The number one resource for information about HDR technology, workflows, tutorials, news and opinion.
Sony European Imaging Ambassador Alister Chapman uses his platform to promote categorically false claims about HDR. We break them down using the international standards, colorist testimonials, research data, and studio policies. Industry standards, studios and professionals reject the simplistic “HDR = Brighter + More Colorful” claim. The “Brighter, More Colorful” Fallacy QUOTE: “When the first... Continue Reading →
Sony European Imaging Ambassador Alister Chapman uses his platform to promote categorically false claims about HDR. We dismantle them one-by-one using the standards themselves. The Data Efficiency Argument QUOTE: “PQ is very wasteful of data as it's designed around theoretical 10,000 Nit displays whereas BT1886 is designed for displays that actually exist.” — Alister Chapman... Continue Reading →
In an article unironically titled Don't repeat these mistakes about color spaces and HDR: insights from the demo "Debunking HDR" by Steve Yedlin (Part 2),” Daniel Bañuelos Cuéllar, a lead editor and post-production supervisor who specializes in HDR workflows and color management, shared some takeaways after watching Yedlin’s presentation. We unpack just a few of... Continue Reading →
"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!... Continue Reading →
“Display P3 is the color space that Apple computer monitors use. The monitor itself is Display P3, but very often it’s receiving Rec.1886 and just converting it to P3. Rec.2020 is exactly the same as Rec.1886, but with a wider color gamut. sRGB is also exactly the same as Rec.1886, but with a slightly different... Continue Reading →
Kevin Shaw, CSI protests: “I have never endorsed shooting SDR and delivering HDR,” yet his own public statements show him advocating for SDR aesthetics in an HDR container. The Denial “I am a huge fan of HDR and my belief is and aways has been that good HDR content requires that it is planned shot... Continue Reading →
While our previous analyses rejected Yedlin’s non-standard terminology, we’ll now show that even if we were to accept Yedlin’s framing of BT.1886 as a complete color space comprising Rec.709 color primaries, D65 white point and transfer function, his claims are still untenable. As Yedlin's presentation explicitly anchors its claims to the official ITU and SMPTE... Continue Reading →
The Incident: We shared a post on LinkedIn featuring Sarah Priestnall’s summary of the 2025 SMPTE “Ask the Colorist” panel, which she moderated. Her summary noted that “many DPs are still not lighting or shooting specifically for HDR – often because they don’t have access to HDR reference monitors on set or in editorial. Until that changes, the... Continue Reading →
Groundbreaking Research Validates the Central Role of Contrast (August 2025) New research from Meta and NYU, presented at SIGGRAPH 2025, provides the first unified perceptual model for HDR quality, directly validating the core thesis of MaxCLL ≠ HDR Quality. We argued that HDR’s core strength lies in preserving spatial contrast relationships that SDR compresses—not in... Continue Reading →
In this analysis, we expose the foundational error underlying Steve Yedlin's critique of HDR: a systematic pattern of conflating fundamentally different technical concepts. While our previous work documented his conflation of EOTFs and color spaces, this piece identifies the core problem: reducing the HDR format to a mere color space. “When it comes to “formats”... Continue Reading →
Shareable table to accompany HDR Myths, Terminology-Driven Workflow Errors + Practices.
This analysis reveals why Steve Yedlin conflates Rec.2100 with PQ ST 2084, how he overlooks a crucial requirement of WCG, re-examines his "data hog" fallacy, and dismantles his proposed replacement for Rec.2100. The Conflation Image Credit: Steve Yedlin. Debunking “HDR”. BT.1886 is an EOTF, not a color space. SMPTE ST 2084 ≠ ITU-R BT.2100. It... Continue Reading →
For Cullen Kelly, HDR is just a container for LDR aesthetics. In a livestream, Kelly explicitly instructs his followers to ignore HDR’s potential: “Many of you guys have probably seen Steve Yedlin's HDR demo... that talks such good common sense about HDR... Fundamentally for me, I don't want HDR versus SDR to determine where my... Continue Reading →
Alfonso Parra’s analysis of the Sony FX3 concluded that: “[…] for optimal noise management, controlling white balance—especially in scenes dominated by critical channels such as blue or red—is more important than the choice of base EI value.” The finding indicates that white balance isn’t only affecting color; it’s also changing the noise structure of the... Continue Reading →
"The inherent process of printing an image... you are destroying dynamic range. That's the job... This is actually part of what makes images work... I actually want these things to clump together into the bottom, the middle, and the top." — Cullen Kelly Cullen Kelly recently gave a masterclass on the necessity of contrast and... Continue Reading →
BEFORE: “The move to HDR is as significant as any shift in the history of motion imaging… It represents a fundamental improvement to the way we approach and talk about image mastering, one that better reflects the native language of light and photography.” — Cullen Kelly, pre-Yedlin AFTER: “HDR is just a standard. HDR doesn’t... Continue Reading →
“My HDR demo that's nominally about HDR kind of almost secretly is a color space demo more than an HDR demo in a way.” Steve Yedlin, Team Deakins Podcast This statement is the key to understanding the critical error at the root of all HDR misinformation. The Breakdown 1. The Root Fallacy: BT.1886 is a... Continue Reading →
Nearly all misconceptions about high dynamic range (HDR) video stem from SDR misconceptions, chief among them being that BT.1886 is a color space. From this fallacy, an entire ecosystem of bad practices takes root. If you believe BT.1886 is a color space, you’ve got no framework to understand PQ or HLG. You’ll design invalid tests... Continue Reading →
Let’s talk about efficiency. Steve Yedlin, ASC, claims the HLG curve is “less efficient” than traditional gamma (BT.1886). This comparison demonstrates why that claim is a category error. Yedlin compares apples to oranges. They’re designed for entirely different purposes. Efficiency depends on the goal: HLG’s goal—delivering a future-proof, backward-compatible HDR signal—is something BT.1886 was never... Continue Reading →
The Standard: ITU-R BT.1886 defines only a reference Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF). No white point. No color primaries. The Claim: Despite this, color scientist Charles Poynton states: "BT.1886 already has primaries, D65, and [an] EOTF," making it a full "DISPLAY colorspace." Charles Poynton, PhD | LinkedIn comment The definition: As defined by ISO 22028-1, a... Continue Reading →
