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Franlorafx
Franlorafx
Participant
April 28, 2026
Answered

Color Hue Shifts from Premiere (Windows - Rec709 2.4) to iPhone.

  • April 28, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 73 views

I edited a video in Premiere Pro 2026 using gamma 2.4. I did my color grade, my animations, my text, etc. When exporting, everything looks fine in VLC, but when I send it to my iPhone to upload it to Instagram, the colors change. I’m aware that Apple uses a different gamma (1.96), and I know the image can look a bit brighter than normal. What makes me uncomfortable is that the colors change in tone. The image in general becomes more yellow, and where the biggest shift happens is in the red tones. A red text color (FF0000) turns into a more orange tone (FF2B00).

 

I’ve been looking into it and I can’t find anyone with the same problem. Am I exporting incorrectly? Is it normal for colors to change on my iPhone? I’ve checked the same video on different devices: on Samsung it looks fine, but on different iPhones and iPads it looks wrong.

 

Test Image with different tones to look on the iPhone. Both looks different on Screen (mac mini - LG Monitor).
Lumetri Settings - All set to Rec709 2.4
Exports setting H265 mac depth, max quality, Rec 709, no LUTS.

 

    Correct answer R Neil Haugen

    First, there isn’t any such thing as “correcct” or “uniform” color. And really, there can’t be. 

     

    Every capture device records brightness only, no capture device ‘sees’ color. They use a pattern of color filters over the recording sensors and a ton of incredibly math to manufacture from whole cloth data that can look like color when viewed on a screen.

     

    And we can’t make identical anything ... those screen panels you view on, whether in your iPhone or computer or TV? Every one of them measures differently. The new QD-OLED being used by Flanders and Eizo for full-on Grade 1 Reference panels? Those are the panels that when tested after manufacture, have the highest uniformit and closest-to-spec results. And sell for a ton more than the next panel off the line which doesn’t measure that high. Though technically, “it’s an identical screen panel”.

     

    That lower scoring panel goes in a regular monitor or TV.

     

    Next, what companies do with the camera sensing panels or screen display panels to move the signal is completely different than by others, with chips and bits that are also never uniform. The amazing thing isn’t that it’s not uniform, the truly amazing thing is this mostly works AT ALL.

     

    So your iPhone screen is not going to be exactly the same as any other iPhone out there. Probably ... close. Never identical.

     

    And yes this variability drives pro colorists around the bend! Until they realize that what is, is, and they can’t do anything about the screens their content gets viewed on.

     

    So what do they do? They set up highly scored monitors, calibrated by stuff costing more than your entire computer hardware, profiled to check the calibration, and in rooms with exact luminance levels and gray-ness behind that Reference monitor. And grade to and under the tightest specs they can.

     

    And when done, they ... let it go. As “you can’t fix gramma’s green TV.”

    2 replies

    R Neil Haugen
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    April 28, 2026

    So from what you’re saying, you export the clip then bring it back into Premiere or Resolve, the colors are correct? If that’s the case, it isn’t either Pr or Resolve that’s the issue ... but the player’s system/setup.

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
      Franlorafx
      FranlorafxAuthor
      Participant
      April 29, 2026

      Exactly, I think it’s more of an issue with how Apple interprets colors rather than an export settings problem. I initially thought it was some kind of Premiere error, but it also happens in DaVinci, so that rules out Premiere as the cause. I suppose it must be related to how Apple handles color interpretation on iPhones, but now I have another question.

       

      If I can’t see the color red correctly, how is it possible that I can watch a Netflix series or an Instagram video where red appears correctly?

       

      Does that mean Apple only reinterprets colors within its own operating system?

       

      I also tried uploading my export with the correct colors to social media. If I view it on Instagram on PC (Windows), the colors look fine accurate red. But if I watch it on my iPhone, the red shifts toward orange.

       

      So how is it possible that in some videos the reds look more accurate? The only solution I’ve found is to shift the red toward magenta enough so that the reinterpretation brings it back to red instead of orange.

       

      That magenta adjustment I’ll only apply to text and images. I’ll leave the raw camera files as they are.

      Fran Lora
      R Neil Haugen
      R Neil HaugenCorrect answer
      Legend
      April 29, 2026

      First, there isn’t any such thing as “correcct” or “uniform” color. And really, there can’t be. 

       

      Every capture device records brightness only, no capture device ‘sees’ color. They use a pattern of color filters over the recording sensors and a ton of incredibly math to manufacture from whole cloth data that can look like color when viewed on a screen.

       

      And we can’t make identical anything ... those screen panels you view on, whether in your iPhone or computer or TV? Every one of them measures differently. The new QD-OLED being used by Flanders and Eizo for full-on Grade 1 Reference panels? Those are the panels that when tested after manufacture, have the highest uniformit and closest-to-spec results. And sell for a ton more than the next panel off the line which doesn’t measure that high. Though technically, “it’s an identical screen panel”.

       

      That lower scoring panel goes in a regular monitor or TV.

       

      Next, what companies do with the camera sensing panels or screen display panels to move the signal is completely different than by others, with chips and bits that are also never uniform. The amazing thing isn’t that it’s not uniform, the truly amazing thing is this mostly works AT ALL.

       

      So your iPhone screen is not going to be exactly the same as any other iPhone out there. Probably ... close. Never identical.

       

      And yes this variability drives pro colorists around the bend! Until they realize that what is, is, and they can’t do anything about the screens their content gets viewed on.

       

      So what do they do? They set up highly scored monitors, calibrated by stuff costing more than your entire computer hardware, profiled to check the calibration, and in rooms with exact luminance levels and gray-ness behind that Reference monitor. And grade to and under the tightest specs they can.

       

      And when done, they ... let it go. As “you can’t fix gramma’s green TV.”

      Everyone's mileage always varies ...
        R Neil Haugen
        R Neil Haugen
        Legend
        April 28, 2026

        While not as well known, I’ve seen a couple colorists demonstrate that not only does Apple apply that incorrect gamma 1.96 on most Apple screens (but only those without Reference modes, and set to HDTV) ... they don’t actually fully stick the landing on the color transform either.

         

        And yes, it’s the red/yellow area, and maybe the farter-out greens if I recall, that aren’t perfectly transformed  or remapped from Rec.709/sRGB values to the native P3 space of the Apple screens.

         

        If brought back into Premiere, are the colors correct or still off?

        Everyone's mileage always varies ...
          Franlorafx
          FranlorafxAuthor
          Participant
          April 28, 2026

          The colors are correct even if I import the export back in to premiere as well I tried on Davinci trying differents settings. Colors looks fine outside Apple devices. 
           

          I even try just making a secuence with red text and export in Premiere and Davinci with same settings and the problem still the same. Reds shifting to oranje. 
           

          The gamma exposure doesnt bother me I know each screens will have different exposures, but the hue shift its the main problem. 

          Fran Lora
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