Windows Video exports look darker then Mac exports and in Premiere

[mauerfuchs_film]

Hey, I graded a Video in Premiere using Lumetri and after exporting it it looks way darker then in Premiere Pro. I checked on my MacBook as well and it exports it as it looks.

I used Media Encoder with Hardware Support on my Windows PC and the export is not Professionally accurate. Also the still capture function always renders it darker, while on Mac the still is the way it should be.

I'm rendering on a Windows Machine with Intel 10Core, Nvidia 2080Ti and it's just not what I was working on in the end.

In Program and after Mac export:

after Windows Export:

 

I don't get it. Exact same Project.

Never had this issue besides Premiere H264/Prores Renderings. I'm using the latest Premiere Version.

would be happy if anyone has a clue.

thanks

[R Neil Haugen]

Color management. Whatever you expect ain't what's happening.

The Mac OS has a very unique way of partially applying Rec.709 to video files, and their Retina monitors are also different across different 'generations' of them. In fact, the Mac OS system has changed the way it handles video color management several times in recent years.

Windows ... may or may not sort of be applying correct color managment depending on what the user has selected in various options for the OS, the monitors, the GPU settings, and various app/player options. Yea, that's not helpful either.

Premiere is hard-coded to be run on systems abiding by all the Rec.709 broadcast standards:

• Video sRGB color primaries;
• Rec.709 profile;
• 2.4 gamma;
• 100 nits brightness for the monitor, and used in a semi-darkened room.

Follow that in setting up your system, and you'll be seeing pretty correct values. Slip up on any, you have no idea what you're seeing versus what would be seen on a correct system. And this is why many pro colorists spend more on calibration gear than most of us have between computer, monitors, and calibration gear.

That's after buying a Grade 1 Reference Monitor, a very special class of monitors different from standard computer monitors ... that tend to run above $4500USD for an HD screen of maybe 24" diagonal.

On a Mac/Retina, you need to use the "Display color management" option in the preferences. Premiere will look at your monitor's ICC profile, and attempt to mate the image to that screen and still end up with close to a proper image. You may or may not get better results with that setting on a PC.

Here's some resources.

Neil

“Why does my footage look darker”

How Display Color Management in Premiere Works

Color Management for Video Editors

Why Master on a Calibrated Display?

And my tutorial re: Premiere's color management from Mixinglight.com ... this is a freebie outside their paywall ... (also referenced by Jonny Elwyn's blog above)

Finishing at the Highest Possible Quality in Premiere Pro

[ricardocinema]

@mauerfuchs_film 
I was having that same problem. I got the new Macbook Pro M1 14'' as my travel laptop, so I can get some work done when I'm not on my Windows desktop, and I've noticed a huge shift exporting the same project on Windows and Mac. The export from the Mac is definitely brighter.

Go to System Preferences > Displays > Presets and select HDTV Video (BT.709-BT.1886). 
That should fix it.

[R Neil Haugen]

But ... if you take that modified exported file from the Mac and display it on the PC ... what do you get?

Neil

[ricardocinema]

It is still brighter than the one exported on the PC, I did that test as well.

[R Neil Haugen]

On the Mac, do you have Display Color Management on in the Preferences?

Do the scopes and image ... match? A value set to 5 or 95 shows as that on the other machine? Are the scopes identical between the two machines?

And if you simply make a sequence with bars & tone, do nothing ... export, and check the other machine ... how does that compare for scopes and image?

Neil

[ricardocinema]

"On the Mac, do you have Display Color Management on in the Preferences?"

Yes

"Do the scopes and image ... match? A value set to 5 or 95 shows as that on the other machine? Are the scopes identical between the two machines?"

Yes, I've compared the scopes between the two machines. The scopes look the same, the preview is obviously brighter on the Mac, as is the export (using the default preset Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits) on the Mac)

I just did the test with the bars & tone and it looks exactly the same. So maybe it could be related to Lumetri?

Source files are 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 from the A7SIII

[R Neil Haugen]

A7s3 ... ahh.

Check the properties for the clips in the Project panel ... for color space that Pr 'sees' them as.

Neil