Brightness of youtube HDR video with native vs software XDR brightness upscaling

[akev2794]

Hi all,

Only started using this nifty piece of software today. I really appreciated the better scaling options for my additional monitor, but I also noticed these options to boost brightness beyond the standard limit allowed by MacOs.

The software recommends native XDR brightness upscaling, however, using the software brightness upscaling, i get a brighter and more vivid image when playing back HDR video on youtube. However, there doesn't seem to be a difference on desktop, or if I'm playing a non-HDR video. I'm not quite sure why this is, if anyone can explain that would be great!

Additionally, how does either mode behave when watching SDR content? 1600 nits of brightness is much brighter than SDR content is typically watched at as far as I understand, but are there any negatives regarding colours washing out or whatever else, or does the software make appropriate adjustments for SDR/HDR content as appropriate?

Apologies if these are silly questions, I know a little bit about this stuff but not near enough!

[waydabber]

Hi @akev2794,

SDR content (including the desktop and apps) should look the same with both modes. Colors are not washed out and there should or adversely impacted.

With HDR content however, software XDR upscaling will simply cut off (clip) the HDR range and increase the brightness of everything below HDR brightness as it would with any other SDR content. Native XDR upscaling however should leave HDR content alone (mostly), letting the system properly render HDR content without clipping (this leaves the SDR range of the video less bright compared to software XDR upscaling, but this is actually preferred).

It is better to use native XDR upscaling, the only downside is a minor flash during app launch when the app switches modes initially.