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Now that 4K has well and truly arrived, 2016 is sure to be the year of HDR. But what is HDR and why should you care about it? Here’s everything you need to know.
We’re still very much witnessing the rise of 4K, with the high-resolution standard becoming more and more prevalent as companies make more affordable TVs. But, as with all technology, the next big thing is never far away, and if there’s one feature that’s going to define TVs in 2016 it’s HDR.
Short for High Dynamic range, HDR was the big feature at this year’s CES tech expo, with every major TV manufacturer unveiling new HDR compatible TVs.
But what exactly is HDR? You may vaguely recall hearing about it in relation to cameras and photography, but what does it have to do with TV screens? Well, read on to find out as we explain the feature that is going to define the TV market this year.
WHAT IS HDR?
In a nutshell, it’s the ability to display a wider and richer range of colours, much brighter whites, and much deeper, darker blacks. This gives the TV picture a more ‘dynamic’ look, which is where the name comes from.
HDR content preserves details in the darkest and brightest areas of a picture that are lost using current standards. It also allows for more natural, true-to-life colours that are closer to how we see them in real life.
Contrast and colour are therefore the two main things to keep in mind when thinking about HDR. We’ll take a closer look at both, but first it would pay to go over the newly announced Ultra HD Premium label.
HOW DO I KNOW IF A TV IS HDR COMPATIBLE?
One of the big TV announcements to come out of CES 2016 was the Ultra HD Premium label. The standard was unveiled by the UHD Alliance, a consortium of TV manufacturers, technology firms, and film and TV studios, whose aim is to prevent abuse of the term ‘HDR’
Previously, HDR was rushed out to consumers before anyone had really agreed on a set of standards to define it. TV manufacturers and content providers therefore had very little in terms of clearly defined specs to work to when creating HDR screens and content.
With the UHD Premium label, we now know the precise specifications to which a TV must conform in order to be considered HDR compatible.
WHAT MAKES AN HDR TV?
As noted earlier, there are two things that define an HDR TV. Their contrast performance and the number of colours they can display. Let’s start with the first.
Contrast
Contrast is one of the most important factors in how good a TV picture looks and it’s a key part of what makes an HDR TV. It refers to the difference between light and dark, and the greater the difference the greater the ‘contrast’.
There are two components to consider here. One is peak brightness, which rather unsurprisingly, refers to how bright a TV can go, measured in what’s known as nits. TVs must meet a specific target of nits in order to be given the HDR label.
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Home / Opinions / HDR TV: What is it and should you care?
HDR TV: What is it and should you care?
by Joe Roberts
03 February 2016
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Ultra HD Premium explained
WHAT IS HDR?
In a nutshell, it’s the ability to display a wider and richer range of colours, much brighter whites, and much deeper, darker blacks. This gives the TV picture a more ‘dynamic’ look, which is where the name comes from.
HDR content preserves details in the darkest and brightest areas of a picture that are lost using current standards. It also allows for more natural, true-to-life colours that are closer to how we see them in real life.
Contrast and colour are therefore the two main things to keep in mind when thinking about HDR. We’ll take a closer look at both, but first it would pay to go over the newly announced Ultra HD Premium label.
Related: Samsung 65KS9500
image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000030f2d/1ac0_orh616w616/Dolby-Vision-2-640.jpg
HOW DO I KNOW IF A TV IS HDR COMPATIBLE?
One of the big TV announcements to come out of CES 2016 was the Ultra HD Premium label. The standard was unveiled by the UHD Alliance, a consortium of TV manufacturers, technology firms, and film and TV studios, whose aim is to prevent abuse of the term ‘HDR’
Previously, HDR was rushed out to consumers before anyone had really agreed on a set of standards to define it. TV manufacturers and content providers therefore had very little in terms of clearly defined specs to work to when creating HDR screens and content.
With the UHD Premium label, we now know the precise specifications to which a TV must conform in order to be considered HDR compatible.
Our guide ‘What is Ultra HD Premium?’ provides an in-depth breakdown of what the logo and what it means, but read on for a condensed explanation.
Related: What is 4K and Ultra HD
image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000037097/4326_orh616w616/Ultra-HD-Premium-TV.jpg
WHAT MAKES AN HDR TV?
As noted earlier, there are two things that define an HDR TV. Their contrast performance and the number of colours they can display. Let’s start with the first.
Contrast
Contrast is one of the most important factors in how good a TV picture looks and it’s a key part of what makes an HDR TV. It refers to the difference between light and dark, and the greater the difference the greater the ‘contrast’.
There are two components to consider here. One is peak brightness, which rather unsurprisingly, refers to how bright a TV can go, measured in what’s known as nits. TVs must meet a specific target of nits in order to be given the HDR label.
The other measurement is black level. Similar to peak brightness, black level refers to how dark a TV can appear and is also measured in nits. So, for example, a TV could have a peak brightness of 400 nits and a black level of 0.4 nits.
The difference between the peak brightness and black level is known as the contrast ratio. HDR TVs have to meet specific standards for peak brightness and black level which helps give them the dynamic appearance.
Colour
This is the second of the most important aspects of HDR. When it comes to colour, a TV must be able to process what’s known as 10-bit or ‘deep’ colour. 10-bit colour equates to a signal that includes over a billion individual colours. In comparison, Blu-ray uses 8-bit colour, which amounts to around 16 million different colours. With 10-bit colour, HDR TVs will be able to produce a vastly expanded range of colour shades, reducing overtly obvious gradations between shades and making scenes look far more realistic.
HDR TV: What is it and should you care?
