HDR video
Also known as: HLG, high dynamic range video, HDR10
HDR video captures and displays a wider range of brightness and color than standard video, keeping detail in bright skies and dark shadows at once.
Updated
What it means
Standard dynamic range (SDR) video was designed around older displays, so bright skies blow out to white and deep shadows go black. HDR video keeps more of the range between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene and shows it on screens that can reproduce it, with brighter highlights and richer color.
On action cameras the term covers two different things. Some modes, such as the HDR video setting on recent GoPros, use processing tricks to hold more detail inside a regular SDR file. True HDR delivery uses a format such as HLG or HDR10 with 10-bit color, and it needs an HDR-capable screen to look right.
How it works in practice
DJI drones and Osmo cameras offer HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) alongside Normal and D-Log M. HLG plays as HDR on recent phones, TVs and YouTube, and falls back reasonably well to SDR on older screens. Insta360 and GoPro have their own HDR-labelled modes, which are often limited to lower frame rates.
For a real HDR edit, keep the whole chain 10-bit, usually in H.265, and grade on an HDR monitor or at least a phone that displays HDR properly. Many creators shoot HLG or Log for the extra range but still deliver SDR, since that is what most viewers see in social feeds.
What to watch out for
HDR modes often limit what else you can use. On some cameras they cap resolution or frame rate, so check the menu before a fast session where you were counting on 60 fps or more for slow motion.
Mixing HDR and SDR clips is the classic mistake. An HLG clip placed next to standard footage in an SDR timeline looks washed out or oddly saturated unless it is converted, and apps that ignore HDR metadata may show blown highlights or wrong colors. Decide early whether the final video is HDR or SDR, and convert every clip to match before color grading the edit as a whole.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip delivers the finished highlight as an MP4 in 4K and 1080p and does not apply color grades you choose. If you shot HLG or another HDR mode, converting those clips to standard color before upload keeps them consistent next to footage from your other cameras.