Read HDR footage normally in DVR

Hey dear experts,

I’m having trouble with some HDR 4K Dolby footage shot with the iPhone 16 : after importing them in DVR, they are quite overexposed.

My output space color is already set to 709A as I’m on my Mac.

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Left photo : original footage.

Right photo : from the timeline viewer (same if I export normally).

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Thank you so much if you have any idea of what that might be coming from.

Thank you again and namaste.

Jean

First of all you need to be viewing on a monitor capable of HDR such as a silicon MacBook Pro with XDR screen using the correct preset. Then you need to set your Output Color Space to Rec.2100 ST2084 or Rec.2100 HLG if using project level color management (the easy way to do things).

You don't need an HDR monitor or project setup if you edit and deliver in 709.
But, you need to change the clip's input color space and gamma to Rec2020 and HLG, respectively. You will need to "season to taste" since you are converting from HDR to SDR.

Hey guys,

Thank you so much for both your answers.

Could you please explain step by step what I need to do in order to do that please ?

(I am most willing to do so, but If I do convert from HDR to SDR, am I not loosing the HDR quality ? Why can't I just use my HDR footage as it is ? I paid a thousand euros my new iPhone just for that... noob question I am sure so sorry in advance.)

I'm on an iMac, 4K Retina, 2017.

I am most grateful for your kind attention.

Jean

I was assuming he wanted to grade and deliver in HDR and was using Rec709A incorrectly. Maybe that wasn’t a good assumption but it’s still not clear to me what the intention of the OP is here: HDR or SDR.

In any case, if you use project level Resolve Color Management, Resolve will automatically recognise 4K HDR footage from an iPhone and set the Input Color Space to Rec2100 HLG with no user input. It’s then a matter of choosing an output space. For Rec709, then Rec709A should be fine, if HDR, then Rec2100 HLG should be fine.

Hey guys,

Thank you so much for both your answers.

Could you please explain step by step what I need to do in order to do that please ?

(I am most willing to do so, but If I do convert from HDR to SDR, am I not loosing the HDR quality ? Why can't I just use my HDR footage as it is ? I paid a thousand euros my new iPhone just for that... noob question I am sure so sorry in advance.)

I'm on an iMac, 4K Retina, 2017.

I am most grateful for your kind attention.

Jean

OK I posted the last one before reading this. So you want to grade in HDR, then you need a screen that can display HDR. The 2017 iMac is not suitable for that. It can’t display HDR. If you want a HDR screen then it’s a new MacBook Pro with XDR screen, an iPad Pro with XDR screen or another HDR capable monitor.

Thank you again sir.

Is there a cheaper option than buying a MacBook Pro ?

And, could you please explain to me your former solution regarding grading it in SDR ?

(But again, am I loosing data in my exported video by doing so ?)

You should be able to use Resolve Color Management set to output SDR and it should recognise your footage automatically. Of course, you are loosing some dynamic range that way, but you can work with your iMac. If you record ProRes log in your iPhone, it'll definitely be recognised by DR and converted to your format of choice.

If you keep your originals, media-managed for space, you can still grade a HDR version later when you get HDR monitoring. A MacBook Pro is actually the cheapest solution for that, even a Mac mini plus a truly HDR capable monitor would be more expensive.

My advice is not to try to grade in HDR, and just decode the signal from the iPhone. Some CST settings you can try:



Just grade it in regular SDR and you should be "good enough," even on a MacBook Pro screen. Ideally, I don't think it's a good idea to judge color on a laptop, because you have no way of knowing how it relates to real-world calibration.

Thank you again sir.

Is there a cheaper option than buying a MacBook Pro ?

And, could you please explain to me your former solution regarding grading it in SDR ?

(But again, am I loosing data in my exported video by doing so ?)

You shot HDR/HLG footage on your iPhone and want to grade and deliver HDR/HLG, right? However you don't have an HDR or even semi-HDR monitor. That's sort of like getting a color TV camera and trying to grade it on a black & white monitor.

If all you want is basic edits of your iPhone HLG video, you can do that on the iPhone itself, then save and upload the result:

It should be playable on Youtube or Vimeo and recognized as HDR -- IF the client device and browser recognizes that. Currently MacOS Safari does not recognize HDR content from Youtube, but it does from Vimeo. MacOS Firefox does recognize it.

If you had a late-generation iPad Pro (which essentially has an HDR screen) you could edit it using Resolve for iPadOS. I think your 2017 iMac running Ventura supports an iPad as a second monitor, so in theory you could run Resolve on the iMac and use the iPad Pro (maybe with reference mode enabled) as a 2nd monitor. It would not be calibrated but at least it would show you something like the actual HDR image.

But if we all misunderstood you and you only need SDR (you wrote "My output space color is already set to 709A"), then get a Mac mini M4 and live happily ever after.