We can't go back to the days when all video was Rec.709. So ... sorry, but you have to learn how to handle some color management things now. That's just Life in 2025.
And ... the color manzgement controls are ALL in the Lumetri panel's Settings tab ... the tab named Settings.
You're on a PC, right? Try this ....
- Display color management on.
- Auto detect log on.
- Auto tonemapping on.
- Sequence Color Space set to Rec.709.
- Use only Rec.709 export presets that do not have HLG or PQ in the preset name.
Now all your footage will probably get correctly remapped within the Rec.709 color space/dynamic range specs. That's the start.
Viewer Gamma Options
The next setting is viewer gamma ... and ignore what you've heard about setting the viewer gamma. Let's do this right by the actual standards.
The viewer gamma setting for Rec.709 video color correction steps should be set ACCORDINGLY with your room lighting!
So ... if you're in a pretty normally lit room, decently bright? Set viewing gamma to 2.2.
If you are in a pretty dark, nearly blackened room, set viewing gamma to 2.4. This is the working environment reccomended for pro colorists because you 'see' image saturation more clearly.
If you are only worried about how it looks on Macs without Reference modes ... then set viewing gamma to 1.96
Monitor and camera settings for Full/Legal/Data/Auto!
Never EVER EVER EVER change the monitor or camera settings to "full" video levels, leave the Rec.709 video settings at auto or legal levels. PERIOD.
Some camera makers now allow users to set Rec.709 video recording encoding to Full ... as if you get more data levels. YOU DO NOT GET WIDER DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES ON FULL IN REC.709!
The only thing that changes is how the data is encoded, you get the same data. BUT ... Rec.709 YUV (Y-Cb/Cr) 8/10 bit imagery is supposed to be encoded as 16-235 ... a stupid legacy thing but it's what it is. It is always displayed as o-255. ONLY 12/16 bit RGB images ... and you don't have a camera that can produce those! ... are supposed to be encoded as full. And will be treated correctly by all display devices.
So if you changed the camera to full levels, or the monitor, then you have a separate issue. I can also help with that.
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