HDR photos display properly in Lightroom on Mac but appear too dim once exported

[adaml60096233]

I'm editing on both an M1 MacBook Air and an M1 iMac. Both display HDR properly in the Lightroom app, but once exported, the lighting is not as intense--highlights are dimmed.

I've tried exporting in AVIF and JPEG XL, with all available color spaces, with no result. I've tried viewing the images in Preview, Safari, Chrome, and Photos, but they all look identical, i.e. a little too dim.

HDR Output is selected while exporting. A notice displays while exporting that "HDR is not visible in this preview," and the preview looks VERY dim, even dimmer than the final exported photos.

I've attached a screenshot here. Obviously the colors don't look like they do in real view, but you can see there's a difference. Left is the Lightroom app, right is the exported photo. 

 

Everything I've read online leads me to believe that MacOS Sonoma should be able to display HDR properly. Does anyone know why they are not exporting properly?

[V12ARD]

Hello adaml60096233,

I am using Windows 10 and I have exactly the same issue. So, that rules out the issue with MacOS.

My display supports HDR and my photos appear really good in the lightroom but after exporting, they look dim with muted highlights. But when I export the SDR images, the exported images look exactly identical. So, the issue is with only the HDR exporting. Like you, I tried exporting in different formats and the result is the same. I was really excited that Lightroom brought the HDR update but it's frustating that the exported images look dull. I've been researching for a fix since the update dropped but my effortts have been in vain.

P.S: I am also getting the "HDR is not visible in this preview" while exporting and the preview looks really dull.

[flashbox_0237]

Quite Literally the same identical Issue as you. I hope you found a fix?

I have tried literally everything. No matter what export I use i cannot get the same export as what im seeing in Lightroom

I have tested every single export option both PNG and JPEG both 8 bit and 16 bit both HDR export on and off

Nothing I do will fix this issue. I edit a picture in HDR in Lightroom and everything looks great until I go to Export

[Jao vdL]

How are you viewing your images? HDR support has improved in preview recently but is still not complete. Safari does not support any HDR images. Chrome does support them but I don't think it supports HDR in png images. Photoshop only correctly displays these images if you enable support in the technology preview settings.  Photos supports avif but not much else. Preview supports avif and tone mapped jpeg in the very latest versions but not in older Mac OS versions. So it is very much a gamble whether your image will be displayed correctly. HDR image support is still very much in its infancy.

[Seawabear]

I got similar problem, but slightly different: the exposure and color drifted.

Editing synced Smart Previews on my iPad Pro, which has an XDR display. It looks perfect on Lightroom for iPad.

However after I export it, either via Lightroom Classic on my Mac where original files were, or via Lr on iPad, the exported files is far from correct when viewed using the iPad's Photos app vs. Lr iPad preview.

[Jao vdL]

No Apple apps support HDR images correctly. Preview will attempt something but it will be wrong. All the other apps you mention will not display HDR images at all or incorrectly. This is just Apple being way behind the times. The only apps that will work correctly are Photoshop after you enable the "Precise color management for HDR display" in the Technology preview settings (and also the option to open HDR images in HDR mode in camera raw) and Chrome. Chrome should display the image identical to Lightroom. It does on my machine so not sure why it doesn't on your machine.

>Everything I've read online leads me to believe that MacOS Sonoma should be able to display HDR properly. Does anyone know why they are not exporting properly?

They're wrong. HDR images are not correctly implemented in Mac OS. It is also not correctly implemented on Windows by the way for the other poster's info. There you also need Chrome or Photoshop. Support for this is extremely spotty still. 

[adaml60096233]

Interesting that Chrome shows it correctly on your machine. Is that just vanilla Chrome, or preview/beta or something?

On mine, it still has the dullness problem. Screenshot enclosed: left is Photoshop, center is Chrome, and right is Lightroom.

[Jao vdL]

Plain vanilla Chrome. It should work correctly on Macs for sure and I can't notice a difference on my XDR display: https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/

[V12ARD]

Hello Jao vdL,

Thanks for your response. Chrome is working perfectly for me. The jpg exports look exactly like they do in the lightroom app. So, it's reassuring that my JPG's contain the necessary info for displaying the photo accurately as it appears in lightroom. which Crome was able to decode.

But as you can imagine, Chrome is not ideal for photoviewing, especially if one has tons of photos. I found online that photo viewing apps which are "colour managed" will display accurate images as they appear in the lightroom. I've tried a couple of those but unfortunately they are not working. Weirdly, adobe photoshop and bridge are also not displaying the JPGs properly (I checked the settings they seemeed to be alright).

I was wondering if you can recommend any photo viewing apps for Windows that do work? Or is there an issue with my Windows settings thatt needs too be fixed? Thank you.

[Jao vdL]

Jpegs with the HDR option turned on use a non-standard encoding that most apps, including interestingly Photoshop, do not understand and so you get a SDR display in general except in a few exceptions such as Chrome. Photoshop can read them correctly but only if you open the file through camera raw not if you open them directly which is indeed weird. So I don't think anything is wrong with your settings.. Basically no Photo app understands these files. The best options are avif and jpeg XL but again basically no programs understand these correctly either so there really is not much we can do right now. This is very much still in its infancy.

[V12ARD]

Thanks for the clear explanation, Jao vdL.

Really hoping that photo apps roll out updates quickly to support HDR with gain maps.

[sylwesterg95401861]

Well, that's not entirely true. While I do see a lot of problems with gain map-based HDR exports (those seem to be correctly displayed only on the device they were imported on), normal HDRs without gaimpas, in my case at least, look in Apple Photos exactly like in Lightroom (in most cases, some rare random photos do seem to have a wrong display of highlights, also on devices to which they were synced through iCloud).

[GiuseppeLolli]

I have exactly the same issue: any image that I edit where I have been using the HDR button on the top right corner of the application, will result slightly different in the export. 

[Jao vdL]

That's expected and the reason is that Mac Os and windows both do not support HDR formats correctly. Preview on the Mac will not correctly display them. The only option really is Chrome. The Photos app in the last mac os version does correctly display jpeg XL and AVIF, but preview still does not. Safari does not display it wel anywhere. 

Until this problem is fixed by Apple, Microsoft, and google (android doesn't do it right either), you should stay away from editing in HDR mode except if you have complete control over the display of your images. 

[Seawabear]

We should go to Apple's forum and Me Too every posts about HDR displaying issues.

[GiuseppeLolli]

hey man thanks for your help! I will avoid using this

[Leslie84]

Hi, Guys, Had the same problem everyone else had with HDRs. I decided to export files as PNGs rather than JPEGs. It worked for me.

[Leslie84]

Scratch that! That just changed the colors altogether! Adobe fix this!

[V12ARD]

Unfortunately, there's not much Adobe can do at this point. Windows, Mac/iOS and Android need to catch up and add support to to their default image viewers to decode the JPEG+gain maps format so that we can actually visualise HDR images withought having to rely on Chrome/Edge.

[Surface_Gallery]

If lightroom files are exported as AVIF, they correctly show in HDR in photos on Mac but no other app that I can tell.

[RadamBrown]

I just tried exporting as an AVIF on my MacBook M3 Max and they don't look good at all...super washed out in the preview in Finder anyway...darn...was hoping this was the solution for me (and many others with the same problem). Thanks though!

[Jao vdL]

Avif does not work in preview or in Finder. It only works in Photos or in Chrome. There are no HDR capable formats that work universally. 

[RadamBrown]

Good to know and thank you.

[sylwesterg95401861]

HDR AVIF should work properly in Photos, Finder, QuickLook, etc. It is working correctly, at least in my case.

[sylwesterg95401861]

When exporting, are you sure you select the "HDR output" option?