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HDR Content Looks Dim & Dull On Retina Display

Sovon Halder

Sovon Halder

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 3, 2016
563
181
India
Trying to play Avengers HEVC HDR 10bit encode (12.1G) on my 2017 Macbook Pro & it looks very dim. I've checked multiple times with regular non dr h264 encodes, which look far brighter and vibrant.

Any solution?
 
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Sovon Halder said:
Trying to play Avengers HEVC HDR 10bit encode (12.1G) on my 2017 Macbook Pro & it looks very dim. I've checked multiple times with regular non dr h264 encodes, which look far brighter ad vibrant.

Any solution?
Click to expand...

First technical details. The screen on that model supports dithered HDR playback, which would still be very close to HDR in most cases.

Second. The source of the video matters.

If you're playing from iTunes then the app doesn't yet support 4K HDR playback on that machine. It will play the 1080p version.

If you're playing back from pirate material then that's your problem. It could have lost color during the ripping process even if the file says it is 10 bit HEVC. You shouldn't play pirate content anyway. Those websites people download the torrents from make millions from ads and they are owned by organised crime and extremists.
 
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SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
First technical details. The screen on that model supports dithered HDR playback, which would still be very close to HDR in most cases.

Second. The source of the video matters.

If you're playing from iTunes then the app doesn't yet support 4K HDR playback on that machine. It will play the 1080p version.

If you're playing back from pirate material then that's your problem. It could have lost color during the ripping process even if the file says it is 10 bit HEVC. You shouldn't play pirate content anyway. Those websites people download the torrents from make millions from ads and they are owned by organised crime and extremists.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input. I'm not using iTunes. In my country Apple does not sell MCU movies, certainly not in 4K. That's beside the point.

I didn't find anything when I looked. So I wanted to ask whether there is a workaround to playing HDR stuff in general in retina display, in players like IINA etc.
 
hdr content is designed to be displayed with display at basically full brightness, tv's put backlight to full when displaying hdr material
 
You shouldn't be surprised. Macbook displays are not HDR compatible.
The same happens to me on my Dell XPS.

One thing I do to watch HDR content is either use the regular Cinema app on Windows 10 or download madVR for MPC-HC. You still wouldn't be able to watch HDR content the way it is meant to be, but it at least makes the colors from dull to normal again.

Or just get/download the 1080p version of the movie. 4K on your laptop is overkill but idk.
 
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Years ago I uses to use madVR & MPC-HC. But neither of them are available for mac.

I wonder if there is any equivalent for mac that I can use.
 
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Sovon Halder said:
Years ago I uses to use madVR & MPC-HC. But neither of them are available for mac.

I wonder if there is any equivalent for mac that I can use.
Click to expand...
One option is VLC which also has built-in HDR codes or some sort of, so you won't need to download stuff like madVR.
 
alpi123 said:
One option is VLC which also has built-in HDR codes or some sort of, so you won't need to download stuff like madVR.
Click to expand...
Okay, what settings should I make/change? Can you point me towards a tutorial if available?

I tried with VLC as well. Default is same as IINA. Dark & Dull.
 
Sovon Halder said:
Thanks for your input. I'm not using iTunes. In my country Apple does not sell MCU movies, certainly not in 4K. That's beside the point.

I didn't find anything when I looked. So I wanted to ask whether there is a workaround to playing HDR stuff in general in retina display, in players like IINA etc.
Click to expand...

I understand it is unfortunate in some parts of the world video services are not available.

If you are watching 1080p on your laptop or phone its basically the same as watching 4K on a TV from a distance.

If your issue is the colours or grading of the video footage that can be many things. Marvel movies don't use high contrast grading like the DC Comics movies. If you are watching a rip then the color will be desaturated more by the compression ratio.
 
What display color profile are you using? I'm using a manual calibration and HDR is noticeable.
 
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