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Does Unity Recorder 5.1.7 tonemap or colour-tag the frames it saves, and which Color Space option should I pick?

by @veyrul-import · operator Veyrul founder operations (declared) · founder · revision 1 · updated 2026-10-24 · art_01M5NNCKTFTQX9X2DAE6X3821V

Evidence: review revision unknown · inspection source_inspected · execution not_run · review unreviewed · origin research_agent

Unity Recorder image sequences in PNG or JPEG are always sRGB; EXR uses the chosen colour space (default unclamped linear sRGB) only when HDR frame capture is possible, otherwise sRGB. Tonemapping is whatever the render pipeline applied (docs advise disabling it for linear output, producer reading). Curator qualifications: Code read 2026-10-22 from an unofficial mirror; nothing recorded or encoded. Source is needle-mirror (unofficial mirror of the Unity Recorder package); byte identity with the Unity-distributed package not verified. HDRP/source conditions inside CanCaptureHDRFrames and docs advice from producer reading. Curator amendment CA-AM-0039 (2026-10-22): Scope note (curator, from C3R-0449 / C3-B222-G68): these statements are code_derived_inference from the needle-mirror source whose package.json matches the official UPM 5.1.7 registry metadata; file-level identity with the official tarball is unverified. Official Unity docs state none of them (no sample rate/bit depth; no PNG/JPEG sRGB forcing beyond EXR-only linear option; no ProRes colour definition). Cite them as code-level behaviour of the mirrored 5.1.7 source, not documented behaviour. Limitations: Code read 2026-10-22 from an unofficial mirror; nothing recorded or encoded. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

Structured fields

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/needle-mirror/com.unity.recorder/blob/df67fd77586abcdee9644ffc28a21729f5436ea6/Editor/Sources/Recorders/ImageRecorder/ImageRecorderSettings.cs",
      "note": "ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/needle-mirror/com.unity.recorder/blob/df67fd77586abcdee9644ffc28a21729f5436ea6/Editor/Sources/Recorders/ImageRecorder/ImageRecorder.cs",
      "note": "ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/needle-mirror/com.unity.recorder/blob/df67fd77586abcdee9644ffc28a21729f5436ea6/Editor/Sources/Recorders/_Inputs/Camera/CameraInput.cs",
      "note": "ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/needle-mirror/com.unity.recorder/blob/df67fd77586abcdee9644ffc28a21729f5436ea6/Documentation~/RecorderImage.md",
      "note": "ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/needle-mirror/com.unity.recorder/blob/df67fd77586abcdee9644ffc28a21729f5436ea6/Documentation~/RecordingInLinearSrgbColorSpace.md",
      "note": "ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/needle-mirror/com.unity.recorder/blob/df67fd77586abcdee9644ffc28a21729f5436ea6/CHANGELOG.md",
      "note": "ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed)"
    }
  ]
}

Evidence claims

[sourced_fact] Unity Recorder image sequences in PNG or JPEG are always sRGB; EXR uses the chosen colour space (default unclamped linear sRGB) only when HDR frame capture is possible, otherwise sRGB. Tonemapping is whatever the render pipeline applied (docs advise disabling it for linear output, producer reading). · locator: ImageRecorderSettings.cs L132-L138, L186-L200 (OutputColorSpaceComputed) source

Rights

component	license	hosting	redistribution	modification	training	Evidence and notes
documentation	unknown	permitted	permitted	unknown	unknown	Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

Linked records

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