“As we’ve already emphasized this evening, even delineating HDR and SDR is a bit of a false dichotomy… I like to… start with a standard dynamic range rendering [1] of an image within an HDR container and then to slowly lift the veil… and allow my client to say ‘Oh! I like that,’ or… ‘Wow! That feels like nothing I’ve ever seen before.’ …to give them the granular freedom to explore the Delta between standard dynamic range and the brightest possible peak luminance which we’re capable of producing today because it’s a large range and we can plot creatively anywhere along that continuum.[2]” – Cullen Kelly, “Clients love how I use the Creative Potential of HDR” (Colorist Society, Mar. 3, 2025).
What Kelly’s describing isn’t a creative exploration of HDR; it’s the diagnostic of a broken pipeline masquerading as sophisticated technique.
The “Brightest Possible Peak Luminance”
Streaming services don’t accept masters graded to a theoretical “brightest possible” peak luminance. Grading doesn’t operate on an open-ended “possibility” scale, but within the constraints of a deliverable spec (e.g., 1000, 4000 nits). Kelly’s description of an unbounded “continuum” is detached from reality.
Late-Stage Appraisal
‘Wow! That feels like nothing I’ve ever seen before.’
If the client doesn’t see their project in HDR until after the production has wrapped up, the entire enterprise is certain to fall short. The look is established on set and approved in dailies. HDR isn’t a post-production “effect” to be revealed at the eleventh hour; it should be driving creative decisions from day one. By locking the creative intent in SDR first, the HDR version is inherently compromised. When the client doesn’t even recognize their own work, there is no reason to rejoice.
The “False Dichotomy” Smokescreen
Kelly uses the phrase “false dichotomy” to sound philosophical, but it’s a smokescreen. Technically, SDR and HDR are objectively different standards with different capabilities. The dichotomy only becomes “false” when you do exactly what he’s doing: subordinating HDR to SDR.
The Ironic Title
The title “Clients love how I use the Creative Potential of HDR” is ironic. Kelly’s not demonstrating the creative potential of HDR; he’s rationalizing a method for avoiding it. This isn’t workflow; it’s client anxiety management.
- “standard dynamic range rendering”: The creative act of applying color changes is referred to as “grading” or “color correction.” Rendering is a separate step necessary to export the final result of the grading session.
- “granular freedom to explore the Delta… and plot creatively anywhere along that continuum,”: i.e., adjust the brightness
The Daejeon Chronicles 
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