WHAT DOES HDR TECHNOLOGY MEAN?

"HDR" means: High Dynamic Range. HDR on a TV is mainly a question of brightness:

This technology makes it possible to display a better level of intra-image contrast on the screen, with more distinct and visible details, and more marked differences in brightness between the darkest and the lightest areas of the image, compared with standard TVs (SDR = Standard Dynamic Range), in order to offer a much more realistic image.

The result is immediately noticeable and quite spectacular, because the human eye is very sensitive to variations in light intensity. By offering a wider color space, these images are unparalleled in realism, thanks to more intense brightness and subtle nuances throughout the color palette. The larger the dynamic range of an image, the more the image is contrasted and readable. Blacks and whites are more nuanced, colors are richer, and the image is more true to the original.

WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS FOR ENJOYING THE BEST OF VIDEOS IN HDR?

It is necessary that all steps, from the production to the distribution of the contents, should be fully compatible.

For example, it is necessary to benefit from an internet connection adapted to this larger data flow as part of the broadcasting of streaming video content. (Netflix, one of the HDR content providers, recommends an internet connection speed of at least 25 megabits per second). It is therefore better to have fiber optics.

If you use an internet box, and / or a TV decoder, all these devices and your TV must also be compatible with the HDR10 standard, operated in particular by Amazon Prime Video, another HDR content provider.

Finally, the connection between the TV and the video source must also be adapted: it must indeed have a HDMI 2.0a port, because this standard is necessary to manage the HDR-specific extended color space.

WHAT ARE THE HDR CONTENTS AVAILABLE?

HDR content is more limited than 4K content, but all studios are working on it. You will find (non-exhaustive list) HDR content on:

Ultra-HD Blu-ray Discs, HDR compatible (with the same certification issued by the Ultra HD Alliance)

Video-On-Demand (V.O.D HDR compatible video streaming services:

• Netflix mentions Ultra HD Premium certification, compatible with HDR 10 standard.
• Amazon Prime Video

Video game consoles:

• PlayStation 4 Pro is compatible with HDR 10 content
• Xbox One S is compatible with HDR 10 content
• Xbox One X

The new HDR 10 standard is backed by the Ultra HD Alliance, which delivers its trademark ULTRA HD PREMIUM, whose logo is affixed to the packaging cartons of TVs, when compliance with the HDR10 standard is assured.

This new standard for Ultra HD Premium televisions (HDR 10 compliant), has defined a wider dynamic range, with a 10-bit encoding by primary color (1024 shades), a luminance sampling quantized on at least 10 bits, and a subsampling of the 4: 2: 0 YCbCr chrominance, based on the actual contrast sensitivity of the human eye.

Note that with HDR 10 standard, all details of the video to obtain HDR quality rendering are sent only once, at the beginning of the video stream.