Create the Impossible: True HDR from Compressed YouTube Sources
The SDR to HDR Challenge: Why Everyone Says It’s Impossible For decades, video professionals have operated under a fundamental assumption: once video data is compressed and converted to Standard Dynamic Range (SDR), the lost information is gone forever. The video industry has long maintained that creating genuine High Dynamic Range (HDR) from heavily compressed sources like YouTube videos is technically impossible. Understanding Dynamic Range Dynamic range refers to the ratio between the brightest and darkest parts of an image. Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) video, which has been the standard since television’s inception, typically peaks at around 100 nits of brightness and uses the Rec. 709 color space designed for CRT displays. In contrast, High Dynamic Range (HDR) can represent brightness from 0.0001 to 10,000 nits, using expanded color spaces like Rec. 2020 and advanced transfer functions like PQ (Perceptual Quantizer – SMPTE ST 2084). When video is compressed for streaming…
Convert SDR to ProRes HDR Digital Intermediate
HDR-X Video Converter – TEKNO3D Labs Tutorials Learn how to convert a 2160p SDR video to a ProRes 4444XQ Digital Intermediate. AI Mapping used: [ProRes Enhanced STUDIO AI] BT. 2020 1000 nits HDR – Balanced PQ EOTF [Modern] – Natural Wide Gamut In the world of video production, the leap from Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) to High Dynamic Range (HDR) represents a significant enhancement in visual quality. In this video tutorial, we’ve successfully transformed a 2160p SDR video into an HDR10 ProRes 4444XQ Digital Intermediate, utilizing a cutting-edge AI Enhanced mapping process. This advanced technique involves expanding both the gamma and the color gamut of the original footage to seamlessly fit into the new PQ (Perceptual Quantizer) space. Specifically, the transformation targets a peak brightness of 1000 nits and adheres to the expansive BT.2020 color space. By intelligently adjusting the gamma curve and enhancing the color gamut, the AI mapping…