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

Good tip to try, it does show on the LG in HDR when it's mirroring the desktop. Hmmm wonder what is going on that it no longer outputs HDR from FCPX as an extended monitor? I guess I should put in a ticket with Apple on this.

So the thing to figure out is if it's how your Mac is communicating with your specific monitor or if it's a general problem that applies to all HDR . This seems unlikely or there would likely be loads of posts about it. I've not installed Sequoia yet and don't intend to for a while so can't test directly. I will try installing it on an external drive later to check it out on my MacBook Pro XDR monitor to see if I am getting the same issue

Anyway I'm not entirely clear what is happening but you seem to be saying that Quicktime Player shows the original clips as HDR but the clips rendered by FCP are not showing as HDR either in FCP or Quicktime. When you have clips opened in Quicktime and open the Movie Inspector, Video Details, Code Points what numbers do you see for the original clips and those rendered as HLG by FCP. For HLG HDR you should be seeing 9-18-9 tags.

OK so I installed Sequoia on an external drive connected to my M1 MacPro with XDR screen, set to HDR P3-ST2084 display preset (the correct one as recommended by Apple and the one I always use), and I installed the latest version of FCP. I am not having any issues seeing HDR video (PQ or HLG) properly - not washed out, not interpreted as SDR in either the Final CUt viewer or rendered in Quicktime and they look identical as usual.

I suggest you check the color conform settings for your footage to see that it is not being interpreted as SDR. If so then change it manually to HLG. Otherwise it might be something to do with your monitor not getting the correct HDR signal from your Mac? In any case, it doesn't appear to me to be a general problem with Sequoia.

No worries. I wanted to have a look at Sequoia anyway so it’s installed on an external drive for now. I always wait a bit when a new macOS arrives in case of problems as going back to an older version is not easy.

I am also having this issue! I'm on an M1 MAX and FCPX 10.8.1. I use an external monitor and it gets HDR from the M1 from everything via the HDMI port EXCEPT FCPX! Its all muted down. The screen on the laptop shows HDR footage in HDR. However it won't output via HDMI port to a monitor in HDMI from FCPX. I've tried everything, including making a new library. Like I said it shows it as HDR in FCPX but it will no longer output via HDMI in HDR.

I have changed display settings several times, the monitor I'm using will show HDR photos etc, just nothing out of FCPX via the M1's HDMI port.

I believe this is a bug with either Sequoia or FCP 10.8.1

That's exactly my point Tom, it won't show as HDR out of FCPX from the HDMI!!! I have it set as extended display. And then in FCP I always use that for just the program output. Has worked perfectly since I got the M1 MAX. Now it won't output HDR in FCPX to the monitor. It used to, now it doesn't! All I did is upgrade to Sequoia. When it's being used as an extended display in any other mode (editing photos in lightroom, showing a mirror of my display etc.) it outputs in HDR as I showed in that photo where it says "HDR".

I appreciate your interest in this, but I've troubleshot it for hours and it's just not working in FCP to output an HDR signal over the built in HDMI on the M1 Max with Sequoia.

Other apps have no probleM so it has to be a compound bug in the way FCP outputs to the TV but down to some difference between Sequioa and Sonoma. You obviously know what you’re doing with HDR and it worked in Sonoma. I think you should file a bug report with Apple.

A small correction that may be important if this happens to be a bug and you want to report it: in the image where you are showing the washed out image in the tv, it is not used as extended desktop but as "av output".

It seems that perhaps FCP is not sending its AV Output properly as HDR.

Thanks Luis. Yes, I should've clarified that. In FCPX it's AV Output. But in System Settings I have to put that 3rd monitor as "Extended Desktop" and I have to enable "HDR output". Two different locations.

PF_Productions wrote:

Thanks Luis. Yes, I should've clarified that. In FCPX it's AV Output. But in System Settings I have to put that 3rd monitor as "Extended Desktop" and I have to enable "HDR output". Two different locations.

I think this is relevant, and it is also relevant that taking a screenshot apparently shows things correctly, whereas a photo of the screen exhibits the problem.

So, two observations:

1) The file appears to correctly encoded, and the problem lies in how it is sent to the external display.

2) It would be interesting to know what happens if you set the Viewer to that display, instead of AV monitor.

Would the media played back on the viewer, on the external display, show as it does in the internal, or as it does in AV monitor?

And - sorry if this has been asked and answered before - what is the Color Profile selected for the external display? Could that be the problem?

Luis,

1) Correct!

2) If I mirror the Built in display to the external LG TV, it shows it in HDR! But it's less than ideal as it's not a full screen image. It's the Final Cut viewer with the rest of that info on the screen and the image I want to view is smaller within that frame.

I sent a bug report in to Apple via Final Cut Pro, I'm not a developer or have any betas.

I'm curious why no one is noticing this though? Does no one edit HDR on a laptop and output a full screen image to a large 50" or larger TV? The HDMI is right there on the machine so it's so simple to set up!

Thanks for the help everyone, I hope they address it soon in the next update.