HDR vs HDR10+: What did they mean to TV?

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What's the difference between HDR and HDR10+? Did you need to consider them when buying a new TV?

HDR10+ is a video format that is increasingly appearing on HDR TVs. HDR TVs may be only a few years old, but there are some confusingly different HDR standards emerging: First came HDR10, then Dolby Vision, and more recently HybridLogGamma and AdvancedHDR.

Now there is another TV technology: HDR10+. This video format will bring you the same advanced features as Dolby Vision. But it's an open standard that content creators can use without paying Dolby's hefty licensing fees.

Like Dolby's competing formats, HDR10+ uses "dynamic metadata" to enhance the HDR image in each scene or shot. This means viewers can get the most out of every movie, documentary or TV show.

HDR10+ might have 10-bit color compared to Dolby Vision's 12-bit, but that should at least strike a better balance between light and dark scenes.

The HDR standard has been incorporated into every Samsung 4K TV since 2017, not to mention many Panasonic TVs and 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray discs.

It's also worth mentioning that HDR10+ Adaptive is also present in many high-end TVs these days. This is a way to calibrate the picture settings for HDR10+ content to suit the light intensity in the room surrounding the TV screen.

 

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When did HDR10+ appear?

HDR10+ first appeared in TV technology in April 2017. At the time Samsung announced a partnership with Amazon PrimeVideo to support the new format, but with the announcements from 20th Century Fox and Panasonic, the format took a big step forward.

CES 2018 announced that it had been accepted as part of the Ultra HD Blu-ray specification. Panasonic then announced that its new 2018 players would support the format.

Then, in early March 2018, Samsung took the stage at its annual TV launch, reaffirming its commitment to the standard, applying it to every QLED TV in 2018.

In January 2020, Samsung announced that two important new partners had signed up for HDR10+, including Vizio TVs and GooglePlay streaming. Expanding TV manufacturers and content distributors will make it easier for consumers to find and play HDR10+ content.

About 100 HDR10+ movies and TV shows can already be found on Amazon Video. Netflix has indicated that it may support the format in the future, although there are no clear plans at this time.

 

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Why do we need HDR10+?

From what we understand, it's much easier for production companies to create HDR10+ content than Dolby Vision. The latter requires scene-by-scene color correction, while the former can take HDR10 content and bring it up to standard.

 

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HDR10+ adaptive

In addition, we need to understand another type: HDR10+ Adaptive.

HDR10+Adaptive solves a problem many of us have with light. It is believed that many users have encountered the situation that the TV light will be affected by the outside sunlight when watching TV during the day.

This is where HDR10+Adaptive comes in. It calibrates the picture settings for HDR10+ content based on the light intensity of the room surrounding the TV screen.

 

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Can HDR10+ replace Dolby Vision?

For now, HDR10+ is unlikely to replace Dolby Vision.

Even though HDR10+ picture quality is excellent, Dolby Vision still has the advantage of more advanced technology, and Dolby Vision supports 12-bit color and up to 10,000 nits of brightness.