How to brighten a video: 5 Ways with steps, pros & cons
- Last updated on 2025-02-27
Table Of Content
Introduction
You probably have lots of videos shot in bad lighting, darkness, excessive exposure, etc., that compromise your video streaming experience on HD TV or other device displays. So, revive all of your old, dull, dark, or dim videos with the proper balance of brightness, colors, light, and shade. You can easily try the 5 most convenient methods ofhow to make a brighten videoon various OS with their fabulous features and step-by-step guides.
Top 5 Methods on How to Brighten a Video
To make your video brightening process more flexible, fast, and easy to use, here are versatile methods for making a dark video brighter with different dynamics. These methods will guide you in choosing the right way to transform any dark or dull video by balancing brightness, adjusting colors, and adding vibrancy.
1. UniFab HDR Upconverter AI [for Windows & macOS]
UniFab HDR Upconverter AI automatically transforms any SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) video to HDR (High Dynamic Range). When the HD display defines the number of pixels, the HDR refers to the number of color gamut of each pixel.
That means HDR denotes the quality of pixels that leads to the overall visual quality of any video image. Now, UniFab offers conversion of any SDR video to both the HDR variations, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, by adjusting colors, brightness, depth, details, and contrast. So, let's see how to brighten a video using this AI-powered program.
Key Features
✅Transform any dark SDR video to HDR10 with a 10-bit color depth, 1000 nits brightness, and I024 shades for each color channel.
✅Enjoy Dolby Vision, with 12-bit color depth, 4000 nits brightness, and 4096 shades for each color channel, for cinematic visual satisfaction.
✅UniFab supports DCI-P3 & Rec 2020 color spaces to explore more color gamut and broader dynamic range.
✅Choose Fast, Full HD, QHD, or Stunning 4K UHD Models, you can enjoy SDR to HDR conversion without compromising the quality.
How to make a video brighter using UniFab HDR Upconverter AI
30-day Free Trial with full feature access!
After launching and opening the UniFab tool on your desktop, select the “HDR Upconverter” option. Then, upload your desired dark video for brightening, hit the “+” option or drag the file.
Now, select between HDR 10 or Dolby Vision, and you can also select from two Color Spaces.
Select the “Start” option to brighten your video by converting it to HDR.
2. iMovie [for Mac]
Apple's built-in and free video editing app, iMovie, lets you explore an extensive range of video effects, color correction, video brightening, etc., to improve visual satisfaction. So, to know how to make a dark video brighter using iMovie, you must use the dedicated color enhancement function of this app to balance brightness while adjusting lighting and exploring multiple filters.
Pros
It supports automatic and manual color adjustment functions while enhancing lighting, colors, skin tones, etc.
Add instant brightness to any dull or dark video, you must try ready-to-use filters.
It seamlessly integrates with the video library of iOS devices and iCloud storage.
It supports essential video editing with cropping, splitting, adding subtitles, etc.
It offers a dedicated tool for color grading and visual improvement.
Cons
Filters are not effective enough to reduce extreme darkness from any video.
It offers minimal manual control while brightening video.
How can you make a dark video brighter using iMovie
Step 1: After opening the iMovie app on your MAC system, go to “Create New” > then “Movie.” > Once you create the new project, you must import the dark or dull video you need to brighten it from your system's media library.
Step 2: Next, drag and drop the imported video to the timeline. Then, select color correction to access the available controls. You should drag the slider to the left in the multi-slider control to adjust brightness, contrast, shadow, and highlights to balance the brightness of the uploaded video.
Step 3: Drag the slider to the middle to adjust saturation, and drag it to the right to adjust color and temperature. Next, select the “Share” option at the top right corner.
Step 4: Click on “Export Files” to complete the output settings. Then select “Next” to select the output folder and “Save” to export the video.
3. Fotor Video Brightener [for Online]
To know how to brighten a dark video, Fotor is a quick fix with its instant and automatic video brightening function. It lets you brighten videos available in three formats such as MP4, MOV, and WebM. After brightening any video, you can instantly share it to any required social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, etc. You don't need to install or download this online tool. While brightening any video, this tool focuses on the main object of the video while maintaining its details.
Pros
Full automatic and instant brightening with an advanced AI algorithm.
Online tool works on all devices and OS, including Windows, Mac, Android & iOS.
Automatic adjustment of brightness, contrast, and saturation with artificial intelligence.
It also upscale video from low resolution to HD.
Cons
There is no manual parameters adjustment option.
You need to take a paid version of the app to download the output in HD quality.
How to make a video brighter using Fotor Video Brightener
Step 1: After opening the Fotor website, upload the dark video available in a Fotor-supported format.
Step 2: This AI-powered tool will instantly and automatically identify the uploaded video and brighten it by automatically adjusting the brightness, color, and saturation under the “Enhancer” function on the right side.
Step 3: Next, you can preview the brightened video and compare the output with the original one. Once you are satisfied, you can download the enhanced video.
4. ActionDirector [for Android]
Action Director is an all-in-one video editing program that gives you a complete makeover of any video by improving its brightness, adding ready-to-use effects, adjusting speed, slow motion, etc. It helps you transform the entire look and appeal of the video by using a simple slider. You can give a personal touch to any video by adding or mixing music in the background soundtrack. Using this Android app, you can brighten any video with up to 4K resolution.
Pros
Explore advanced editing with color, brightness, contrast, and saturation adjustment.
Experiment with cutting and cropping to highlight any specific part of the video.
Try multiple video filters to make your video distinct and dynamic.
Use various transitions to give a seamless streaming experience to multiple videos.
Give a dynamic appeal to any video with animated stickers.
Cons
Users face annoying ads & take lots of time to process lengthy video.
Output video comes with a watermark.
How to brighten a video using ActionDirector
Step 1: After installing the app on Android device from the Google Play Store, open it > select “Edit” > next, import the dark video for enhanced brightness.
Step 2: Head to the menu and select “Adjustment.” > Then select “Brightness.” > You must move the slider to the right to improve the brightness.
Step 3: Next, adjust contrast, saturation, and hue according to your requirements. Then, opt for the “Export” option to save the enhanced and brightened video.
5. InShot [for iOS]
InShot is a leading video editing app specially designed for iOS platforms. This AI-driven tool helps you transform any video to another level. With basic video editing like trimming, cropping, etc., InShot lets you experiment with text, emojis, stickers, etc. It offers an extensive collection of effects, filters, and transitions. You can create seamless collages of multiple videos with AI-Blend. It offers captain stitch mode for subtitle detection.
Pros
Try multiple ready-to-use filters to adjust brightness, curves, and contrasts.
Get output video in 4K 60fps quality.
Experiment with voice-over, music, and sound effects.
It lets you control video speed with slow motion or speed up.
Smart green screen editing option.
Create multi-layered video with Picture-in-Picture effect.
Cons
Maximum exclusive features are available in the paid version.
Some professional effects are missing.
How to make a dark video brighter using InShot
Step 1: Start with the app on your iPhone, select “VIDEO,” > and then “New.” Choose the dark video you want to brighten up, then select the green circle.
Step 2: After that, select “Filter” > hit “Adjust” > then select “LIGHTNESS.” Next, move the slider to the right side to brighten the video.
Step 3: After that, you can further adjust saturation, warmth, brightness, and contrast to make your dark video brighter. Then, save the video in your iPhone library.
Conclusion
While going through the detailed step guide and other insights into the most useful methods of how to brighten a video, you must understand that mode flexibility in features gives more perfection in output. So, if you are looking for cinematic perfection in your video brightening process, UniFab HDR Upconverter AI is the ultimate one to add depth and details to your video while enhancing the brightness.
FAQs
How to change the color of any Video?
Using a video editing tool or app, you can change the color of your video. So, all you need to do is to pick the right editing tool to change the color of any video image.
Can I improve the dark video by adjusting saturation and contrasts?
Yes, when the contrast helps to balance the light by making it lighter, saturation focuses on color to make the video look visually vibrant.