Cannot Fix Gamma Problem on Mac when Uploading to Youtube/Socials

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
December 1, 2025
3 replies
589 views

Please help!! I've tried all of these settings and none of them have helped me solve this problem. I'm editing on a Mac and I downloaded VLC as my main Video Player. My project color settings are set to 2.2 Web. The export preview in Premiere is correct and the color when I view in VLC is correct, but when I go to post on Youtube/Socials my colors revert to being washed out and the shadows brightened basically only showing in that 1.96 color profile when I upload. Someone please help!!

R

RjL190365

Legend

Your Mac's display itself is to blame. Without reference modes or at default settings, your Mac display's gamma itself is only 1.96 to begin with. But then, you export with the gamma of 2.2, and YouTube really shows you the mismatch between the intended output and your monitor. As a result, what looks proper on your Mac's display will not look right on anything else, regardless of what you output.

The only way to circumvent this behavior is to change the profile settings on your Mac's display.

T

Tom_edit

Inspiring

I do not believe that is correct. Quicktime uses a gamma of 1.96 but modern mac screens themselves do not by default, they use dci-p3 at a 2.2 gamma

R

RjL190365

Legend

What I was assuming is it applies to those MacBook displays that lack reference modes (it is the case in its default Color LCD profile). You may have a separate display or a display that's built into a higher-end MacBook, both of which could be configured to the mode that you stated.

T

Tom_edit

Inspiring

are you sure your viewer gamma isn't still set to 2.4 and then youtube is showing 2.2?

caroline_edits

Community Manager

Hey Colin, let's look at this color issue!

Could you share a screenshot of your export settings? And a screenshot of what your video looks like after export (in VLC) and then another screenshot of what the video looks like on YouTube?

Some comparison images may help us figure out what's causing the color shift.

Caroline

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.