RAW to HDR color accuracy - Lightroom, darktable, Photomator
HDR images best viewed on an HDR capable device + browser. Recommended setup: Macbook Pro 16 with XDR display + Google Chrome.
An HDR YouTube video was displayed on the M1 Macbook Pro 16 and the Panasonic Lumix S5II was used to take a photo of the screen. The raw files were then converted into HDR AVIF by Lightroom 14.2 (Camera Raw 17.2) and darktable 5.0.1. You can download the raw file here. The settings used to develop the photos will be given at the end of this post.
Zebra indicators on the S5II and raw overexposure indicators in darktable confirm that no overexposure is present.
The image from Lightroom appears desaturated. A discussion has been created on the Adobe forum https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/wide-gamut-hdr-colours-are-desaturated/m-p/15352803. It may very well be possible that I am unware of a setting in Lightroom that avoids the desaturation. If you have any ideas, feel free to add to the discussion on the Adobe forum.
RAW image shot on the S5ii and converted to HDR AVIF
Screenshot of the HDR content (displayed on Macbook Pro 16)
Original image. Credit: Colored Smoke Grenades by Jacob + Katie Schwarz
The following settings are used for Lightroom in addition to the default settings
- Profile: Adobe Color
- HDR editing: On
- Exposure: +3.4 stops
The following settings are used for darktable in addition to the default settings
- Filmic module: Disabled
- Output colour space: PQ BT2020
- Exposure: increased such that it matches the HDR video
Lightroom mobile v. 10.3.1 71F6C8/202 running on the iPhone 14 Pro Max exhibits a similar behaviour to Lightroom Classic.
I have also tried the Adobe Neutral color profile and the orange color is similarly desaturated:
Lightroom with Adobe Neutral profile
Photomator vs reference image
The same photo was also developed in Photomator 3.4.11 (20250428.1454) using:
- HDR mode: on
- exposure: 400% (note that Photomator’s exposure limit is 400%)
Rendered by Photomator:
Screenshot of the HDR content (displayed on Macbook Pro 16):
Original image. Credit: Colored Smoke Grenades by Jacob + Katie Schwarz
The HDR image produced by Photomator does not suffer from desaturation of the orange areas. However, shadow details on the jeans is crushed, and the blue color of the jeans appears oversaturated. For comparison, darktable shows accurate shadow details on the jeans.