How To Fix the OBS Recording "Too Dark" Problem

I am surprised by how challenging it was to find a solution for such a simple flaw. While the latest version of OBS is highly versatile and allows advanced users to adjust numerous options to achieve the best output, for those like myself who simply want to record their screen as they see it, whether for meetings or gaming, OBS could benefit from incorporating a few standard settings so that most users do not need to excessively tweak the configuration.

To give you an idea of the problem, before making any adjustments, my recordings appeared like this. As you can see, this is significantly darker than how my screen appears, which is undesirable.

There are numerous posts suggesting setting the color range to partial, among other recommendations, but none of them worked for me until I randomly stumbled upon a solution. Here are the steps:

1. Double-click on your source, in my case, a Display Capture.
2. A properties menu will open. Click on "Force SDR."

You will immediately notice the screen appearing brighter and more accurately representing its default appearance. Frustratingly, resolving this issue took many hours. I hope that sharing this solution will help others avoid the frustration I experienced.

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