Question / Help colormatrix default = 601, Why?

D

DeMoN

Member
Why is the colormatrix defaulting to 601? Does it have any good reason??
709 is for HD and looks much better than old 601 SD matrix.
 
It's depending on target device(service) you are using - just select right one. YouTube, for example, uses 709. Some encoders may has its own restrictions or default implementations.

Who works with colors uses test charts and their eyes (and sometimes special equipment). There are some test charts here, on the forum, under the Resources tab.
 
It defaults to 601 because that is most compatible with web browsers and video player clients. If you're recording only, feel free to use 709 but be aware that some clients (like VLC) will assume it's 601.
 
@WizardCM dont you mix it up with pc vs tv range? Because that makes no sense what you say if you didnt mixed it up.
Every browser supports 709 and every video player too. 601 is from SD age.
 
DeMoN said:
@WizardCM dont you mix it up with pc vs tv range? Because that makes no sense what you say if you didnt mixed it up.
Every browser supports 709 and every video player too. 601 is from SD age.
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They "support" 709, but not very well. Depends on what colour settings your monitor has, and browsers treat it differently.
 
I still wonder if you confuse tv/limited range vs pc/full range
Describe what you mean with "not very well"
Because normally this is just wrong. They support it just fine.
If that would already overwhelm them, what would happen with 2020 color range of HDR video?
And do you know what the browsers and players do support? 2020 HDR.

I really assume that you confuse the matrix with the range.
 
I personally prefer 709 but I don't think it usually makes a huge difference, players should know the difference and if they don't it's their own fault. However I can't help you with why 601 is the default, there could be any number of reasons for why that is, perhaps the devs simply don't think it's a big deal. Just change it man, and don't waste another minute of your life worrying about it.

Or, go here and do something about it.
https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/wiki/Getting-Started-With-OBS-Studio-Development
 
Technically, it is not quite correct to use default values of obs for recording/broadcasting.

Because:
  1. Default BT.601 and NV12 (the 601 standard does not covers the NV12 usage)
  2. Default BT.601 and 30fps (the 601 standard developed for analogue television PAL/SECAM systems, so 25fps is more common value here, but for PC the 60Hz monitors and progressive frames long time was only the option, thus 30fps selected).
OBS requires dx10.x to run, so this is era of HD - there is no place left for BT.601.

Edit: By BT.601 here I mean 601 usage and implementation in obs.
 
Last edited:
Agamemnus said:
Just change it man, and don't waste another minute of your life worrying about it.
Click to expand...
Sure. But there are tons of people who have no clue what this setting stands for and they leave it at default setting then of course.
That's why I dont like such bad default settings :(
 
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