and not scientific):



How will it look everywhere else? Who knows? We have no control over how good/bad/ugly monitors are in the real world. What we can predict -- with some certainty -- is how pictures will look on monitors that are calibrated to Rec709/2.4. And this preset is "close" (but not exact, because they're cheap displays made on an assembly line for a mass-market product).

Also iOS does add some kind of dynamic contrast while playing videos full screen.
I had faces in interviews starting to look burnt out but as soon as you touched the display to get the GUI overlay back - faces went back to normal. You can't turn that off and it has been like so for years.

Also TV sets might ship with the crappiest presets you could ever imagine.
Once I had made a corporate film the client presented on a TV set all day long and it looked like absolut garbage because the sharpening was turned up to 100, plus auto contrast, auto colors, auto everything, and noise reduction to the max.

I secretly sneaked over to every single TV set they had and changed the settings to sensible ones.

But I'm not even talking about the differences between monitors, I'm just wanting my exports to look similar to how they look in Resolve, on my monitor! But we've already talked about that

I think it's clear that it's all a bit of a compromise and at some point you have to accept you can only do what you can, and how people view it is out of your control!

But I'm not even talking about the differences between monitors, I'm just wanting my exports to look similar to how they look in Resolve, on my monitor! But we've already talked about that

I think it's clear that it's all a bit of a compromise and at some point you have to accept you can only do what you can, and how people view it is out of your control!

I find myself in the same boat here and I'm surprised this isn't affecting more people, or it is, and they don't notice it somehow.

The issue I'm having, same as Alex, is the video export I'm outputting doesn't look the same as the preview window in Resolve. I'm using a macbook pro and also a calibrated external monitor. I've tried every combination of color space tags, with and without Mac display color profile for viewers selected.

The closest I can get to the preview of my graded project looking similar to my export is with mac display color profile for viewers turned off, exporting with color space tag P3-D65 and Gamma tag Gamma 2.4. My timeline is set to Color managed, Davinici wide gamut, rec 709 gamma 2.4. It still isn't saturated the same and the colors are very slightly off.

So what gives? Regardless of the monitor being calibrated or not, whether the export looks the same on your computer compared to mine, what is happening to make my export look different to my preview on my monitor? They should look the same if the export settings match the timeline settings unless I'm missing a massively important setting somewhere that is affecting how davinici is displaying my project to me.

For exports, I set the Color Space Tag to P3-DCI and Gamma Tag to Rec.709-A on the Deliver Page. It’s close to what I see in Resolve and looks good online. Using the Mac display color profile is a hassle and can mess up old projects, so I avoid it. Stick with Rec.709-A for both Timeline and Output Color Space for straightforward results.

OMG you are my Hero
I had exactly this Problem on a new MBP 2024 working with the Display.
Now the colors are the same on every Device and Software.

I can even cut in FCP, send to DVR and send back to FCP now and the colors are the same.
I tried the complete process including test Export and Upload to Youtube.
Colors are accurate.

Thank you so much for sharing this with us