Convert SDR to HDR: The Complete Guide

Why this matters

SDR masters cap at 100 nits and BT.709 color. An HDR grade targets 1,000+ nits and BT.2020 — more dynamic range, richer color, and a noticeably better picture on modern screens.

Inverse tone mapping estimates the high-dynamic-range signal the SDR master lost, then rebuilds it: luminance lifting, color remapping, and detail recovery.

How it works

Pick a preset (cinema for drama, documentary for speech, sports for high contrast), point the API at your SDR file, and poll the job.

Submit a job with an input URL (S3, GCS or HTTPS), poll the job URL, and download the rendered output. No GPU, no queues, no ffmpeg builds to babysit.

Code

import requests, time

API = "https://api.mlslabs.io/v1/sdr2hdr/jobs"
headers = {"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
payload = {"input": "s3://bucket/video.mp4", "preset": "cinema"}

resp = requests.post(API, json=payload, headers=headers)
job = resp.json()
while job["status"] not in ("succeeded", "failed"):
    time.sleep(3)
    job = requests.get(job["url"], headers=headers).json()

print("Output:", job["output_url"])

Pro tips

• Always start from the cleanest master — denoise before remastering, never after.
• Preview one scene with the cinema preset and one with sports before committing a whole episode.
• Keep the SDR original; HDR is an additional deliverable, not a replacement.

Run the SDR2HDR collection in Postman — sample SDR clip prefilled.