One Grade, Five Masters: The 2026 HDR Delivery Matrix, and Why SDR Still Comes First

In 2026 one grade has to become up to five deliverables: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and a plain Rec.709 SDR master. Each platform wants a different mix, and the specs are getting harder to read. Our argument is that the HDR versions are mostly a packaging job, and that the master which still decides whether branded and social work looks right is the SDR one.

This piece gives you a platform-by-platform delivery matrix built from the sources we could verify, a single-grade workflow, and a short list of ways to protect the SDR master. Specs change without notice, so check every line against the delivery document on your actual job.

The matrix, platform by platform

• Netflix: Dolby Vision only. Netflix's public mastering pages now redirect to a login-gated partner portal, so we could not read the current spec ourselves. A September 2026 summary by Filmcane quotes Netflix as saying "We do not support material mastered only for HDR-10 distribution". It lists IMF App 2E packages, Dolby Vision metadata on every frame, and a P3-D65 PQ monitor of at least 1,000 nits. When Netflix began streaming HDR10+ in March 2025, FlatpanelsHD reported that it would keep accepting only Dolby Vision masters and derive HDR10+, HDR10 and SDR from them.
• Prime Video Direct: HDR10 or Dolby Vision, always with SDR. Amazon's Video Central requirements say HDR sources must be delivered as HDR10 in ProRes 422 HQ at 250 Mbps or more, with mastering metadata declared. They also say "All HDR deliveries must include a separate, standard dynamic range (SDR) source", with conform and runtime identical to the HDR file. The Dolby delivery page asks for ProRes 4444 or 4444 XQ with a Dolby Vision XML, CM version 2.9 or 4.0, a 1,000, 2,000 or 4,000-nit P3-D65 mastering monitor, and a mandatory 100-nit Rec.709 trim. HDR10+ is not something you deliver here. The HDR10+ consortium says all of Prime Video's HDR content carries HDR10+ metadata, which suggests Amazon generates it.
• Disney+: HDR10+ on playback, delivery spec not public. Disney+ started streaming HDR10+ in October 2025, starting with more than 1,000 Hulu titles on Samsung TVs, according to Samsung. We found no public Disney+ delivery spec, so your distributor's document is the only authority.
• YouTube uploads: PQ or HLG. YouTube's HDR upload page requires Rec.2020 primaries with a PQ or HLG transfer. For PQ, include SMPTE ST 2086 mastering metadata and MaxCLL/MaxFALL. Without them, YouTube assumes a Sony BVM-X300. It converts to SDR automatically unless you upload your own .cube LUT, and it accepts HDR10+ dynamic metadata.
• YouTube Live: HEVC, not AV1. The live encoder settings page states that "AV1 is not supported for HDR". It recommends H.265 over RTMP(S), 10-bit, and 35 Mbps for 4K60 (10 Mbps minimum).
• Broadcast: HLG. HLG is one of the two HDR systems in ITU-R BT.2100. It was developed by the BBC and NHK and needs no metadata on SDR displays, as Apple's reference summarises.
• Paid social and the client's website: SDR Rec.709. This is the master most branded work is actually judged on.

One grade, many masters

The tools have caught up with this. DaVinci Resolve 21.1, released on 8 September 2026, extends the MultiMaster Trim manager with "individual passes for Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HDR Vivid". You no longer have to accept one format's analysis as good enough for the others. Here is the order we recommend:

1. Grade once, scene-referred. Work in a wide-gamut working space with a PQ P3-D65 output on a 1,000-nit reference monitor. That is the floor for both the Netflix spec as reported and Amazon's Dolby path.
2. Analyse and lock the Dolby Vision metadata. Use CM v4.0 unless the spec says otherwise.
3. Trim the 100-nit Rec.709 target on an SDR monitor, not by eye on the HDR display. Amazon makes this trim mandatory, and every other SDR deliverable should come from it.
4. Add HDR10+ or HDR Vivid passes only if a deliverable asks for them. Netflix and Amazon both seem to generate HDR10+ themselves.
5. Render HDR10 from the same grade, with honest ST 2086 and MaxCLL/MaxFALL values measured from the render, not copied from the monitor's spec sheet.
6. Render HLG separately for broadcast or live. Do not assume a PQ-to-HLG conversion will match your intent in the highlights.
7. Render the SDR master last, from the approved trim.

Why the SDR master matters most

For a series on a streamer, Dolby Vision is the hero grade and the platform takes care of the rest. Branded and social work is different. The approval happens on a laptop, the media runs on platforms that will tone-map whatever you send, and many viewers will only ever see an SDR or tone-mapped version. Even YouTube, which handles HDR well, shows SDR viewers its own automatic downconversion unless you supply a LUT. So the HDR grade is the source, and the SDR master is the product most people see.

Protecting it is mostly discipline:

• Approve SDR on SDR. Client sign-off should be on the Rec.709 trim, on a calibrated SDR display, at the same time as the HDR review.
• Ship a LUT with every YouTube HDR upload. Build it from your trim so the automatic conversion never gets used.
• Keep conform identical. Amazon rejects SDR and HDR files that differ in anything but colour space. Treat that as a house rule everywhere: one timeline, one set of renders.
• Watch skin and logos. Brand colours and faces are where automatic tone mapping goes wrong first. Check them in every master, not just the hero.
• Label the files. Put transfer, primaries and peak brightness in the filename and the delivery note. An unlabelled PQ file opened in the wrong player looks washed out, and the client will blame the grade.

The decision rule

If a platform spec names Dolby Vision, grade for it and derive everything else. If no platform is named and the job is branded or social, grade and approve the SDR master first, and add HDR10 or HLG only if a deliverable actually requests them. Netflix's spec is now behind a login, so ask the distributor for the current PDF before the first session. A third-party summary is not enough to sign off a delivery.