Premiere pro display colour management

From the SpectraCal pdf explaining the Bt1886 standard, adopted again as the second half of Rec709 work back in 2011 ...

2. What is BT.1886? BT.1886 is the recommended gamma for High Definition flat panel displays, determined and adopted by the International telecommunications Union (ITU) in March of 2011. 3. Why is BT.1886 necessary? A variety of gamma functions have been in use in the field, with no standard.  Creating a single standard for gamma makes it easier to ensure that the same content is viewed the same way on every display. BT.1886 is not valuable just because it is a standard, however.  It offers several clear advantages over previous practice.  First, BT.1886 more closely mimics the behavior of CRTs than previous power functions, and therefore better ensures consistent viewing on different display technologies.   Most importantly, unlike previous gamma functions that made the first few steps out of black hard to differentiate (particularly if the display had an elevated black level), BT.1886 provides clearer differentiation between the first few steps out of black.  4. How is BT.1886 different from previous gamma functions? Previous gamma functions were based on a perfect black of zero luminance that few devices can actually achieve. Unlike these older functions, BT.1886 takes into account the performance of a device at its blackest level. Previous gamma functions additionally do not adequately account for independent adjustment of brightness and contrast controls on a display. 5. How does BT.1886 make these improvements? As SpectraCal’s Director of Software Development, Joel Barsotti, explains, “BT.1886 is like having the ability to slide the end-­‐points (the display’s black and white levels) up and down the curve itself, so that the scale is preserved.  This affords a greater amount of noticeable difference between points at the dark end of the curve.”  7. Should I use BT.1886? Yes.  SpectraCal recommends using BT.1886 for all High Definition (that is, ITU-­‐R BT.709) video applications. Since version 5.2 of CalMAN software, BT.1886 has been the default gamma function for the Rec 709 colorspace standard. BT.1886 is quickly being adopted in the field, particularly in the broadcast, production, and post-­‐production industries.    8. When should I not use BT.1886? If you are using a colorspace target that defines its own gamma function, you should use the gamma function defined for that colorspace. For example, if you are targeting the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) colorspace definition, you should use the DCI gamma function.   9. What are the main advantages of using BT.1886? BT.1886 creates a closer match between different video displays, so that the same video signal will appear more consistently on different displays. Since BT.1886 has rapidly been adopted by content producers, setting your display to BT.1886 will also provide the best opportunity to view video content as it was originally produced.    Finally, BT.1886 will almost always provide clearer differentiation between the first few steps out of black.

It's been part of the implementation of the Rec709 video standard across all flat-screen devices since 2011. Which most certainly includes the monitors hooked up to modern computers. Now ... when someone chooses via an app or the OS not to have their software or gear follow the standard, then ... it's dicey for everyone.

Neil