Grading advice

[EH01]

Hi All,

I hope you can give me guidance on this.

I have a film I am grading in Resolve, technicals below.
When I output through Deliver the outputted file looks correct when I play it off the drive. When I go into Quicktime the video levels are lifted and the colours desaturated. When I playback through VLC the colours are over saturated. When I upload to Vimeo/Youtube the video levels are lifted and colours desaturated.
I’m not sure which is correct. Why the levels are being lifted/desaturated or why VLC is oversaturated. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Grading on a iMac Display P3. Shot on Sony's FX9 and FX3

Colour Management
Color Science: DaVinci YRGB
Timeline Color Space: Rec. 709 Gamma 2.4
Output Color Space: Rey 709 Gamm2.4

Deliver
MP4
H.264
1920 x 1080 HD
Quality: Auto
Encoding Profile: Auto
Date Levels: Video
Color Space Tag: Rec 709
Gamma Tag: Rec 709

 

[Syxguns]

You’re running into a really common issue: different players interpret Rec. 709 levels and gamma differently, especially on macOS. Nothing is actually “wrong” with your grade — it’s the viewers that are shifting things around.

Here’s the short version of what’s happening:

1. QuickTime on macOS always lifts gamma
QuickTime applies Apple’s “Video Range → Full Range” remapping and a display transform for P3 screens.
This makes Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 footage look brighter and slightly washed out.
Everyone grading on a Mac fights this at some point.

2. VLC ignores color management entirely
VLC doesn’t apply any display transform and often overshoots saturation.
So it tends to look too contrasty and too saturated.

3. YouTube/Vimeo match QuickTime, not Resolve
Both platforms assume Rec.709-A (Apple’s flavor of 709), so they end up looking closer to QuickTime:
lifted shadows, softer contrast, mild desaturation.

Which one is “correct”?
The only correct reference is Resolve’s viewer, assuming your monitor is calibrated, and your timeline/output are both set to Rec. 709 Gamma 2.4 — which they are.
Everything else is applying its own interpretation.

What you can do to stabilize your exports
1. Change your Gamma Tag
Right now, you’re tagging the file as:
• Color Space Tag: Rec. 709
• Gamma Tag: Rec.709
Try this instead:
Gamma Tag: Rec.709-A
This tells macOS and streaming sites, “Use the Apple interpretation,” which prevents the lifted look.

2. Set Data Levels to Auto
You already have Data Levels set to Video, which is usually fine, but Auto is safer because Resolve reads the codec and sets the correct range.

3. Don’t judge anything by QuickTime
QuickTime is the worst reference monitor for color work.
If you want a second opinion, use:
• DaVinci Resolve Viewer (primary reference)
• VLC (just to confirm nothing is wildly off)
• Upload a private YouTube link to see how it will look online

Bottom line
Your grade is probably fine — you’re just seeing three different color management behaviors from three different players. Tagging your export as Rec. 709-A usually brings QuickTime, YouTube, and Vimeo back in line with what you see in Resolve.

I hope this information is helpful for you.