The Issue of Color Differences in Video Created in Davinci Resolve When Viewed on System Players
The original article was written by me in Russian four years ago. The topic turned out to be very popular, and I realized that it would be worthwhile to translate it into English.
Problem: The difference in video color, created in Davinci Resolve, when viewed in system players.
I will intentionally omit the topic related to viewing on different screens, as it implies a more detailed review of hardware, calibration, and screen profiling. Therefore, we are only considering the scenario where all viewing is done on a single device and monitor. However, you must understand that without the correct color correction workflow, you cannot guarantee the accurate color reproduction of the final material. Also, remember that if you do not have a reference monitor and you are using an interface monitor as your main viewing display, it still needs to be calibrated to the rec709 standard, otherwise this instruction makes no sense.
MacOS
To ensure that the problem is not the difference in Data Level ranges, we need to put the exported video back on the Davinci timeline. If there are no differences, it means that we are working in a different color space from what the QT player shows.
In version 16.2, a tag called REC709-A was introduced. This tag adjusts the Davinci workspace to that used by the QT player and other Mac applications. Thus, we will already see the image in Davinci as it will be displayed in Quick Time.
Color Management
When working in standard YRGB, set the Timeline Color Space to REC 709-A.
DELIVER
When exporting, we are interested in the Color Space Tag and Gamma Tag. Here, also set to REC 709.
Use Mac Display
Lastly, an important point: you need to enable the checkbox to use the system profile in the program settings.
For MacOS, these are all the necessary settings. With such parameters, the picture in Quick Time Player will appear identical to what we see in Davinci Resolve.
Windows
In windows will be differences in Color Management settings. Set the Timeline Color Space to REC 709 (scene).
Viewing
On Windows, the best solution for viewing would be to use the VLC player, as it uses its own Tag libraries, and you will see the color exactly as inside Davinci Resolve.
Conclusion
This guide is based on a topic on the BlackMagic forum, which was very detailed by Dmitry Shijan. If you want to delve deeper into the details or are working with other inputs, you can find useful information there.
Feel free to write any suggestions and corrections in the comments. Let’s figure out the nuances together.
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Thank you!
Andrei Kalesnikau — video editor, coloriist, post production supervisor. www.zioniuz.com