This deceptively titled advert featuring Asus spokesperson Darren Mostyn might lead the viewer to expect to witness some dazzling HDR grading in DaVinci Resolve by an experienced colorist, but we see nothing of the sort. Not only that, but they couldn’t even be bothered to shoot the ad in HDR. Watching this video reminds us of just how much we don’t miss fumbling about in the dark, trying to reach for the OSD control buttons inexplicably hidden at the rear of the monitor.
He selected the “optimized” curve not the hard clip at 1000.
At first, I thought Mostyn said P3 DCI, but listening again, I heard him add, almost in a whisper, ‘HDR’, as if it was a dirty word or something. ha Looking at the owner manual, the descriptions of the various PQ HDR options appear rather vague. Watching the advert, I was hunched over my computer, trying to see precisely which preset Mostyn was selecting! But you are correct: when mastering HDR, you want the hard clip at 1,000 nits. And you’d also want to shut off those ultra bright SDR monitors on either side of the Asus in order to have the required 5 nits of ambient lighting! Furthermore, I would always calibrate a monitor regardless of what the factory calibration report said, especially if I were doing high-end work.
The way that the filmmaking scene is right now, HDR is a naughty word and many disregard it even though you could master at least in quasi HDR- HLG. Even Atomos didn’t grade the Levi Allen ProRes RAW-videos in HDR even though that would have been the 1 in 1000 best use case scenario when he’s flying in the chopper in the snowy mountains.
Yes, for years, Atomos has been boasting about HDR, but when I inquired why they didn’t post HDR content on their channel, they replied that not all subject matter is suitable for HDR, which is poppycock.
Almost every average payed working citizen is carrying a meh-HDR display in their pockets: their phone, and the typical HDR brightness is about 500 nits and the colors you can use to make the video look that much inviting. I bought into the HDR when I saw the Arri HDR showcase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwYH05X5y2M and especially in the beginning the room is dark but the woman opens the curtains and the color and brightness just pops