Rec. 2020
Also known as: BT.2020, Rec2020, wide color gamut
A wide color gamut standard for ultra HD and HDR video that can show far more saturated colors than Rec. 709. It pairs with HLG or PQ for HDR.
Updated
What it means
Rec. 2020 defines a much larger color space than Rec. 709. It can describe deeper greens, richer reds and more intense blues, close to the limits of what human vision perceives. It was created for ultra HD television and is the container for most HDR video.
On its own, Rec. 2020 describes colors, not brightness. HDR adds a transfer curve, either HLG or PQ, which is the curve used by HDR10. Together they let a video show both a wider range of colors and much brighter highlights.
Few screens can display the full Rec. 2020 gamut today, so in practice it acts as a generous container that leaves room for future displays.
How it works in practice
Some drones, phones and action cameras can record HLG in Rec. 2020. Editing it properly needs color-managed software that knows the source is Rec. 2020 HLG, a display that can preview HDR, and an export path that keeps the HDR metadata intact.
If you deliver to standard screens, you convert Rec. 2020 footage to Rec. 709, mapping the wide colors into the smaller gamut. Good tone mapping keeps sunsets and neon signs looking rich without breaking into flat patches.
10-bit recording is essential here, since the wider range spreads the available values thinner.
What to watch out for
Viewing Rec. 2020 footage on a standard screen without conversion makes it look dull and desaturated. That is not a fault in the footage, just a mismatch between file and display.
Uploading HDR without correct metadata leads platforms to treat the video as standard, which produces strange colors. Follow the platform guidance for HDR uploads, and always check the result on both an HDR phone and a standard laptop screen.
For most action edits shared on social media, a clean Rec. 709 export is simpler and more predictable, and it avoids the recompression quirks that HDR uploads still run into on some apps.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip does not convert color spaces or HDR. For predictable results, convert Rec. 2020 or HLG clips to a standard Rec. 709 look before upload, then the AI builds your highlight from those files.