“BT.1886 is not designed for any specific brightness of viewing environment. It is based on the black level of the display. We do not recommend it at all.” – Steve Shaw, CEO of Light Illusion (2019)
This unequivocal rejection from a calibration-industry leader dismantles Steve Yedlin’s core argument in “Debunking HDR” — that SDR workflows (reliant on BT.1886) preserve creative intent “if monitor is capable.” Shaw’s stance reveals a critical flaw: BT.1886’s gamma curve is dictated by the black level of display hardware – not viewing conditions.
Yet in 2025, Shaw endorsed Yedlin’s presentation as “totally correct” – despite Yedlin’s thesis depending entirely on BT.1886 as the cornerstone of SDR’s accuracy.
The contradiction is unavoidable: if BT.1886’s display-dependent gamma compromises accuracy (per Shaw, 2019), Yedlin’s BT.1886-centric argument cannot be ‘totally correct’. Not to mention that consumer devices seldom follow BT.1886.
The Daejeon Chronicles 