diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/pyrowave.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/pyrowave.rs
index a082bfa5..f315375b 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/pyrowave.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/pyrowave.rs
@@ -1094,6 +1094,11 @@ impl PyroWaveEncoder {
             "packetize",
         )?;
         packets.truncate(out_n.max(1));
+        // Correct pyrowave's zeroed sequence-header VUI: it signals ycbcr_range=FULL, but our CSC
+        // emits BT.709 LIMITED — patch the bit HONEST so VUI-honoring clients don't wash out blacks.
+        if let Some(p) = packets.first() {
+            crate::pyrowave_wire::mark_limited_range(&mut self.bitstream, p.offset);
+        }
         // Frame into the wire AU via the shared helper (byte-identical on Linux + Windows): the dense
         // single packet, or the datagram-aligned windowed AU (§4.4).
         let pkts: Vec<(usize, usize)> = packets.iter().map(|p| (p.offset, p.size)).collect();
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/pyrowave_wire.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/pyrowave_wire.rs
index d7fbd553..d648e280 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/pyrowave_wire.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/pyrowave_wire.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,25 @@ pub(crate) fn packet_boundary(wire_chunk: Option<usize>, dense_cap: usize) -> us
     wire_chunk.map(|c| c - WINDOW_PREFIX).unwrap_or(dense_cap)
 }
 
+/// Patch the frame's `BitstreamSequenceHeader` to signal `ycbcr_range = LIMITED`. pyrowave's C API
+/// fills the header with `= {}` (all VUI fields zeroed) and offers NO way to set colour/range, so it
+/// signals `ycbcr_range = 0 = YCBCR_RANGE_FULL` — but BOTH host CSCs (`rgb2yuv.comp` on Linux, the
+/// D3D11 `BgraToYuvPlanes` on Windows) always emit BT.709 **LIMITED** Y′CbCr (black = Y′16). A client
+/// that honours the VUI (the Apple wavelet decoder reads `(word1 >> 30) & 1`) then skips the
+/// limited→full expansion and shows washed-out, raised blacks. Patching the bit makes the bitstream
+/// HONEST for every client — clients that hardcode limited (the Vulkan `video_pyrowave` path) are
+/// unaffected, and pyrowave's own decode ignores the flag (it reconstructs raw Y′CbCr). The other
+/// zeroed VUI fields (BT.709 primaries / transform / transfer) are already correct.
+///
+/// `seq_offset` is the byte offset of the frame's 8-byte `BitstreamSequenceHeader` in `bitstream` —
+/// the SOF packet's offset. `ycbcr_range` is bit 30 of the little-endian second word, i.e. bit 6 of
+/// byte `seq_offset + 7` (`0x40`).
+pub(crate) fn mark_limited_range(bitstream: &mut [u8], seq_offset: usize) {
+    if let Some(b) = bitstream.get_mut(seq_offset + 7) {
+        *b |= 0x40;
+    }
+}
+
 /// Frame pyrowave's `packets` (each an `(offset, size)` into `bitstream`) into the wire AU.
 /// `wire_chunk = None` copies the single dense packet; `Some(chunk)` produces the windowed
 /// datagram-aligned AU (a whole number of `chunk`-sized windows).
@@ -161,4 +180,18 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(packet_boundary(Some(1408), 999_999), 1404);
         assert_eq!(packet_boundary(None, 777), 777);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mark_limited_range_sets_only_the_range_bit() {
+        let mut bs = vec![0u8; 16];
+        mark_limited_range(&mut bs, 0);
+        // ycbcr_range = bit 30 of the LE second word = bit 6 of byte 7 (0x40); nothing else touched.
+        assert_eq!(bs[7], 0x40);
+        assert!(bs[..7].iter().all(|&b| b == 0));
+        assert!(bs[8..].iter().all(|&b| b == 0));
+        // Idempotent; an out-of-range offset is a silent no-op (never panics).
+        mark_limited_range(&mut bs, 0);
+        assert_eq!(bs[7], 0x40);
+        mark_limited_range(&mut bs, 100);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/pyrowave.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/pyrowave.rs
index 7bd1ff4a..fa9c1b17 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/pyrowave.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/pyrowave.rs
@@ -478,6 +478,11 @@ impl PyroWaveEncoder {
             "packetize",
         )?;
         packets.truncate(out_n.max(1));
+        // Correct pyrowave's zeroed sequence-header VUI: it signals ycbcr_range=FULL, but our CSC
+        // emits BT.709 LIMITED — patch the bit HONEST so VUI-honoring clients don't wash out blacks.
+        if let Some(p) = packets.first() {
+            pyrowave_wire::mark_limited_range(&mut self.bitstream, p.offset);
+        }
         let pkts: Vec<(usize, usize)> = packets.iter().map(|p| (p.offset, p.size)).collect();
         let au = pyrowave_wire::build_au(&pkts, &self.bitstream, self.wire_chunk);
         self.pending.push_back(EncodedFrame {
@@ -787,6 +792,14 @@ mod tests {
         let au = enc.poll().expect("poll").expect("one AU per frame");
         assert!(au.keyframe, "every pyrowave AU is a keyframe");
         assert!(!au.data.is_empty(), "AU is non-empty");
+        // The dense AU starts with the 8-byte BitstreamSequenceHeader; the range VUI must read
+        // LIMITED (bit 30 = byte 7 bit 6 = 0x40) — `mark_limited_range` corrects pyrowave's zeroed
+        // default so VUI-honoring clients (Apple) don't wash out blacks.
+        assert_eq!(
+            au.data[7] & 0x40,
+            0x40,
+            "sequence header must signal ycbcr_range=LIMITED"
+        );
         decode_plane_means(w, h, &au.data)
     }