Convert Video to HDR, by Source
What each kind of footage actually records, whether it is already HDR, and what conversion adds. iPhone, Android, GoPro, log, 8-bit, screen recordings and archival footage.
- Convert 8-bit video to HDRAn 8-bit source converts to a genuine 10-bit HDR10 file, and the extra levels are real: they stop the conversion introducing new banding as the highlight range is stretched. What they cannot do is recover the gradations the 8-bit original never recorded, so banding already visible in the source stays.
- Convert Android phone video to HDRWhether an Android phone records HDR depends entirely on the manufacturer and model, so unlike iPhone there is no useful default to assume. Recent Samsung flagships can record HDR10+ and recent Pixels record HDR, while most mid-range devices remain SDR. Check the file's colour transfer rather than the spec sheet.
- Convert archival footage to HDRArchival footage carries constraints from its original format that HDR conversion cannot undo: limited capture range, heavy chroma subsampling, interlacing, and generation loss. Converting produces a real 10-bit HDR10 file, but the highlight information the tape or disc never held does not come back.
- Convert GoPro footage to HDRRecent GoPro models can record HLG HDR in some capture modes, but most GoPro footage is 8-bit SDR. The common confusion is the flat colour profile, which is a low-contrast SDR curve for grading and carries no additional brightness range at all.
- Convert log footage to HDRLog footage is not HDR. S-Log, V-Log, C-Log and D-Log are flat transfer curves that preserve sensor range for grading, and they are normally carried in an SDR-signalled file. Converting ungraded log footage directly produces a poor result, because the flat look is data, not a picture.
- Convert MP4 to HDRMP4 is a container, not a colour format, so "MP4" says nothing about whether a file is HDR. An MP4 can hold SDR or HDR10, 8-bit or 10-bit, H.264 or HEVC. What decides it is the colour transfer, primaries and bit depth of the video stream inside.
- Convert a screen recording to HDRScreen recordings are SDR, and they are the source that gains least from HDR conversion. The reason is not the recorder, it is the content: interfaces, slides and web pages are authored for SDR displays, so there are no specular highlights or bright surfaces for the extra range to hold.
- Convert iPhone video to HDROften already HDRAn iPhone 12 or newer records Dolby Vision HDR by default, so most iPhone clips are already HDR and need no conversion. Check the file's colour transfer before converting anything. The clips that genuinely need it are from iPhone 11 and earlier, or shot with HDR Video switched off.
Questions people ask
How do I know which page applies to me?
Pick by what recorded the footage, not by what it is of. The pages differ because a phone, an action camera and a screen recorder capture genuinely different things. If your source is not listed, check the file directly with ffprobe and the answer will usually be obvious.
Some of these say my footage is already HDR. Is that a catch?
No, it is the honest answer. An iPhone 12 or newer records HDR by default, and converting an HDR file again gains nothing. Pages where that is the common case are flagged on this list rather than buried, because paying to convert something twice helps nobody.
My source is not listed. What now?
The general question is whether the file is SDR and whether it contains light above diffuse white. Check the colour transfer field: `bt709` or empty means SDR and conversion applies. What SDR to HDR does covers the operation independent of source.
Your SDR library is sitting on HDR hardware.
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