In the world From new TVs, the target requirements are always moving. As soon as you feel safe spraying on a new set, another reason to hold. First was 3D. Then 4k. Let’s not forget about oled and quantity points, then cheaper 4K and cheaper OLED. This year there is no exception, with another new technology offering another reason to keep your horses. It’s called HDR video, which is short for “high dynamic range.”
HDR is not about extra pixels. Each set capable of handling HDR video can already feature a 4K video. Instead, HDR makes pictures with widely different lights and darkness look better on your screen. It’s great! You completely want it. But like most born technologies, barriers abound for early adopters. From high prices to lack of video sources, there are many things to consider before you buy in HDR.
What is an HDR video?
If the acronym “HDR” sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve seen it as a configuration in your smart camera. The results are not great, which means you probably think HDR is sucking. For still photography, HDR is convenient (if too used) a solution to a common problem: it exhibits details in the light And Dark areas of scene, usually capturing multiple images at different exhibitions and merging them. The problem is, such photos often Look at aired and fake.
HDR -Video is different. It looks very realistic, with gradings and shades closer to what is seen in real life. It can become bright enough to simulate light reflecting chromium and dark enough to look like oil. In both cases you still see good details and subtle shades. HDR does not fake the contrast with stupid filters and strange hall effects. Instead, it uses new panel technologies with a wider color palette in concert with a specially encoded video.
To do this, you need a specific typical TV to watch HDR video correctly, and you also need a specific typical video source. In the best case, you will see deeper and more precise colors, and light effects will appear more alive.
How are HDR -TVs essentially different?
HDR is not linked to a certain type of exhibition technology, but almost all HDRs have so far shared a few features. Vision, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG, TCL and Hissense all have HDR-capable TVs, which are essentially over-powered LCD 4K TVs. These sets can get really Brilliant — enough bright that looking on a screen sun or explosion can make you swing. The recovery systems of these panels attach to more than 1,000 nits— By comparison, most LCD-HDTVs exhibited about 300 or 400 nits. Why so bright? With such high pointed glow, the contrast between light and dark (or light and lighter) areas of the scene are more pronounced.
Also, most HDR TVs are not OLEDs. They use LCD panels, because they can become much brighter than OLDs. However, because OLEDs do not have light systems (each pixel switches and disables individually on OLED) they can become much darker, and therefore produce deeper blacks. Earlier this month, LG and Panasonic both announced new OLED TVs 4K, which can publish HDR video.
What about colors? Are they better in HDR TVs?
Yes! There are more colors in these high quality TVs 4K.
This is because both content and TVs move far more than the color space and some depth of traditional HDTVs. For colors displaying, HDTVs stick to a 25-year-old specification called REC. 709. It is an 8-bit color space recommendation made by a television business group. It is as old as Windows 3.0 and season one of The Simpsons. It is archaic, and it is supported throughout the HDTV era. Now we have a new kind: 4K TVs and content will target the 10- to 12-bit rec. 2020 color space, which represents more than 60 times more distinct color combinations such as rec. 709. More than a billion of them, indeed. The rec. 2020 color range is even wider than the DCI-P3-color space defined for professional digital projectors (which is also much wider than rec. 709).
From filming to mastering to distribution to display, we talk about an end-to-end pipeline, which produces a much better image. Content can be mastered to utilize wider color space, additional metadata are inserted into HDR-capable TV to define what it looks like, and color-tuning technologies such as Quantitative points can help it show exactly. The combination of 4K resolution, extreme brightness, improved contrast and more colors will be what makes an HDR video look spectacular — even if the “HDR” trick itself is just part of the sauce.
Man, how do I assure that my new TV is doing all that?
It’s a badge now! The UHD Alianco, a group of television manufacturers, content suppliers and distribution companies, will begin broadcasting “Ultra HD Premium” seal of approval for some TVs. These insignia will be reserved for the “five-tool players” of the television world, sets that provide a combination of tacular sharp resolution, high dynamic range and a very wide color range.
To apply, a TV must have a screen resolution of at least 3840×2160 (that is 4K), support a 10-bit color, can handle sources that use the REC. 2020 color space, and be able to show at least 90 percent of the DCI P3-color space. As for a dynamic range, the Ultra HD Premium badge hosts both LCD and OLED displays. For LCD, a qualifying TV must have a peak bright level higher than 1,000 nits and a black level less than 0.05 nits. For OLED to apply, it must have a pointed brightness of at least 540 nits (remember, OLEDs cannot become above bright) and black level less than 0,0005 nits (remember, oleds can become very dark).