Skip to main content
S
SRPcashie
Inspiring
October 5, 2023
Answered

Calibrate HDR Content?

  • October 5, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 3126 views

Hi All,

I am currently in the market for a new display calibration device because I upgraded to the new macbook pro, which has the new screen technology.  In terms of Calibrite, the options are display pro and plus HL.  The difference according to calibrite is the ability to 'calibrate HDR content'.  Apparently this is a technololgy that is 'evolving'.  I don't really understand why you would need to specifically calibrate for HDR content.  Does anyone out there have any information or advice about that? 

I'm pretty tired of having to dish out money on these things.  

Thanks!

 

Mac OS 13.6

LR 12.5

PS 24.7.0

Macbook Pro M2 Max

    Correct answer Conrad_C
    quote

    I am currently in the market for a new display calibration device because I upgraded to the new macbook pro, which has the new screen technology.  In terms of Calibrite, the options are display pro and plus HL.  The difference according to calibrite is the ability to 'calibrate HDR content'.  Apparently this is a technololgy that is 'evolving'.  I don't really understand why you would need to specifically calibrate for HDR content.

    By @SRPcashie

     

    It’s because of the extra dynamic range that that true HDR involves. It’s well in excess of the dynamic range of what we now call SDR displays that have been around for decades. So if you take an old calibrator and use it on an HDR display, the way it measures is going to be just flat out wrong. It’ll make incorrect, outdated assumptions about the dynamic range, color rendering, screen technology, and other critical aspects, so you end up generating an incorrect profile that does not take advantage of the advanced display.

     

    It’s important to understand that true HDR content and display is not the same as, for example, doing an HDR merge in Photoshop or Lightroom to an SDR file. To do true HDR editing, you need a real HDR display, such as the Liquid Retina XDR. Right now, a good example of true HDR is the “HDR Output” technology preview in Adobe Camera Raw. Greg Benz has done some great videos on this:

     

     

    As far as the calibration devices go, if you want a device for the current 14/16" MacBook Pro, my understanding is that the new Calibrite devices work out like this…

    Display SL: Don’t get this, it’s for older SDR displays.

    Display Pro HL: This is probably the one most people should get for a 14/16" MacBook Pro.

    Display Plus HL: Overkill for most people.

     

    There is another point of view that says you can hold off on this purchase, because the 14/16" MacBook Pro already comes with very good factory calibration that won’t drift much, and all most people need to do is fine-tune it once in a while. ArtIsRight has many videos about these displays, and if you really want to understand what’s going on, watch his videos.

     

    This might all seem complicated, but it’s because the MacBook Pro has a display that generally behaves more like a high-end desktop display. Many of the things about it that are “new” to long-time Mac users have been quite familiar to those who have already been working with pro color displays (Eizo etc.) or HDR for video.

     

    In short, if you really want to get the most out of these displays:

    • Understand how Apple uses Reference Modes to take full advantage of the Liquid Retina XDR displays. 
    • Understand that in the past, we mostly did profiling, not calibration, but the Liquid Retina XDR display allows actual calibration, closer to how a pro color desktop display works with hardware calibration. 
    • Understand how HDR editing and display (not HDR merge) really work. And that for now, most Photoshop/Lightroom work is not done in true HDR.

     

    And no, I’m not saying this is an easy subject. It’s a lot to get one’s head around. But these displays are a huge improvement over any Mac laptop display in the past.

    4 replies

    G
    gregbenz
    Inspiring
    March 31, 2025

    We still don't have an ICC standard for profiling in HDR mode. If you create a custom ICC profile (even with a high capbility colorimeter built for HDR), it will cause HDR to clip to SDR.

     

    Until we have a such a standard, you have a few options:

    • Use a display which is highly accurate out of the box, such as the ProDisplay XDR.
    • Use MacOS "fine tune" calibration for an XDR display (this includes M1 and later MacBook Pros). You need to measure your SDR white and then input the luminance and x,y coordinates into MacOS fine tune calibration. It's limited, but helpful in my experience.
    • Calibrate in the hardware.
    NB, colourmanagement
    Community Expert
    NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 2, 2025

    @gregbenz  Is that right? I had no idea that HDR was, by definition, a larger ICC defined colourspace, I see, though, that the ICC are working on this: https://www.color.org/groups/hdr/index.xalter

     

    IMO. a display calibration would not intrinsically reduce display gamut, as long as the display is calibrated to allow it to run it's native gamut, i.e not targeted to sRGB/ Asobe RGB etc..

     

    Of course, display luminance could be an issue with some sensors, but with a high luminance compatible sensor, that should be fine? At a reasonable price, Calibrite's Display Pro HL goes to 3000 nits, their Display Plus HL to 10,000 nits.

     

    Is there an ICC profile you can share to show us what gamut HDR actually has? 

     

     

    I hope this helps

    neil barstow colourmanagement - adobe forum volunteer,

    colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

    See my free articles on colourmanagement online

    Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

    Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts

     

    G
    gregbenz
    Inspiring
    April 3, 2025

    @NB, colourmanagementthere is no ICC standard for HDR yet, so it is not defined and that causes problems if you use standard profiling solutions at this time. It will severely clamp the color volume in terms of luminance (ie HDR will clip to the SDR range). We already have great support with many colorimeters for HDR, we simply lack a general mechanism for creating a profile that could be used by MacOS / Windows.

     

    An ICC profile can only hold a CICP tag, which can specify an HDR EOTF. Or you can hack them a bit (some have done this to encode PQ curves in ICC ). That can encode an image, but is not helpful for profiling / display accuracy.

     

    The only solutions today for accuracy are calibration in the hardware (such as ASUS ProArt or a TV) or buying a display which is highly accurate by default (such any XDR display from Apple, including their M1 and later MacBook Pros). The XDR displays also support a simple white point adjustment ("fine tun calibration") or if you have a (very pricy) spectro can do a full calibration in MacOS. More info on recommended options: https://gregbenzphotography.com/review-best-hdr-monitor-for-photography/

     

    As for HDR gamut, it's tricky as you have to consider a 3D volume. We don't think about that much in SDR, but it's the key benefit of HDR and highly variable / depdent. The luminance component is very different. The ultimate target is 10,000 nits (about 5.6 stops of HDR headroom above the SDR range) with Rec2020 primaries. Realistically, the best computer displays are closer to high coverage of P3 up to 4 stops under ideal conditions (headroom varies with target SDR brightness, and EOTF tracking will deviate significantly for most OLED due to automatic brightness limiting once you get to even moderate test window sizes). Some TVs already support 10,000 nits and a large portion of Rec2020, but that's super niche for TVs now and a long ways off for computer displays. Capabilities should improve significantly in the coming 5-10 years. 

     

    I don't expect all that will make sense right away, but my point is that is very different from SDR and there is tremendous variability to be managed/understood. There is great ongoing progress all the time here, and we'll get to clear standards in due time.

    M
    may32703308zcvv
    Participant
    October 6, 2023
    Please for me software photoshop
    Conrad_C
    Community Expert
    Conrad_CCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    October 5, 2023
    quote

    I am currently in the market for a new display calibration device because I upgraded to the new macbook pro, which has the new screen technology.  In terms of Calibrite, the options are display pro and plus HL.  The difference according to calibrite is the ability to 'calibrate HDR content'.  Apparently this is a technololgy that is 'evolving'.  I don't really understand why you would need to specifically calibrate for HDR content.

    By @SRPcashie

     

    It’s because of the extra dynamic range that that true HDR involves. It’s well in excess of the dynamic range of what we now call SDR displays that have been around for decades. So if you take an old calibrator and use it on an HDR display, the way it measures is going to be just flat out wrong. It’ll make incorrect, outdated assumptions about the dynamic range, color rendering, screen technology, and other critical aspects, so you end up generating an incorrect profile that does not take advantage of the advanced display.

     

    It’s important to understand that true HDR content and display is not the same as, for example, doing an HDR merge in Photoshop or Lightroom to an SDR file. To do true HDR editing, you need a real HDR display, such as the Liquid Retina XDR. Right now, a good example of true HDR is the “HDR Output” technology preview in Adobe Camera Raw. Greg Benz has done some great videos on this:

     

     

    As far as the calibration devices go, if you want a device for the current 14/16" MacBook Pro, my understanding is that the new Calibrite devices work out like this…

    Display SL: Don’t get this, it’s for older SDR displays.

    Display Pro HL: This is probably the one most people should get for a 14/16" MacBook Pro.

    Display Plus HL: Overkill for most people.

     

    There is another point of view that says you can hold off on this purchase, because the 14/16" MacBook Pro already comes with very good factory calibration that won’t drift much, and all most people need to do is fine-tune it once in a while. ArtIsRight has many videos about these displays, and if you really want to understand what’s going on, watch his videos.

     

    This might all seem complicated, but it’s because the MacBook Pro has a display that generally behaves more like a high-end desktop display. Many of the things about it that are “new” to long-time Mac users have been quite familiar to those who have already been working with pro color displays (Eizo etc.) or HDR for video.

     

    In short, if you really want to get the most out of these displays:

    • Understand how Apple uses Reference Modes to take full advantage of the Liquid Retina XDR displays. 
    • Understand that in the past, we mostly did profiling, not calibration, but the Liquid Retina XDR display allows actual calibration, closer to how a pro color desktop display works with hardware calibration. 
    • Understand how HDR editing and display (not HDR merge) really work. And that for now, most Photoshop/Lightroom work is not done in true HDR.

     

    And no, I’m not saying this is an easy subject. It’s a lot to get one’s head around. But these displays are a huge improvement over any Mac laptop display in the past.

    S
    SRPcashieAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 6, 2023

    thanks Conrad!

    That was a lot of information to sift through but my takeaway is that we don't need to spend the extra money on the plus calibrator.  

    I do have one more question.  Since the technology has changed, can the new calibrators properly calibrate the old 2017ish iMac monitors?  I guess the better question is are they equipped to handle everything out there?

    Conrad_C
    Community Expert
    Conrad_CCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2023

    I believe they do work with older displays, but it would be best to check with the company. My understanding is that over the years these devices have had to be upgraded multiple times to add support for each new generation of display technology in more or less this order:

    CRTs

    LCDs with fluorescent backlights

    LCDs with LED backlights

    Wide gamut color

    OLED

    HDR displays

     

    I haven’t used the software that goes with the new ones, but for example, the older software I do use asks me to tell it what kind of display it is. So I don’t think they remove support for older display tech, but I could be wrong. That said, the type of display used in a 2017 iMac is still in very wide use, so new calibration devices should still support it.

     

    One more note: If your work is mostly for web and print, the HDR capabilities of the new displays don’t have much benefit, and it’s more important (especially for print work) to choose or set up a macOS Reference Mode Preset that best represents the calibration specs for the kind of work you deliver the most.

    S
    SRPcashieAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 5, 2023

    Also, not sure how to get their attention, but do the Adobe folks have anything to add?

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices