Export levels washed out problem STILL rearing its ugly head

So Ive read the history on the washed out levels when exporting out of Resolve being washed out.
Still a relative newbie on this and I STILL cant seem to figure out where I am going wrong. Help!

Edited a project Davinci Color managed timeline of mostly Arri 35 footage with Project settings set at:
Color Processing mode SDR
Output color space as REC709.
Viewing DR output on a new Apple Studio Display

Have exported to various formats of QT H265/H264/ProRes and every time the colors are desaturated and black levels are raised (washed out) Have exported with REC709 and REC709A setting. In quicktime it looks washed out but VLC viewer it looks normal. In Frame IO it looks washed out as it does in quicktime.

Pulling my hair out. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated.

Running a Mac Studio with OS Ventura
Davinci Resolve 18.6

I've struggled with the same problem, and there seems so much conflicting advice out there.

Search YouTube: "davinci resolve" mac color shift

Here are some Tutorials that address the issue. I'd be interested in comments from others if these tutorials head in the right direction.

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Viewing DR output on a new Apple Studio Display

Why are you viewing the image on an Apple Studio Display? They're terrible for judging color. There are actually better displays out there that can be calibrated, and once you do that, you have a chance (only a chance) of seeing an accurate image.

Read page 2851 of the Resolve 18.6 manual, "Limitations When Grading With the Viewer on a Computer Display." This explains why it's unwise to try to use a computer display for final color, even an Apple display. You CAN get something approaching acceptable levels if it's a recent Apple Studio Display by using these settings:



Be aware that because Mac OS does not necessarily interpret gamma and color correctly, you may still not see accurate color. For that, you have to actually invest in a Blackmagic display adapter (like an UltraStudio) and feed the display from that out of Resolve.

Having said that: I find if I upload a Rec709/gamma 2.4 file to Frame.io and use these settings and look at it through the Apple Safari browser... it's not bad. It's not 100% like our calibrated monitor in the studio, but it's ballpark OK.