Final Cut Pro 10.8.1 - problem with HDR videos since upgrading to MacOS Sequoia

I encountered this problem on the first day of the public (not beta) release of Sequoia 15.0. Immediately contacted support and have talked to several advisors since with no resolution in site. Editing to add that the 4th person I spoke to elevated the issue to an engineer about a week ago, but the engineer hasn't gotten back to the advisor yet. This happens on my M1 desktop all the time and my Mac Laptop when it's hooked up to an external monitor. It doesn't happen on the laptop's internal screen.

I'm working with an LG C3 color calibrated monitor that's hooked up directly to the HDMI port (not going through an UltraStudio type device), but I tested it with 3 consumer-grade HDR monitors ranging in price from $300 to $1500 on both machines.

When working with an HLG project, all HDR clips appear dark in the browser and the viewer when I hover over them in the browser and the timeline. When I switch the project to PQ (including setting the proper monitor's metadata in the project settings), the clips display fine in the viewer if I hover over them in the timeline, but they display dark in the viewer and the browser when I hover over them in the browser.

I tested several different projects using footage from several different cameras, and they all have issues. If I open those same projects on a Mac with Sonoma, they work correctly.

I have been working with HDR timelines for over 5 years and know how to probably set up the project types and edit/conform footage between color spaces.

To test more, I went to an Apple Store and tried to duplicate the issue on a Mac mini and a Mac Studio that were hooked up to the $1599 Mac Studio monitor via USB-C, and I couldn't duplicate it. So, it either seems to be an issue with the computers talking to the monitor.

I typically have edited and exported my HDR projects in HLG, but I have since switched to editing in PQ. The clips are still dark when I hover over them in the browser, so it's difficult to mark in/out points, but they look fine once added to the timeline, so I can work with it.

This issue does not occur with DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.0.1 or 19.0.2, which was released yesterday.

Hey Clint, I'm having this same issue on my LG C3 and 3 other monitors and not going through a that I tested. They were all hooked up directly to the HDMI port and not going through an UltraStudio type device. I went to an Apple Store and did some testing using a Mac mini and a Mac Studio, which were both hooked up to a Mac Studio monitor via USB-C, and I couldn't duplicate the problem. It seems it may be an issue with MacOS talking to external monitors or possibly when they are connected through HDMI. My monitors don't support USB-C, so I can't hook them up that way to verify.

Hi Clint. I typically edit and export in HLG but switching to PQ partially fixes the issue. The clips display properly in the viewer when I hover over them in the timeline, but they display dark in the browser and viewer when I hover over them in the browser. This makes marking in/out points difficult because the viewer displays the clip at like 10 nits, but I can work with it.

I know I'm super late to these posts, but the issue does seem to be related to how the Mac is communicating to external monitors. I replied to one of your other posts, and the issue occurs on my M1 desktop when tested on 4 different monitors connected directly to the HDMI port, but I couldn't duplicate the issue at an Apple Store using their demo Mac mini or Mac Studio hooked up to the Mac Studio monitor via USB-C at an apple store. They don't have the XDR on display, so I couldn't test that.

My M1 laptop displays correctly on the internal HDR display in all modes (HLG & PQ), but it acts the same as the desktop when hooked up via HDMI to any of the 4 monitors I tested with. Unfortunately, none of the monitors I tested support USB-C connections, so I couldn't test with different connections.

Hi - I'm curious. Is the monitor you're using with the Mac mini M2 an Apple monitor? I'm asking because I went to an Apple Store and couldn't replicate the error on the demo Mac mini M2 or the Mac Studio Ultra they had on display. Both were connected to Apple Studio displays via Thunderbolt 4.

My thinking is the issue is happening to all non-Apple displays, no matter how they're hooked up, but if you have an Apple monitor, that theory is out the widow.

From what I've been seeing, people with Apple displays aren't having this issue. Another poster in this thread said they're not experiencing the issue with their XDR display and a MacPro.

Yes, here you go! The LG TV is the output from the Macbook Pro via HDMI.

This first show shows the TV is getting HDR from the laptop (Upper right says HDR)....

The second shot shows the output from FCP...very dark and dull. The actual laptop screen is HDR.

Media specs from FCPX...I don't have those other options you mentioned. The point is this all worked great with these clips until I upgraded to Sequoia. These are HLG shots from a SONY A7III.

Can you give the specs of the media and the project properties you used?

could you post screenshots that post the project properties, the clip into, and what you see in the FCP viewer and in the QuickTime Player.