Washed-out colors when source produces HDR signal

FiOth

New Member
Greetings people

I've run into a little issue. I'm using an Elgato HD60 X. It's been working... OK I'd say (suffers the occasional crackling sound that Elgato is known for) but Image has been fine. The big update came, providing HDR streaming, but I opted not to use it, because I want ultra-low latency chat when doing so. All's been swell.

A few days ago, I noticed that my in-OBS display showed washed out colors when viewing my PS5 scene. I turned off HDR, and colors returned to normal. Playing games that don't support HDR, look as intended. If I want to stream a game that does support it, I have to turn it off or I get an awful picture. I did not change any settings, I did not mess with anything. It used to work find and now it just doesn't.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 

Lycanthrope -R-

New Member
If you're using HDR but streaming in SDR, you either have to:

A. Go into the Capture Card properties in OBS and set the video type to P010 and the color profile to Rec.2100(PQ), or
B. Apply a HDR filter/LUT to the scene as you're streaming.

I'm having some issues with A myself that I can't quite figure out. But that's what you're supposed to do, so I hear.
 

FiOth

New Member
Hey man, thanks for the answer!

I'm streaming in SDR, the console is using HDR, but I play using a different display (TV). There, it looks fine. In Elgato's software, it looks fine. In Remote Play, it looks fine. Only in OBS does it look like it went into the washer. So, I didn't tinker with anything, it just started doing it on its own.

I'm running NV12 and Rec.709.
 

Lycanthrope -R-

New Member
In my case, using an Avermedia GC553, it had always looked washed out whenever I used HDR even before the big update. My guess is that your Elgato software was doing something to the signal that OBS doesn't appreciate anymore.

Unless someone with the same card shows up to help, my only advice would be to check the properties for the capture card in your scene and start clicking through drop down menus to see what works. Or else see if there's something in the Elgato software that can help.
 

FiOth

New Member
In my case, using an Avermedia GC553, it had always looked washed out whenever I used HDR even before the big update. My guess is that your Elgato software was doing something to the signal that OBS doesn't appreciate anymore.

Unless someone with the same card shows up to help, my only advice would be to check the properties for the capture card in your scene and start clicking through drop down menus to see what works. Or else see if there's something in the Elgato software that can help.
Thank you man!

I'll give it a go and await some more feedback.

Appreciate the help!
 

Lycanthrope -R-

New Member
I don't know if this will help you, but the problems I ended up having were due to some bug with scale filtering. Do you have a downscale filter set on the game capture?
 

FiOth

New Member
I don't know if this will help you, but the problems I ended up having were due to some bug with scale filtering. Do you have a downscale filter set on the game capture?
Nope, nothing like that. As I said, I barely tinkered with the settings.
 

Lycanthrope -R-

New Member
Hmm. Maybe if you post a log or attach some screenshots of your properties settings and screen, I may be able to come up with an idea or two.
 

FiOth

New Member
OK, I think the problem had to do with the HLS configuration in the "Stream" tab. I remember changing it when the update for HDR came out but it was probably bugged back then. Will try to stream with the new settings tonight.
 

LandePlage

New Member
For anyone else who ends up here from search, I might have a solution.

This is my situation:
- HDR is turned on in Windows 11 settings, which feeds HDR content into OBS when recording.
- I want to convert that into SDR content to show stuff like gameplay or desktop content to others on SDR or HDR screens.

1726743624703.png

Under "Advanced", set "Color range" to full.

1726744324024.png

Add an "HDR tone mapping" filter to your video source. These settings produces a good output for me, although it looks washed out in the preview.
 

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LandePlage

New Member
New breakthrough today. None of the above is necessary - just hit this checkbox in the Properties of your video source.

"Force SDR"
1727121593813.png
 
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