Skip to main content
B
BENJAMIN5E28
Participant
July 10, 2021
Answered

Inaccurate colors from desktop recording

  • July 10, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 6519 views

I am currently unable to produce videos contaning screen recordings in Premiere Pro because the colors are completely inaccurate. Videos appear washed out and either far too dark or far too bright depending on the content. I record using OBS with the Rec. 709 color space, and the original recording looks identical to what was actually displayed while recording when viewed in VLC. Also, video previews displayed while editing look different from the final export but still not the same as the original.

In Premiere, I have tried rendering with and without CUDA acceleration as well as enabling and disabling display color management while CUDA was enabled. I have also tried forcing applications to use the full available color range in NVIDIA settings based on responses to similar issues. These attempts have done nothing.

I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is an issue with gamma or contrast or something else entirely. Below I have attached an example of the issue (top is original, bottom is Premiere Pro export as displayed in VLC). The video preview in Premiere itself is wrong as well, so I don't think it's a VLC problem.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer R Neil Haugen

One thing to check is whether you have Limited/Video (16-235) or Full/Legal (0-255) set in the GPU setup. For Rec.709, this SHOULD ALWAYS BE LIMITED 16-235!

 

I emphasize this so much as so many get that wrong ... nearly all video is Rec.709 and YUV ... and is encoded as 16-235, displayed by any properly set screen as 0-255.

 

The ONLY media that is "full" is the RGB format/codecs, typically 12-bit or better, and most often in DPX or image-sequence formats.

 

So make sure your GPU is set for limited/video 16-235 encoded Rec.709, AND that in OBS you use Limited range encoding settings. Premiere is a hard-wired stock Rec.709 application and will use limited/16-235 assumptions for all Rec.709 media unless it is RGB, when PrPro will correctly assume it is full range.

 

Neil

3 replies

R Neil Haugen
R Neil HaugenCorrect answer
Legend
July 11, 2021

One thing to check is whether you have Limited/Video (16-235) or Full/Legal (0-255) set in the GPU setup. For Rec.709, this SHOULD ALWAYS BE LIMITED 16-235!

 

I emphasize this so much as so many get that wrong ... nearly all video is Rec.709 and YUV ... and is encoded as 16-235, displayed by any properly set screen as 0-255.

 

The ONLY media that is "full" is the RGB format/codecs, typically 12-bit or better, and most often in DPX or image-sequence formats.

 

So make sure your GPU is set for limited/video 16-235 encoded Rec.709, AND that in OBS you use Limited range encoding settings. Premiere is a hard-wired stock Rec.709 application and will use limited/16-235 assumptions for all Rec.709 media unless it is RGB, when PrPro will correctly assume it is full range.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
A
Andy 1968
Inspiring
July 12, 2021

Neil,

I agree 100 percent. 35 years ago everyone watched video on broadcast compliant hardware (their TV). No one had a Dell laptop or iPad let alone Quicktime or OBS. Even in 2021 the Sony a 7 III, Canon T3i and Nikon D5100 all have an HDMI outputs for playback on broadcast compliant hardware and color space (their TV).  No video camera has even been made for playback on an iMac Pro using Quicktime or  Dell Laptop using Windows Movie Maker (not that it cannot look nice).

I made my video do demonstrate that Premiere Pro is dead on when using 3rd party hardware. In other words Premiere Pro matches the camera's color, gamma and contrast 100%. You cannot get better than dead on. That being said a Dell Laptop and an iMac Pro have very different montiors and QuickTime and OBS will handle the color, contrast and gamma a tad bit different. That being said even Resolve needs things setup correct during export for playback using Media Player, YouTube, Quicktime etc. 

A
Andy 1968
Inspiring
July 10, 2021

The video below might be helpful.

R Neil Haugen
R Neil Haugen
Legend
July 10, 2021

Color management is a massive rabbit hole, but unfortunately necessary.

 

First ... what is your OS? Mac or PC?

 

What is your monitor set for color space? What calibrations if any have you done?

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
B
BENJAMIN5E28Author
Participant
July 11, 2021

I'm using Windows 10. My monitor is ASUS VG27AQ which approximately fills the sRGB color space. The only "calibration" I have done is by eye, so it's probably not particulary color accurate.

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices