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What Is HDR And Why Is It Such A Big Deal ?
HDR is the latest technology to adorn modern TV sets and it ’ s being heralded as the true advancement in picture quality , with experts believing the technology is even more important than 4K Ultra HD . It ’ s no surprise either – while 4K UHD simply pushes through more pixels , leading to sharper looking images , HDR brings additional colours and a brighter image to the table . In essence , it improves the pixels rather than pumping through more .
Will HDR usher in a new dawn of image quality ?
HDR : 10 is the standard that can be found on most HDRcompatible TVs launched in 2016 – and it really is the bare minimum that an installer should opt for when looking for an HDR TV . Unlike competing standard Dolby Vision , HDR : 10 is an open standard available to all manufacturers and supported by the Ultra HD Alliance .
So what do users get when you install an HDR : 10 TV ? Well , HDR : 10 brings a wider colour gamut , a 10-bit colour gamut to be exact . That ’ s a marked increase in the number of colours available on a TV set – which is typically 8-bit currently .
With 8-bit , users get 256 shades of each of the primary colours ; red , green and blue . While that may not sound like all that many colours , if you calculate the exact sum ( 256 cubed ) then there are currently 16,777,216 colours available on the last generation of TV sets .
That all changes with 10-bit however , as with each primary colour there are now 1,024 shades available . That means that with an HDR : 10 TV , users now have access to over a billion colours – allowing content creators to showcase more detail than was ever possible before .
It ’ s not solely about the colours themselves however . HDR : 10 also offers a boost in brightness . Most content is currently delivered to an average TV at a peak brightness of 400 nits . The HDR : 10 standard , however , offers a little bit of a boost on top of that ; raising the brightness to 1,000 nits . Many TVs are also now beginning to ship with localised dimming – which also enhances the black levels .
So that ’ s the results of HDR ; but what exactly is it ? Well any user with a smartphone should be familiar with the HDR abbreviation ; it simply means High Dynamic Range . Essentially , in terms of HDR video , the feature increases the range of brightness in an image to boost the contrast between the lightest lights and darkest darks . That ’ s what results in the increased brightness , increased colour range and an improved greyscale .
Now that we know exactly what HDR and HDR : 10 are , how about content ? Well , content is gradually coming .
Netflix and Amazon both have HDR libraries available , with both opting to offer many of their original TV series in the format . That means the likes of Marco Polo and Mozart In The Jungle are available in HDR . It ’ s not just streaming services either . HDR : 10 is also available on many UltraHD Blu-ray discs that are available to buy now – although there are currently only three UHD Blu-ray players on the market , which includes the Xbox One S .
What About Dolby Vision ?
HDR : 10 is not the only HDR format in town and it ’ s not even the best . In fact , HDR : 10 should be a starting point , with those wishing to get an even more impressive experience encouraged to go for Dolby Vision . So what is Dolby Vision ?
Dolby Vision provides much of the same boost to content as standard HDR : 10 , but it goes one step further . In terms of colours , Dolby Vision doesn ’ t use the 10-bit standard , nor does it use the 8-bit standard , instead Dolby opted for 12-bit .
2 | September 2016