Skip to main content
NikVladi
Inspiring
March 20, 2020
Answered

Export video in color range 0-255

Is it possible to export video in color range 0-255 in HEVC or 264? How to do it?

R Neil Haugen
R Neil HaugenCorrect answer
Legend
March 21, 2020

8-bit media has 256 levels 0-255, and those are completely contained in the standard video format/codecs used.

 

0-255 and 16-235 are "file" metadata issues, not image value differences. Based on the format used.

 

That's not intuitive is it? And that is where I, and you ... got confused. I struggled with this also. In front of colorists in person, who rolled their eyes all over until I finally "got it". Was pretty embarrassing really.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
View reply

15 replies

R Neil Haugen
R Neil HaugenCorrect answer
Legend
March 21, 2020

8-bit media has 256 levels 0-255, and those are completely contained in the standard video format/codecs used.

 

0-255 and 16-235 are "file" metadata issues, not image value differences. Based on the format used.

 

That's not intuitive is it? And that is where I, and you ... got confused. I struggled with this also. In front of colorists in person, who rolled their eyes all over until I finally "got it". Was pretty embarrassing really.

 

Neil

Translate
Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    NikVladiAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 21, 2020

    Okay, thanks, now i can go to sleep...

    Translate
      R Neil Haugen
      R Neil Haugen
      Legend
      March 20, 2020

      That is an improper range for nearly all video data according to international standards ... so, why you'd want to do that is the question. No properly setup system needs to have a 0-255 H.264 file to play it appropriately "on screen" in full screen-data of black to white.

       

      In fact ... if you created such a file, on the vast majority of systems it would get played on, it would look horrid ... the shadows crushed to black, and the highlights hard-clipped to white. I can demonstrate that on my system easily. I run both Resolve and Premiere Pro, and use i1 Pro to calibrate my 'reference' monitor, and the nifty combination of Resolve/Lightspace calibration app to check by running a profile. Video media on my machine plays back beautifully, correctly.

       

      And if I set my GPU to 0-255, I immediately get crushed blacks and clipped highlights. Plus a ton of banding.

       

      Standard pro video media is by all standards expected to be 16-235 ... period. As in your other post. And again, a properly setup system will display that media properly black-to-white.

       

      Neil

      Translate
      Everyone's mileage always varies ...
      NikVladiAuthor
      Inspiring
      March 21, 2020

      Neil, thanks for the answer.
      I am completely new to these issues as it has become clear to everyone. I know that this question has already been answered 1000 times and many simply calmed down. But I have no peace.
      But you correct me if I'm wrong.
      1) Some cameras shoot at 0-255. Why, because the standard is 16-235?
      2) The RGB 0-255 color space gives more shades from above and below (white and black) than the space 16-235, which gives fewer shades from above and below (white and black). The difference is 16 777 216 shades - 10 648 000 shades. I'm right?
           2.1) If paragraph 2 is not, then what is the difference?
           2.2) If point 2 is yes, then why can I work in PrPro in the 21st century and I cannot choose the color space I need in the codec, for example, HEVC that supports this for working with modern devices that also supports 0-255? Because the standard is 16-235... But the new devices can work with 0-255, almost all modern. Maybe it's time to give such an opportunity?

      Translate
      R Neil Haugen
      R Neil Haugen
      Legend
      April 3, 2025

      No, you are wrong in every assumption.

       

      Full/legal is an encoding thing, NOT a data-amount thing. Period.

       

      The same data is encoded either way. It's just a slightly different mathematical process. As listed in the specs for many years now.

       

      You are taking the hype of the marketing teams as factual. They don't care about nor know facts, they simply push this on noobs as it sells cameras. Messes up their new clients, but they don't care about that. You paid the money, great for them.

       

      THE STANDARD FOR REC.709/SDR DISPLAY REQUIRES SPECIFIC THINGS. Nearly all actual monitors follow those display standards correctly out of the box, unless the user has messed with the settings.

       

      Which are ... Rec.709/SDR in YUV ... technically Y/Cb-Cr ... in 8 and 10 bit ... is encoded in 16-235, and will be displayed in 0-255 on display. ALL full RGB Rec.709/SDR, is expected to be encoded 0-255 and will also be displayed in 0-255.

       

      If your assumption had any merit, then the 8/10 bit YUV files would look horrible ... banding in every image. Period. They don't show banding unless you push the data around a fair amount ... ergo, they are 0-255 data encoded to 16-235, which does not entail loss of any data, as gee ... did you realize, math allows the use of a cool thing called a "decimal point" ...?

       

      So if you create YUV files in 0-255 encoding, they will display correctly only on those screens where the user has messed their system by setting it to a non-standard setting.

       

      NO professional or broadcast system, nor most tablets/laptops desktop computers, nor most TVs, will see a usable image. We will get heavily crushed shadows and clipped highlights.

       

      Don't fall for hype, ok?

      Translate
      Everyone's mileage always varies ...
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices