Level 1

40 points

Bright HDR Colors after 10.15.4 Catalina Update

Hey. I've got a 2019 16" Macbook Pro and a LG 27UK650 4K 10-bit HDR monitor connected. Last night, I updated my Mac to 10.15.4. Before that, I was unable to view anything in HDR. My monitor looked good, so I never complained. Then, this morning I woke up and went to log in, when my monitor turned on, I saw a HDR logo appear at the top right of my screen (the on-screen overlay from my LG monitor). Now, in settings of the monitor OSD itself, the ONLY control I have is Brightness. Everything else is greyed out. The screen is now very blue and all the colors are extremely vivid. It almost appears as if the monitor is 'broke'.

If I look in System Preferences > Display, it shows a new High Dynamic Range check box. It is checked. If I uncheck it, the display goes back to how it was before. I've tried color calibration to see if I could tone down the colors, but it only seems to allow me to change the white point of the monitor itself.

I've went to the LG website to see if there's a particular calibration file for this monitor and can only find Windows based calibration settings.

Can anyone please help point me in the right direction of how to properly get HDR to appear on this monitor? I much prefer the color of HDR disabled, but after seeing how well HDR brightens up shadows, I'd really like to get HDR working properly. I've attached two photos I took, one with HDR off showing normal colors but dark shadows and one with HDR on showing the bright neon colors with the blue tint. I hope this helps?

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Mar 27, 2020 7:21 AM

Top-ranking reply

BruceQian

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Apr 8, 2020 11:46 PM

I am using LG UL850-W. After upgrading to 10.15.4 and then met the same challenge. The color become very weird. The fix is also very simple:

Close the monitor
Unplugged the monitor
Reconnect the monitor to MacBook
Open the monitor again

Problem fixed.

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86 replies

Apr 7, 2020 4:36 AM in response to machielg

Same happening to me after updating to 10.15.4 last night. Horrible blued out screen on a LG 4K monitor. Turning off High Dynamic Range fixes it.

Only happens on a thunderbolt to Displayport cable. Changing to a HDMI cable plugging into a USB-c dongle doesn't have the problem, but the picture quality is crap!

May 12, 2020 4:20 PM in response to Evan Jacobs

This is exactly what is going on with me! When I restart/startup the monitor looks super crushed and oversaturated look, I have to do random combinations of checking and unchecking HDR as well as changing color profiles before It kicks back to a good looking SDR profile as it was before. HDR mode is not quite right yet, agreed and looks kinda weird for regular use. Once I fix the the profile on SDR its great till I restart, then it is super crushed and oversaturated look in SDR mode once again until I check and uncheck hdr and randomly mess with with switching back and forth from other profiles (I have yet to find a consistent combo of actions) before SDR looks good again.

I was on support with Apple today and they want me to talk to LG. I haven't had a change yet, but I don't think this is an LG issue as i was fine till this new version of MAC OS Catalina! It's frustrating to do a random song and dance every time I restart for it to look good in SDR. Very frustrating.

jo3see Author

Level 1

40 points

May 15, 2020 3:45 PM in response to Markenzeichen

I'm sorry, but that's not the correct answer. Turning a feature off that should work to "go back to the way it was" is not a solution. My Windows device does not do this when connected to my LG monitor in Windows - and has HDR enabled in the Operating System. This is an issue Apple needs to address. HDR needs to be enabled for video overlays without oversaturating your entire desktop experience.

There are so many people in this thread with the same issue, particularly with LG monitors and I'm confident this is some kind of bug in either the driver, or the way macOS handles HDR output.

I appreciate your response and for taking the time to offer up that video, but I'm looking for a solution, not just to get back to how it was. I haven't had HDR enabled since I learned how to turn the feature off. Hoping one day, Apple will have some sort of fix.

May 20, 2020 8:20 AM in response to jo3see

Just want to say I've been having the same/similar problem with my dual LG32UD99s, connected by USB-C, one connected directly to the 2018 15" MacBook Pro, the other through an OWC thunderbolt dock. I just noticed this problem because I just got back into the office after being on lockdown. Instead of a blue tint, mine are strongly tinted red/pink. Also, the two displays have slightly different color tints/contrast/resolution issues, likely due to the different connections to the computer. These issues go away as soon as I uncheck the HDR toggle in display settings.

I guess I think it's important that it's noted that this bug might manifest differently depending on whether you are using a dock...

May 28, 2020 2:27 PM in response to DrDiverDan

This is interesting, because, although I'm not using the video out from it, I am using the Caldigit T3 Dock which has video out capabilities. But the issue is manifesting on one of my LG 4K displays. I was just informed there is an update to the T3 Dock, I'm going to try it and see if it is inadvertently causing my issues.

Knute5

Level 1

8 points

Jun 5, 2020 10:30 AM in response to RWBMac

I've been tweaking my LG 4K 27" over and over since the upgrade. This is a problem. I can get a passable color match (barely) between the monitor controls and the calibration (expert mode) but any video instantly looks like posterized garbage. Was fine before. Flawless. Am patiently waiting for Apple to fix this.

Grabbed a snap (iMac photo a little blurry but still illustrates the problem).

Jun 18, 2020 2:22 PM in response to dogheadface

I gave up on the HDMI and only use USB-C - so far no issue on return from reboot / sleep / standby. When did the latest s/w update to OSX I did get a warning "to contact LG as future OS update would not be compatible with the monitor".... I sent a note to LG and got a "what specifically did Mac say"..... I responded with a "Please call Apple yourself and get the new drivers out". Maybe apple just wants us to go to the 5K LG - it is weird because Mac is selling LG monitors in their own stores... sigh

jo3see Author

Level 1

40 points

Aug 24, 2020 11:17 AM in response to joelfromevergreen

Turning HDR off does not solve the issue, it just keeps HDR off. When you turn HDR on, you shouldn’t have incorrectly blown out plots like all of us are experiencing.

in Windows, HDR is only applied to video overlays.. as it should be in macOS, but this thread was created because it does not.

Feb 21, 2021 7:40 PM in response to jo3see

Man you saved me from huge frustration, just two days back i purchased 27UL850 and when i turned on my monitor it showed colors same as my macbook pro but after sleeping and awake it started showing very vibrant not true colors and i started scratching my head cuz whenever i turn on my monitor it shows hdr msg on right upper left corner, i tried display options but nothing helped and how naive im that i missed HDR checkbox, after reading ur post I noticed this HDR option and turned off mine and everything starts working same way, i know with HDR on screen looks more bright but colors sucks, i edit videos on FCPX and pics on Lightroom and HDR shows so bad colors that u cant even imagine working on color correction, i was thinking of returning the monitor, you saved me from big hassle, lets hope if MacOs Big sir brings some ways so HDR works better with colors, till then the option is off for me.

May 15, 2020 1:04 AM in response to jo3see

This guy knows the answer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFyNBYP5lJk

Jun 18, 2020 2:25 PM in response to RWBMac

be sure to let LG know of the problem

Oct 27, 2020 6:47 AM in response to jo3see

What a bummer, yea I am having the same issue with the:

LG 27UK850-W

Any time it goes to sleep I have to uncheck that HDR setting in Displays

Mar 27, 2020 11:48 AM in response to jo3see

Sorry- this probably doesn't help, but I've been having the same problem. After the update that boolean was checked (I have no idea if it existed or was checked before) and the color on the monitor was way off in the way you described. I was just relieved to be able to get the monitor back in a state where the colors weren't off and burning out my eyes.

Mar 29, 2020 5:57 PM in response to jo3see

I've sort of got the opposite issue. My LG 4K HDR display is now very dull with a slight blue tint instead of being nice and vibrant. The only control on the display itself that works now is brightness and I don't have an HDR box to check in the display settings so I'm stuck with these dull, blue-tinted displays. 😒

Mar 29, 2020 6:04 PM in response to mluker78

Actually now that you mention it, some colors are crazy bright. I just went to Amazon and some of the yellow and orange colors almost look like highlighters. This book that was featured on the home page is practically neon:

https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Kids-1-year-auto-renewal/dp/B002PXW1R0

However the white on the page is really dull and washed out with a blue tint.

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Bright HDR Colors after 10.15.4 Catalina Update