Setting up for Dolby Vision Post Production

Hello,

I have basic knowledge on how to operate Davinci Resolve - Cut, Edit, Color Grade & Deliver SDR videos with basic color grade using Nodes & FX and sometime LUTs.

Now, I'm moving to more advanced color grading & grew a passion for Dolby Vision color grading after learning the benefits of the tech and how it works on SDR & HDR displays.

I got a brand new Windows PC for this
i9-10850K / Z590 ROG STRIX / RTX 3090 / 64GB DDR4 / 1TB Intel 670P / 2TB Intel 670P
HDR Monitor - Asus ProArt PA32UCG (https://www.asus.com/Displays-Desktops/ ... y-PA32UCG/)

I was reading through the Dolby guidelines (https://professionalsupport.dolby.com/s ... uage=en_US) Section - "Monitoring SDR when producing Dolby Vision" & it mentions that I need to get a second monitor to review SDR. So should I get a second Asus ProArt PA32UCG or would be model like ProArt-Display-PA329CV - (https://www.asus.com/us/Displays-Deskto ... y-PA329CV/) would suffice?

Most of the guides point me to HDR grading than Dolby Vision grading requirements or setup. Could anyone who has setup a successful HDR grading setup let me know how do I go forward?

Thanks,
Paul

It can be any monitor which is properly calibrated for Rec.709 2.4 gamma most likely.
But in order to be able to have HDR+SDR preview you need Decklink card and not any but one of the top 3 models with 8K Pro model been suggested by BM.

You can use your primary monitor to produce sdr pass. You don’t have to use a second monitor for that. In fact I think it’s better to use the same monitor for a good comparison.
Check if you can setup custom presets in the monitor to go from hdr to sdr quickly.


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Not a solution (I think) if you want to do a proper Dolby SDR trim.
Dolby mastering is not about using your monitor's mapping to produce SDR preview. This has nothing to do with Dolby mastering then.

[Peter Chamberlain]

Moved to Resolve forum

Dolby mastering is not about using your monitor's mapping to produce SDR preview. This has nothing to do with Dolby mastering then.

Correct. That’s why you don’t have to use a second monitor for sdr.
Dolby recommend to use only a Dolby approved monitors and doesn’t say to use a second one for sdr pass’s.

A “proper” Dolby Vision workflow is using the Dolby Vision tab to analyze and produce trims with a correct metadata. You can use any monitor you want as long as it is approved.


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Dolby lets you quicker get to SDR, but it's still your creative choice to adjust Dolby default SDR look and for this you still need calibrated SDR monitor (Dolby approved here means not much - just calibrated good monitor which you trust and normally grade SDR on).

i think the point is you do not NEED to have both SDR and HDR displayed concurrent
grade HDR
switch monitoring to SDR
grade SDR trim pass

then one mon is needed

i can work with both at the same time, and chose not to, prefer to focus on one version, clear eyes and mind, focus on the other

looking at SDR after gradeing HDR with clents in the room is not a fun experience - they will never un-see how good it can look

It can be any monitor which is properly calibrated for Rec.709 2.4 gamma most likely.
But in order to be able to have HDR+SDR preview you need Decklink card and not any but one of the top 3 models with 8K Pro model been suggested by BM.

Hello Andrew,

The 8K Pro model is 12G SDI only. The monitor I've got doesn't support SDI - Only HDMI 2.1 & 2.0b with DP 1.4 and Thunderbolt 4 Ports.

So which decklink would you recommend? The only decklink I found is the DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G which has HDMI 2.0b & launched in 2014. I dont see any decklink that is current generation with HDMI 2.1 or that supports 120Hz.

Thanks,
Paul

It can be any monitor which is properly calibrated for Rec.709 2.4 gamma most likely.
But in order to be able to have HDR+SDR preview you need Decklink card and not any but one of the top 3 models with 8K Pro model been suggested by BM.

Hello Andrew,

The 8K Pro model is 12G SDI only. The monitor I've got doesn't support SDI - Only HDMI 2.1 & 2.0b with DP 1.4 and Thunderbolt 4 Ports.

So which decklink would you recommend? The only decklink I found is the DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G which has HDMI 2.0b & launched in 2014. I dont see any decklink that is current generation with HDMI 2.1 or that supports 120Hz.

Thanks,
Paul

you need a proper HDR monitor in the first place and it does not seems to me that you're there.

It can be any monitor which is properly calibrated for Rec.709 2.4 gamma most likely.
But in order to be able to have HDR+SDR preview you need Decklink card and not any but one of the top 3 models with 8K Pro model been suggested by BM.

Hello Andrew,

The 8K Pro model is 12G SDI only. The monitor I've got doesn't support SDI - Only HDMI 2.1 & 2.0b with DP 1.4 and Thunderbolt 4 Ports.

So which decklink would you recommend? The only decklink I found is the DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G which has HDMI 2.0b & launched in 2014. I dont see any decklink that is current generation with HDMI 2.1 or that supports 120Hz.

Thanks,
Paul

Decklink 4K Extreme is fine. As mentioned, your monitor's HDR capabilities are limited. 400 nits and unspecified P3 coverage.

Hello, all

I got the monitor & unpacked and plugged to the HDMI 2.1 port to the RTX 3090

Specs of Asus ProArt PA32UCG
https://www.asus.com/Displays-Desktops/ ... /techspec/

Backlight Type : Mini-LED
Panel Type : IPS
Viewing Angle (CR≧10, H/V) : 178°/ 178°
Pixel Pitch : 0.1845mm
Resolution : 3840x2160
Color Space (Adobe RGB) : 99.5%
Color Space (DCI-P3) : 98%
Color Space (Rec.2020) : 85%
Brightness (HDR, Peak) : 1,600 cd/㎡
Brightness (Typ.) : 1000cd/㎡
Contrast Ratio (HDR, Max) : 1,000,000:1
Contrast Ratio (Typ.) : 1000:1
ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) : 100000000:1
Display Colors : 1073.7M (10 bit)
Response Time : 5ms(GTG)
Refresh Rate (Max) : 120Hz
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Support : HDR10
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Support : HLG
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Support : Dolby Vision

is this monitor fine to color-grade 99% of stuff including SDR+HDR in Dolby Vision. Because that's why I got this monitor in the first place. As per the specs and reviews - peak luminance is 1600 nits+ with consistent luminance at 1000 lum across the screen which I thought is same a most reference grading monitors.

Appreciate your thoughts

For some projects it should be fine, but you need to connect through BM card and calibrate it.
It's not cheap, you could buy LG OLED for this money. Maybe better option, not sure.

Yep definitely calibrate it and you will need a BM hardware in order to see HDR properly. And read up on HDR, color spaces, and nits. There are a lot of stuff you need to learn to grade and view HDR properly.

Contrast Ratio (Typ.) : 1000:1

that where it goes to die. Lots of "smart" electronic will try to add contrast where it can and the is typically what will go wrong....

For HDR it's 1:1 000 000.
This is typical crap:
ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) : 100000000:1

It's zoned panel, so 1:1 000 000 is possible with all side effects of using zones.
I would like to see how Flanders deals with it as they also use zoned panel.

For me dual layer Panasonic panel (except OLEDs) is the way to go for HDR. Panasonic is working on 55inch one, so once this is done we may see new wave of HDR reference monitors.