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Tim Cromar Author

Level 1

24 points

No HDR video in Safari 14.1.1 after upgrade to Big Sur. How to fix please?

Hi

I've just upgraded from Catalina to Big Sur 11.4 on iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019). Safari does not play HDR YouTube videos (the HDR badge never appears – HD Rec.709 only). I understood that Big Sur should allow this? My Chrome browser shows same YT videos as HDR (Rec.2020/PQ) without issue.

I have tried:

Empty caches
Clear all history
Clear all cookies
Deep refreshes of the page
Clearing ~/Library/Safari/LocalDatabases

Nothing so far has worked.

Can somebody help please?

Thanks

Tim

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jun 10, 2021 4:20 AM

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13 replies

Level 10

126,695 points

Jun 10, 2021 5:49 AM in response to Tim Cromar

When I get a chance. FWIW, I see what you mean about the badge. The screen shot I posted was from a 2015 27" iMac, it does say 4K. I checked the same video on my iMac Pro and it says HDR. Same version of Big Sur, Safari and video. Don't know why.

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Tim Cromar Author

Level 1

24 points

Jun 10, 2021 5:34 AM in response to dialabrain

Hmmm. From your screenshot, the red badge looks like it says 4K. This is not necessarily HDR. If you right-click on the video and select 'stats for nerds' what is the codec shown? Can you screen-grab that please?

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Level 10

126,695 points

Jun 10, 2021 6:15 AM in response to Tim Cromar

You're welcome. FWIW, HD is only 1080, not 4K. Nonetheless, I checked my 2015 iMac and my M1 MacBook Air, both running Monterey/Safari 15. The iMac still says 4K and the MBA says HDR. Still have no idea why.

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Tim Cromar Author

Level 1

24 points

Jun 10, 2021 8:03 AM in response to tbirdvet

All very odd. If I copy the debug info from 'stats for nerds' on a YouTube HDR video I get this [excerpt]:

"cbrver": "14.1.1",

"c": "WEB",

"cver": "2.20210608.07.00",

"cplayer": "UNIPLAYER",

"cos": "Macintosh",

"cosver": "10_15_7",

For some reason YT appears to think my OS is still 10.15.7., in spite of it really being 11.4. No wonder it's not offering me HDR!

Wonder why this is… :o

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Level 6

14,711 points

Jun 10, 2021 12:18 PM in response to dialabrain

iMac pros support. See attached:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210980

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Level 10

126,695 points

Jun 10, 2021 5:29 AM in response to Tim Cromar

Don't know what the issue may be. Works fine for me.

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Tim Cromar Author

Level 1

24 points

Jun 10, 2021 5:52 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks for checking. It gets confusing with HD and HDR looking similar but being different things!

Mystery still unsolved … :(

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Level 6

14,711 points

Jun 10, 2021 7:43 AM in response to dialabrain

I just checked. My iMac 2019 shows HD and my MBA M1 shows HDR. Go figure

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Level 6

14,711 points

Jun 10, 2021 8:01 AM in response to tbirdvet

Just ran another check. On my iMac I can get it to show 4K but not HDR but HDR shows on my MBA M1.

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Level 6

14,711 points

Jun 10, 2021 8:05 AM in response to Tim Cromar

Just checked with Apple. HDR is only supported on 2020 iMac and later. My 2019 only supports 4K. My new MBA does support HDR.

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Tim Cromar Author

Level 1

24 points

Jun 10, 2021 8:10 AM in response to tbirdvet

What! Insane. Chrome delivers HDR. Come on Apple… :|

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Level 10

126,695 points

Jun 10, 2021 9:11 AM in response to tbirdvet

tbirdvet wrote:

Just checked with Apple. HDR is only supported on 2020 iMac and later. My 2019 only supports 4K. My new MBA does support HDR.

Interesting. Wonder why my 2017 iMac Pro supports HDR.

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Level 10

126,695 points

Jun 10, 2021 12:30 PM in response to tbirdvet

Thanks.

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No HDR video in Safari 14.1.1 after upgrade to Big Sur. How to fix please?

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