Why starting in SDR shortchanges your HDR Picture this: Your DP and director walk into the grading suite for their first HDR review. Instead of excitement, you see confusion. The shadows feel "off," highlights seem "aggressive," and the contrast ratio jars their vision. They're not reacting to HDR-they're detoxing from SDR. This is the inevitable... Continue Reading →
Yedlin’s Shadow Experiment
The visual benefit of HDR is mainly “about increased shadow detail.” Joshua Pines, Color Scientist, Picture Shop “HDR is about shadows and all the nuances we can now play with thanks to the extra bits available. I don’t understand why there is so much interest in brightness that it can be about special effects at most.” Mike... Continue Reading →
Color Spec Literacy Is Essential
Wondering why so many of Steve Yedlin's ardent fans conflate transfer functions with color spaces, we were able to trace it back to this interview on the Go Creative Show: “Let’s compare two different color spaces. You know, like a Mac computer uses Display P3 color space and most HD TVs or HD monitors are... Continue Reading →
Colorists: Your Job #1
“If you come to me tomorrow and you say ‘Hey, I’ve got an HDR project I’d love to grade with you,’ I’ll say ‘Okay cool’, and very early on in the process I’m going to say ‘Let’s set our speed limit in terms of luminance.’ And if you ask me for my take and you... Continue Reading →
Feelings & Vibes & Energy: How Not To Shoot HDR
On The Cinematography Podcast, DP Adam Newport-Berra laid bare his lighting approach on the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series The Studio: “I really tried not to be too fussy with the lighting in the show. There’s just no way to specifically light people with the kind of camera moves we were doing in the amount of... Continue Reading →
Size Of 90% Of Peak Highlights In Real-World Content Less Than 0.2%
Evaluation of High Dynamic Range TVs using Actual HDR Content. Sungjin Kim, Yongmin Park, Dongwoo Kang, Jongjin Park, Jangjin Yoo, Jonguk Bae and Sooyoung Yoon. LG Display Co. © 2018, Society for Imaging Science and Technology A couple years ago, the Classy Tech Calibrations YouTube channel used the Spears & Munsil UHD disc to demonstrate... Continue Reading →
Streamers (Incl. Apple TV+) Should Heed This Apple Engineer’s Advice
The best practice is to enable EDR when there is both HDR content and potential EDR headroom available. Disable EDR when this is not the case. - Ken Greenebaum, Engineering Manager, Apple Apple engineering manager Ken Greenebaum advises developers to enable EDR only when the user will see the difference. EDR stands for extended dynamic... Continue Reading →
Steve Yedlin’s Technical Assertions Warrant Scrutiny
Steve Yedlin Wages War On HDR “When it comes to "formats" (i.e. colorspaces) as opposed to hardware, with the exception of one thing (how we use the excessive screen brightness available) which is a trade-off more than an advantage, the things that are actually different about HDR compared to SDR are all detriments, not advantages.... Continue Reading →
We had HDR10+, now it’s gone. Some are saying it was a server-side change on Netflix’s part
A reddit member writes that Samsung is deliberately witholding support to sell new TVS: “Samsung has made it clear on its blog that HDR10+ will only be available on TVs from the 2025 line and that it will be supported in other models in the future (unknown). This means that we can forget about it... Continue Reading →
YouTuber Spreads Disinformation About Dolby Vision
Picture: Netflix delivery specs. Garcia claims Dolby Vision is Rec.2020, which is a falsehood. YouTuber Patrick-Pierre Garcia intentionally misleads the public into thinking that Dolby Vision is streamed at 12 bits. Dolby Vision is streamed at 10 bits. Also, contrary to the illustration shared in the video, nearly all commercial Dolby Vision content is mastered... Continue Reading →
How the physical sensation of pupil contraction contributes to the pleasure derived from HDR media
“If you’re looking out a portal, and it’s 700 nits, that’s a load for your eye to respond to. We found ourselves opening up the shadows somewhat to compensate for people’s sensory reaction, where the pupil closes down due to bright light.” - Shelly Johnson, ASC, explaining how he subdued the contrast in Greyhound (2020)... Continue Reading →
The Unappreciated Test Behind the Development of PQ
Yet another in our intolerable series “No One Asked But We Answer It Anyway!” 😝 Everyone is aware that 12-bit PQ ST2084 was devised using the Barten ramp to ensure that contouring artefacts in the BT.2020 standard were below the visible threshold. But did you know that PQ as the EOTF is only applicable to... Continue Reading →
On The Hazards Of Not Monitoring In HDR & ACES From The Outset
https://youtu.be/Zsqz_s0Br9A?si=y-KjocDsAaqBGBGb Look Development in Documentary Filmmaking, Camerimage. Panelists: James Kersley-Cregeen – Production Technologist, Netflix Ross Baker – Head of Colour, Molinare Jack Jones – Senior Colourist & Co-owner, Roundtable Post Daniele Siragusano – Image Engineer, FilmLight On the hazards of not monitoring in HDR & ACES from the outset James Kersley-Cregeen: “I have one anecdote... Continue Reading →
The Shock of HDR
Annie Chang, VP/Creative Technologies, Universal Pictures, speaking at a SMPTE Hollywood panel discussion in 2023, talked about ‘the shock of HDR’. “I think one of the issues is [that] we still have monitoring issues throughout the live action process, so it's like maybe they have an HDR monitor on set so they can actually see... Continue Reading →
What Exactly Is HDR Intent, Anyhow?
"It’s really all about the aesthetics, so when I grade my movies for HDR, I make sure that I keep the same feel[ing] that the cinematographer and the director had intended for the movie... it could look the same [as the SDR grade] or maybe just one scene could look different... again you can take... Continue Reading →
Colorist: “I’ve Never Been Asked For An HDR10 Deliverable”
A Dolby Vision certified colorist whose work has been honored at major festivals, who’s graded movies and TV series for most of the major streaming networks, in order to prove the worthlessness of HDR10, insists he’s never been asked by a studio to deliver in the format. Let’s consider together whether this claim is factual or... Continue Reading →
Film Grain & Film Scanner Noise In HDR Video
A patent was granted to Warner Bros. for eliminating scanner noise from the image while maintaining the film grain. Listed as inventors on the patent are Michael D. Smith, Michael Zink and Christopher Nolan. Michael Zink writes over at LinkedIn, “When Chris Nolan was re-mastering seven of his films for the 2017 release of “The... Continue Reading →
Netflix Ditches HDR After Influencers Convince Public That It Makes Film Look Like Poop
**Netflix Ditches HDR After Influencers Convince Public That It Makes Film Look Like Poop** By Freddy Flickster - Feb. 22, 2025 In a bold move to appease disgruntled auteurs, Netflix announced today it will cease all HDR streaming, citing filmmakers’ complaints that high dynamic range made their work “look like unadulterated doggy poop.” Working diligently... Continue Reading →
Shameless YouTuber Plagiarizes Patrick Tomasso’s Dumb Anti-HDR Video
In an idiotic rant entitled Why Do Movies Look Worse Now?, YouTuber Luke Riether copies Patrick Tomasso's Why Don’t Movies Look Like Movies Anymore? almost word-for-word, blaming HDR for what he perceives as the flat, lifeless look of today's movies. Riether even all but admits to plagiarism, but refuses to take his video down: "Hey... Continue Reading →
HDR In Name Only: The Invisible Downgrade In Dolby Vision Streaming
“Dolby Vision is a visual technology designed to enhance the viewing experience to unprecedented levels. It empowers visual creatives to infuse their work with unparalleled depth and vibrancy, revolutionizing how we perceive visual content. By leveraging High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology, Dolby Vision dynamically optimizes image quality based on the specific service, device, and platform,”... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 