HDR encoding

HDR10

All encoders that support 10-bit encoding are also capable of HDR10 encoding. The follow encoders support higher than 8-bit.

Encoder
x264
x265
SVT-AV1
VP9
NVIDIA NVEnc
AMD VCN
Intel QuickSync
Apple VideoToolbox

HandBrake will automatically passthru mastering display metadata and content light metadata from the source video to to final encode. For x265 encodings, HandBrake will also set the hdr-opt flag for you.

Limitations

HDR10 metadata will be written only in the container and not in the bitstream when using NVIDIA NVEnc or AMD VCN.

HDR10+

The following 10-bit encoders support HDR10+ Dynamic metadata:

Encoder
x265
SVT-AV1
Apple VideoToolbox HEVC

Dolby Vision

Dolby Vision is supported when using the following 10-bit encoders:

Encoder
x265
SVT-AV1
Apple VideoToolbox HEVC

The supported Dolby Vision profiles and cross compatibility IDs are: - 5.0 - 7.6 (base layer only, converted to 8.1) - 8.1 - 8.4

When using an AV1 encoder, profile will be set to 10 for every cross compatibility ID, per Dolby Vision specifications.