Why does my iPhone video look washed out and grey after editing?

iPhones record HDR (Dolby Vision / HLG) by default. Many editors and converters squeeze those HDR pixels into a standard file without tone mapping, and often mislabel the color data — the result is the classic grey, washed-out, blown-highlight look. The fix is an editor that properly tone-maps HDR to SDR. Crisp does it automatically.

Can I edit HDR video on a Mac for free?

Yes. Crisp's editing lanes — trim, reframe, speed, color and montage — handle HDR sources in the free tier, entirely offline on your Mac, with no subscription.

Guide · Edit HDR video on Mac

How to edit HDR video on a Mac — without washed-out colors

Ever trimmed an iPhone clip and got back a grey, washed-out version with blown highlights? That's the HDR problem: iPhones record Dolby Vision / HLG by default, and most free editors mangle it. Here's how to edit HDR video on a Mac with correct colors, entirely offline.

Updated July 2026 · step-by-step

Why HDR video comes out grey

HDR video stores brightness and color in a wider range (bt2020, PQ/HLG transfer) than standard video. When an editor squeezes those pixels into a normal file without tone mapping — and then mislabels the color metadata — every player interprets them wrong. The result is the classic washed-out look: flat contrast, grey blacks, blown-out skies. It's not your footage; it's the tool.

The fix: an editor that tone-maps automatically

Open Crisp

Grab the free Crisp app for Mac. Everything runs on-device — nothing is uploaded.
Drop in your HDR clip

Drag the iPhone (or any HLG / HDR10 / bt2020) video in. Crisp reads the color metadata and detects HDR automatically — there's no setting to configure or get wrong.
Edit like any other clip

Trim it, reframe it to 9:16 for Reels, change its speed, apply a color look, or auto-cut a montage — Crisp tone-maps the HDR to standard colors correctly inside the same pass.
Export

The output is properly converted and properly tagged, so it looks right in QuickTime, on the web, and on every phone: no grey cast, no blown highlights.

Measured, not promised

We test this with color statistics: running an HDR clip through a naive (no-tonemap) pipeline collapses its color saturation to roughly a quarter of the original — visibly grey. Crisp's color-managed pipeline retains the large majority of it and tags the file correctly. The same conversion runs in every editing lane, including mixed HDR + SDR montages.

What works with HDR today

Lane	HDR source support
Trim · Reframe · Speed · Rotate	Yes — auto tone-mapped
Color looks (cinematic, warm…)	Yes — converted before grading
Montage (incl. mixed HDR + SDR clips)	Yes — per-clip tone map
AI upscale (Enhance / Max)	Not yet — convert to SDR first (roadmap)

Why on-device matters here

No re-upload roulette. Cloud tools often transcode HDR badly on their servers; Crisp converts locally where you can verify the result.
Private & free to try. Your footage never leaves your Mac; HDR handling is in the free tier.
Correct metadata. The export is tagged for what the pixels actually are — the half of the problem most tools forget.

Fix your washed-out HDR clips

Free to try on your Mac. Automatic HDR handling — no settings, no subscription, nothing leaves your device.

Download Crisp for Mac

Apple Silicon · macOS 12+ · Notarized

HDR questions

Why does my iPhone video look grey after editing?

It's HDR (Dolby Vision/HLG) being squeezed into a standard file without tone mapping. Use an editor that converts properly — Crisp does it automatically.

Do I need to change any iPhone settings?

No. Keep recording HDR; Crisp detects and handles it. (If you prefer, you can disable HDR video in iPhone Settings → Camera, but you lose the extra dynamic range.)

Does Crisp keep the video in HDR, or convert it?

It converts. Crisp tone-maps HDR down to standard SDR (bt709) during the edit, so the export looks correct in every app and on every screen rather than only on an HDR display. End-to-end HDR output is on the roadmap, but correct SDR beats broken pseudo-HDR for anything you're actually sharing today, which is why it's the default.

Which HDR formats does it handle?

The common camera ones: HLG (what iPhones record by default), HDR10/PQ (smpte2084), and bt2020 10-bit sources. Detection is automatic from the file's own colour metadata, so there's nothing to set — if the clip says it's HDR, Crisp treats it as HDR.

Can I upscale an HDR clip?

Not yet in one step. The AI upscale lanes (Enhance and Max) need an SDR source today, so convert the clip first — trim, reframe or colour it in Crisp, export, then upscale that file. The editing lanes above all take HDR directly.

Background: what HDR actually stores.

Background: what a colour space actually is.