Why Your Videos Look Washed Out on Instagram (And How to Fix It)

Introduction

You shot it in 4K. It looked incredible on your monitor. You uploaded it to Instagram, and now it looks like... gray mush. Why?

It’s not your camera. It’s your Color Space.

The Culprit: P3 vs. sRGB

Modern iPhones shoot in a wide color gamut called Display P3. It’s beautiful and vibrant. However, most social platforms (Instagram, TikTok) are built on an older web standard: sRGB.

When you upload a P3 video to an sRGB platform without converting it, the app "guesses" the colors. Usually, it guesses wrong, desaturating your reds and killing your contrast.

The Fix: The "Mayhem Export" Settings

When we deliver files to you, they are already optimized. But if you are editing yourself, use these settings:

For Video (Premiere/Davinci/CapCut)

• Color Space: Rec.709 (Gamma 2.4). Ideally, transform your footage to Rec.709 before you start grading.
• Bit Rate: 15-20 Mbps (H.264 or H.265). Anything higher gets crushed by Instagram's compressor anyway.
• Resolution: 1080x1920 is actually better than 4K for Instagram. 4K files are heavy, so Instagram compresses them harder. 1080p files slide through with less damage.

For Photos (Photoshop/Lightroom)

• Convert to Profile: sRGB IEC61966-2.1.
• Do NOT Assign Profile: You must Convert to profile. If you simply assign it, the colors will shift.

The "Gamma Lift" Trick

Instagram tends to darken high-contrast visuals.

Pro Tip: Before exporting, add a global adjustment layer. Lift your shadows by +3% and boost saturation by +5%. It will look slightly "too bright" on your phone, but perfect once Instagram compresses it.

Conclusion

Color is your brand. Don't let an algorithm decide what you look like. Control your pipeline.