Video Encoding Settings

You can prepare the video for output by specifying preferred formats.

Performance

(H.264 and HEVC only) – Hardware Accelerated is the default choice, which tells Premiere Pro to use available hardware on your system to speed up encoding times.

• Hardware acceleration depends on your system’s configuration.
• If your system does not support certain export settings, the Performance menu switches automatically to Software Only.

Profile

Common h.264 profiles include:

• Baseline – The simplest profile used by video conferencing and similar devices that require fast decoding speeds.
• Main – A common profile used primarily in SD broadcasting.
• High – A widely supported profile used by most HD devices.
• High10 – An extension of the High profile that supports 10 bit decoding.
  

Level

Limits the range of choices available for Frame Size, Frame Rate, Field Order, Aspect, bit rate, chroma, and other compression settings. Generally speaking, higher-level settings support larger video resolutions.

Export Color Space

The color space used for the exported file.  Defaults to Rec. 709 for most presets.

Note: For some formats, you’ll need to enable other export controls to access additional Export Color Space choices:

• H.264: Set Profile to High 10
• HEVC (H.265): Set Profile to Main 10
• QuickTime - Apple ProRes: Enable Render at Maximum Depth checkbox

HDR Graphics White (Nits)

HDR Graphics White describes the target luminance for the appearance of a solid white color in an HDR scene. Since HDR can be much brighter than SDR, recommendations on luminance have been established based on viewer comfort.

HDR Graphics White is also sometimes referred to as Diffuse White. For camera exposure in HLG production, ITU recommends exposing cameras so that a white card hits the 75% IRE mark on the waveform. This leaves room for specular highlights to go above that and yields an image that is not too bright to look at comfortably.

Solid white graphics elements, like text, should be set to 75% of the HLG signal as well: this is where the setting gets its name, Graphics White. If you set white text at 100% luminance (1,000 nits for HLG or 10,000 nits for PQ), this may result in uncomfortable brightness levels for the viewer.

Include HDR10 Metadata

HDR10 uses the PQ transfer function and adds five pieces of metadata. These are user-entered values; no content analysis is performed. The purpose of this metadata is to provide the HDR playback device with details about your content so that it can be displayed properly and look its best.

Color Primaries

This is the color gamut of the HDR monitor used while grading your content. Obtain this value by reading the technical specifications for your monitor. It has a drop-down list with three options. The possible values are: Rec.709, P3D65 (default), Rec. 2020.

Luminance Min (cd/m^2)

This is the minimum capable luminance of the HDR monitor used while grading your content. Obtain this number by reading the technical specifications for your monitor. This is a numerical input with scrubbable hot-text. The default value is 0.0050. The range is 0.0005 - 0.05.

Luminance Max (cd/m^2)

This is the maximum capable luminance of the HDR monitor used while grading your content. Obtain this number by reading the technical specifications for your monitor. This is a numerical input with scrubbable hot-text. The default value is 1000. The range is 100 - 4000.

Maximum (cd/m^2)

This is the maximum luminance of the content in your program. Enter the luminance of the brightest part of your program. While the HDR10 standard accounts for luminance ranges all the way up to 10,000 nits, there are no consumer panels that can deliver this brightness. It is generally recommended to keep the luminance for HDR10 content at or below 4000 nits. The HDR display will use this value to tone map your program into the range of the display so no highlights are clipped. It is the maximum level of light. It is similar to Luminance Max. 

Average (cd/m^2)

It is the maximum average level of light per frame. The HDR display will use this value to tone map your program into the range of the display so your program looks the same as when you were mastering it. This value can significantly alter the appearance of your content and it is recommended to test playback on the intended display to be sure everything looks as you intend.