Clips look washed out in Resolve

Clips created with a new Galaxy S24 Ultra: 3840x2160 UHD HEVC AAC 60fps look excellent on the phone.

However, these clips look completely washed out in DaVinci Resolve. Why?

What color space and gamma are those clips shot in? How are you viewing them?

What color space and gamma are those clips shot in? How are you viewing them?

No idea about color space and gamma. How would I find out?

Viewing: not sure what you mean. I am using Resolve on a Windows 11 PC and in Resolve the clips appear to be washed out (grey) whereas on the phone they look perfect.

If I am watching them with the Media Viewer on my PC they are not washed out, but the gain is flickering which I assume is caused by using 60fps. No idea how to fix that either.
This is the 1st time I have been using 60fps, and I am surprised by all the issues that created.

So, all of that is different if you use 30 fps?

I have not tried that yet with the new phone, but in the past with all the cameras I used, and that includes smartphones, I had no problems.

It is the new S24 Ultra. I just tried HD/30 UHD/30 and UHD 60. They all have a grey veil in Resolve (underexposed?).
And they do not play correctly in Media Player either. Ether exposure level flickers throughout (UHD/30 and 60), or it is correct at the beginning for a fraction of a second and then the grey fog appears (HD/30).

Washed out is typically a sign of the footage being shot in HDR but you're viewing it in SDR without any conversion in Resolve. If you have zero experience in working and managing HDR data it may be best to check your phone settings and see if you can set it to SDR instead. It won't look as 'flashy' as HDR but you will have little trouble editing and distributing it.

We use these settings for iPhone, but I have no idea how Galaxy phone videos will look:



I'm guessing that they're using some form of HLG, but I don't know for sure.

Washed out is typically a sign of the footage being shot in HDR but you're viewing it in SDR without any conversion in Resolve. If you have zero experience in working and managing HDR data it may be best to check your phone settings and see if you can set it to SDR instead. It won't look as 'flashy' as HDR but you will have little trouble editing and distributing it.

Wouldn't it better to learn how to deal with HDR clips so I gain experience?

Washed out is typically a sign of the footage being shot in HDR but you're viewing it in SDR without any conversion in Resolve. If you have zero experience in working and managing HDR data it may be best to check your phone settings and see if you can set it to SDR instead. It won't look as 'flashy' as HDR but you will have little trouble editing and distributing it.

Wouldn't it better to learn how to deal with HDR clips so I gain experience?

As far as I know, you will need a HDR monitor, 1000 nits brightness and above. Also, your target audience should be able to view it in compatible HDR screens, e.g. smart TV.

Sticking to SDR is safer in my humble opinion.

AI helped me to figure it out, possibly
The video clips I have are HEVC 10-bit and Resolve only handles 8-bit. I would have to invest in the Studio version to deal with 10-bit HEVC.

That's a shame because I am not a professional.
By the way, VLC handles the clips w/o a problem.

Well, if you can’t switch your phone to 8 bit, you can convert for free with ffmpeg or Shutter Encoder.
With the conversion, you can even preserve the 10 bit quality. But you’ll need to set the right color profile manually.

The video clips I have are HEVC 10-bit and Resolve only handles 8-bit. I would have to invest in the Studio version to deal with 10-bit HEVC.

I think you answered your own question.

[edited]The free version of Resolve can't handle H.264, H.265, and HEVC 10-bit files, so you could always convert them first to DNxHR or ProRes and then bring in the transcodes.

I'm often bewildered by people who expect top performance and no problems with free software this complicated. If it were up to me, there wouldn't be a free version of Resolve at all. Adobe, Autodesk, Filmlight, Mistika, Nucoda, and Scratch also have no free versions, and they all seem to do pretty well. I wouldn't object to a "very limited" student version of Resolve for $9.95, to help people learn the basics.

We have requested before that if users try to bring in unsupported codecs (like 10-bit H.264, 10-bit H.265, or 10-bit HEVC) to the free version of Resolve, it pops up a warning notice that says, "Sorry -- This Feature Is Only Available in Resolve Studio." At least then, you'd know why it didn't work.

The free version of Resolve cannot handle DNxHR 10-bit and ProRes 10-bit files, …

Sorry, Marc, I think this is a typo, it can handle them.

The free version of Resolve cannot handle DNxHR 10-bit and ProRes 10-bit files, …

Sorry, Marc, I think this is a typo, it can handle them.

My mistake -- it can, in fact, handle DNxHR 10-bit and ProRes 10-bit. But not H.264/H.265 10-bit.

Full list of codec differences here:

Resolve 18 Supported Codecs
https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/SupportNotes/DaVinci_Resolve_18_Supported_Codec_List.pdf?_v=1689663610000

I still would like that error message on import.

I still would like that error message on import.

Seconded.

I think you answered your own question.

I'm often bewildered by people who expect top performance and no problems with free software this complicated. If it were up to me, there wouldn't be a free version of Resolve at all. Adobe, Autodesk, .

Yes, I answered my own question, and I resolved it in the meantime.
It just surprised me how you interpreted my statement. I didn't "expect", I was just surprised because I did not deal with that issue before. And I was looking for help. Not everybody deals with these issues day in day out.
Thank God you are not in charge...

Yes, I answered my own question, and I resolved it in the meantime. It just surprised me how you interpreted my statement. I didn't "expect", I was just surprised because I did not deal with that issue before. And I was looking for help. Not everybody deals with these issues day in day out.
Thank God you are not in charge...

That's great, but my reply isn't wrong. Note that most of the people here are just Resolve users, helping others for free. It always helps to be polite and grateful on user forums, especially when others want nothing more than to see the problems solved. I get that sometimes there are language barriers and cultural differences between different people, and I always try to gauge that in the original message and the response.