What is High dynamic range (HDR)?
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
High Dynamic Range is a method used in high dynamic range imaging and photography to display a range of brightness from the brightest whites to the darkest blacks, similar to the brightness experienced through the human eye in day-to-day life. HDR produces a wide variety of lights and darks so it appears much closer to real life.
This allows for a more entertaining product as it creates highly realistic images or videos for the viewer.
Currently, there are five different types of High Dynamic Range: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision and Advanced HDR by Technicolour. At Pure Theatre, we supply different projectors with different varieties of HDR.
Types of HDR
- HDR10 is the most original and common HDR format that produces up to 1,000 nits of brightness with a 10-bit colour depth. It is an open standard used by numerous content creators and streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Blu-Ray, so doesn’t require licensing.
- HDR10+ improves on HDR10 as it uses dynamic metadata and produces 4,000 nits of brightness whereas HDR10 will produce 1,000 nits. HDR10+ content will adjust brightness levels on a scene-to-scene basis simply by itself.
- HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) codes both HDR and SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) footage into one broadcasting signal, increasing efficiency for the broadcaster.
Hybrid - Encoding dual streams of SDR + HDR
Log - Logarithmic curve that transmits HDR’s wider brightness range
Gamma - Low Light image data encoded within the signal - Dolby Vision supports up to 10,000 nits of brightness with 12-bit colour depth. Dolby Vision includes frame-by-frame metadata to correctly display video or image and produce better quality videos or images. Dolby Vision is expensive as it needs licensing, but it is much greater quality than HDR10.
Where can I get HDR content?
If you would like to see High Dynamic Range videos and images at work, check out the popular HDR Channel on Youtube to view professional and high-quality content: Youtube HDR Channel