HDR Remote Review Workflow ​

A colorist is grading an HDR deliverable (Rec.2020 PQ) and needs the client, who has an HDR-capable display and Chrome, and a second suite with an HDR reference monitor to see the grade as HDR, not a tone-mapped copy. HDR review is in beta. Every link in the chain, from the grading system's SDI output to the viewer's screen, must carry the same HDR format, so the test on the day before is the most important step.

Not on Apple TV

HDR is not available on Apple TV. An HDR session plays there in SDR, tone-mapped.

The day before ​

  1. Set the grading system's SDI output to the HDR format of the grade, PQ or HLG, into a Blackmagic DeckLink or UltraStudio capture device. Pixelview Desktop with a Blackmagic device is the recommended way to send HDR, on Mac or Windows.
  2. In Admin, open Settings → Server and set Input Color Profile to the matching profile, for example Rec.2020 PQ/ST2084, Rec.2020 HLG, or P3-D65 PQ/ST2084 — sending with Pixelview Desktop for a P3-D65 grade. Set the max luminance to match the grade. See Color Settings.
  3. In Pixelview Desktop, keep Profile on main10 and check that the Colour line shows the HDR profile. See Sending HDR.
  4. Create a project, click Start Streaming, and open the watch link in Chrome or Edge on an HDR display, which is what the client will use. Safari shows SDR only. See Watch in a Web Browser.
  5. If the client will use an iPad Pro or a recent iPhone instead, test on that exact device with Reference Mode on and True Tone and Night Shift off. See iPhone and iPad Apps.

If the capture device is from another manufacturer, send with OBS Studio instead and set OBS to match the same profile. See OBS Studio for HDR. The Magewell hardware encoder does not support HDR.

The second suite on an SDI monitor ​

  1. On an Apple Silicon Mac with a Blackmagic output device, open Pixelview Desktop, select the Receiving tab and enter the Session ID, Password and a Receiver name.
  2. Tick HDR next to Output, choose PQ or HLG to match the grade, and set the peak brightness in nits to what the colorist set in Admin.
  3. In DeckLink output settings…, set Mode to the stream's frame rate and Output format to 10-bit 4:2:2 Y'CbCr (or 10-bit 4:4:4 RGB up to 30p if the sender uses a 4:4:4 profile). Set the reference monitor's input to the same format.
  4. Click Start receiving. If the picture looks flat or too bright, check that HDR, PQ/HLG and the nits match what the host streams. See Receive a Stream and Play Out over SDI.

During the review ​

Run the session as in a standard review: invite with the Watch link, keep the Viewers panel open, and use Draw and Chat for notes. Ask the client once at the start whether the picture looks like HDR on their display. If it does not, go through the chain in order: the SDI output's format, the capture device, Input Color Profile and max luminance in Admin, the Colour line in Pixelview Desktop, and the viewer's browser and display.

If the chain cannot be confirmed before a client session, set Input Color Profile back to Rec.709 and review in SDR rather than risk an HDR picture that nobody can vouch for.