The CES 2016 Consumer Electronics Show at the beginning of the year brought a signal that your next TV should support HDR. Samsung, Sony, LG, and almost every major TV brand have exhibited their own HDR TV at CES, which seems to be another TV trend after 4K.
However, HDR is obviously more complicated than 4K, because it is not only a hardware standard, but it is actually a very complex service experience. Let's take a look at what HDR TV really is.
HDR: Hardware + Software + Content Trinity
The reason why HDR is a more complex standard lies in the particularity of its manifestations. HDR is literally understood to be High Dynamic Range, that is, high dynamic range, and in fact your cell phone should have this mode of shooting. But when it comes to television, HDR does not synthesize several photos at the same time like taking pictures.
First of all, HDR TVs require panels with higher brightness. At present, the mainstream standard is at least 1000 nits, which is 2 times that of ordinary TVs. Secondly, HDR TV needs TV software support, which is why some of the models sold in the future can support HDR through software upgrades. Finally, HDR needs the corresponding content, that is, film and television resources, and three factors are indispensable. Interestingly, HDR has nothing to do with resolution, which means that 1080P can also be achieved, but almost no TV makers have introduced 1080P-resolution HDR TVs.
HDR software standard is not the same
At present, there are mainly two companies promoting their own HDR image processing standards, which we can understand as a platform. The first is Dolby Vision, which is currently supported by some Hollywood studios, streaming media vendors Netflix, VUDU, and TV manufacturers LG and TCL. Dolby's goal is very ambitious, such as the construction of Dolby Vision Cinema in London, UK, plus the promotion of the television field, is a promising HDR standard.
Another HDR platform is provided by Technicolor. The company has its own system that can be used to create HDR video. At the same time, a feature is that it provides the possibility of conversion from ordinary video to HDR video, the so-called "HDR-10" format, which facilitates streaming. It is used by media, 4K Blu-ray and other media. Technicolor also criticized that Dolby's HDR standard is not open enough, claiming that its HDR-10 can be applied to any video, and is a broader picture quality enhancement technology.
2016 is not HDR Television Year
From a hardware standpoint, a panel of 1,000 nits of brightness is obviously a threshold, but at the same time, even if it meets this standard, it does not mean that all HDR TVs are equally good. This may depend on television manufacturers’ accomplishments in other aspects. Such as panel color gamut, image processing engine and so on.
At the same time, the spread of content is also a problem. For example, currently Amazon Video offers some video content marked HDR, Netflix also plans to provide within the year, but the user's TV clearly needs to support these application platforms. As for the HDR TV box, it is still under development.
Finally, the initial price of HDR TV must be extremely expensive, because TV manufacturers have defined 4K+HDR TV as the most high-end product line. The problem is that if the content is not mature, even if you buy HDR TV, you cannot enjoy real HDR content. This is very similar to the situation of 4K TV. It can be seen that HDR may indeed be the trend of the television industry, but consumers do not have to worry too much.