# How to turn off HDR on a Mac

> Need to disable bright HDR or fix washed-out external monitors? Learn how to turn off HDR on macOS via display toggles, reference presets, and players.

Published 2026-10-31 · HDR & picture · https://www.hazenstudio.com/maclc/blog/how-to-turn-off-hdr-on-mac/

## In short

- Turning off HDR on a Mac requires adjusting one of three different switches: the external display toggle, display reference presets, or in-app playback settings.
- External monitors feature an explicit 'High Dynamic Range' toggle in System Settings › Displays.
- Built-in MacBook Pro XDR screens do not have a simple on/off switch; you disable HDR by selecting an SDR preset like Apple Display (P3-500 nits).
- Disabling HDR without proper player tone mapping will cause HDR movies to look milky grey and washed out.

To turn off High Dynamic Range on a Mac, you must identify which of three separate controls you need to adjust: the external monitor toggle in macOS System Settings, the reference presets on a MacBook Pro XDR screen, or the playback mode inside your video player. Because macOS manages dynamic range per window rather than locking the entire operating system, the right method depends on your hardware setup.

Many Mac users want to disable HDR because an external monitor produces washed-out colors, a YouTube video shines too brightly in a dark room, or high-contrast highlights cause visual fatigue. Understanding how macOS handles dynamic range—and how to convert HDR to SDR gracefully without destroying contrast—ensures your screen remains comfortable to watch.

## Switch 1: The external monitor HDR toggle in System Settings

If you connect your Mac to an external television or computer monitor that supports HDR over HDMI, DisplayPort, or USB-C, macOS provides an explicit hardware toggle.

To disable HDR on a connected external display:

1. Open the **Apple menu () › System Settings**.
2. Click **Displays** in the left sidebar.
3. Select your external monitor from the display layout at the top of the window.
4. Locate the **High Dynamic Range** toggle in the options below.
5. Click the toggle to switch it **Off**.

When you turn this setting off, macOS stops sending HDR metadata (such as CTA-861.3 InfoFrames) and 10-bit PQ signaling across the cable. The Mac reconfigures the video output as a standard 8-bit or 10-bit SDR connection using standard gamma (sRGB or Rec. 709).

This toggle is particularly helpful for budget external monitors certified as DisplayHDR 400. Because those monitors lack local dimming and high peak brightness, enabling HDR often results in washed-out black levels and flat contrast. Turning HDR off forces the monitor to use its native SDR color calibration, yielding stronger contrast and deeper blacks for everyday office work. For details on display capabilities, read our guide on [does my Mac support HDR](/maclc/blog/does-my-mac-support-hdr/).

## Switch 2: Disabling HDR highlights on MacBook Pro Liquid Retina XDR

If you are using a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro through M4 Max) or an Apple Pro Display XDR, you will notice that there is no "High Dynamic Range" toggle in System Settings.

This omission is intentional. Apple's Liquid Retina XDR displays use [Extended Dynamic Range (EDR)](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Metal/hdr-content). EDR does not lock the screen into a single global mode; instead, macOS renders your standard desktop windows, text, and browser tabs at SDR brightness (typically 100 to 500 nits) while allowing HDR video layers to illuminate up to 1,600 nits simultaneously.

Because standard desktop elements are never blown out by HDR, you rarely need to disable HDR on a MacBook Pro screen. However, if you are sensitive to bright highlights or find video playback uncomfortable in a dark bedroom, you can disable HDR highlight headroom by switching to an SDR reference mode:

1. Open **System Settings › Displays**.
2. Click the **Preset** dropdown menu.
3. Choose one of the calibrated SDR presets:
   - **Apple Display (P3-500 nits)** or **Apple Display (P3-600 nits):** Caps maximum screen luminance at 500 or 600 nits and eliminates all EDR highlight headroom (headroom drops to 1.0×).
   - **HD Video (BT.709-BT.1886):** Locks screen brightness strictly to the 100-nit television broadcast standard and disables keyboard brightness controls.
   - **Photography (P3-D65):** Restricts the panel to standard photo viewing luminance.

As detailed in [Apple Support guidance on XDR presets](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102302), choosing an SDR preset forces macOS to tone-map all HDR content down into the SDR range. Highlights will no longer flare brightly above the rest of the image. When you want full HDR capability back, simply switch the preset back to **Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits)**. For a complete comparison of modes, read our guide to [MacBook Pro XDR presets](/maclc/blog/macbook-pro-xdr-presets/).

## Switch 3: App-level HDR toggles and browser streaming

Sometimes you do not want to change your Mac's global display settings; you simply want a specific movie or web video to stop playing in HDR.

### Disabling HDR in web browsers (YouTube)

When watching videos on YouTube in Safari or Google Chrome, HDR videos can automatically command the display to illuminate specular highlights. In a dim room, this sudden brightness spike can be jarring.

To force SDR playback on YouTube:
1. Hover your cursor over the playing video.
2. Click the **Settings (gear)** icon in the lower right of the playback bar.
3. Click **Quality**.
4. By default, YouTube selects an HDR option (such as `2160p60 HDR` or `1080p60 HDR`).
5. Select a stream without the "HDR" label, such as standard `1080p60` or `1440p60`.

YouTube will switch to the standard SDR stream, keeping the video at a uniform brightness level.

### Disabling HDR in video players

If you are watching downloaded video files, media players often lack clear controls for managing HDR. If you disable HDR on your monitor but your player continues sending an un-tonemapped HDR signal, you encounter washed-out output: blacks turn to grey, colors desaturate, and contrast collapses. To fix this, explore our diagnostic on [why HDR looks washed out on Mac](/maclc/blog/why-hdr-looks-washed-out/).

The proper way to turn off HDR for video files is using a player that performs high-quality HDR-to-SDR tone mapping.

MacLC provides HDR-to-SDR conversion for SDR screens on Apple Silicon Macs. Inside Settings › HDR & Colour, "What's happening right now" shows the active color state and display headroom, using ITU-R BT.2390 tone mapping in its Balanced picture style to keep shadow detail and highlight roll-off clean.

When a film opens, MacLC also displays a format card explaining which formats the video carries and which format it selected for your screen. To learn how tone mapping algorithms compress dynamic range mathematically, read our guide on [what is tone mapping](/maclc/blog/what-is-tone-mapping/).

## Why you rarely need to turn off HDR on an Apple Silicon Mac

Unless you are connecting to an entry-level external monitor that performs poorly in HDR mode, turning off HDR on an Apple Silicon Mac is usually unnecessary:

1. **Independent window compositing:** Thanks to Apple's EDR architecture, your email, word processor, and web browser are never affected by a playing HDR video.
2. **Subtitles can be tamed without disabling HDR:** If bright subtitles are your primary reason for wanting to turn off HDR, you do not need to sacrifice dynamic range. Media players like MacLC keep subtitles at SDR white over HDR while letting the movie highlights shine. To solve this specific irritation, see our guide on [HDR subtitles too bright](/maclc/blog/hdr-subtitles-too-bright/).
3. **Hardware decode efficiency:** On Apple Silicon processors, hardware media engines decode HDR HEVC and AV1 streams directly through VideoToolbox. Turning off HDR does not significantly change system load unless you also lower the overall screen backlight.

## Summary: which switch should you use?

Use this quick reference to choose the right method for your specific situation:

| Your Situation | The Correct Action |
| :--- | :--- |
| **External monitor looks washed out or grey** | Toggle **High Dynamic Range** to **Off** in System Settings › Displays. |
| **MacBook Pro highlights are uncomfortable in a dark room** | Switch Display Preset to **Apple Display (P3-500 nits)** in System Settings › Displays. |
| **YouTube video is uncomfortably bright** | Click the player gear icon and choose a non-HDR resolution stream. |
| **Playing an HDR file on an SDR screen** | Set your media player's HDR mode to convert to SDR using BT.2390 tone mapping. |

By targeting the specific layer that is causing discomfort, you can eliminate harsh glare and color mismatches while preserving the picture quality your Mac was built to deliver. For more on how macOS balances brightness across applications, review our guide to [EDR and XDR explained](/maclc/blog/edr-xdr-explained/).

## Questions people ask

### Can I turn off HDR on my MacBook Pro screen?

Not with a single checkbox. Because macOS uses Extended Dynamic Range (EDR), HDR highlights only activate inside HDR video windows. To force the screen into SDR mode entirely, change your display preset to 'Apple Display (P3-500 nits)' under System Settings › Displays.

### Where is the HDR toggle for external monitors on Mac?

Open System Settings › Displays, click on your external monitor at the top, and locate the 'High Dynamic Range' toggle switch in the settings list below.

### Why does my external monitor look washed out when I turn HDR off?

If your media player is outputting an HDR signal while macOS or your monitor is set to SDR, the wide color gamut and PQ curve are flattened incorrectly. Proper tone mapping in your player is required to maintain contrast.

### How do I stop YouTube HDR videos from blinding me in Safari?

You can click the gear icon on the YouTube player and select the 1080p or 4K SDR stream instead of the HDR stream, or use a desktop media player that allows you to force SDR downconversion.

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