High dynamic range (HDR) video quality is turning viewers watching vision into a reality. This range of video has revolutionized the video streaming industry by providing significantly improved quality, a higher contrast ratio, and a wider color gamut. The resulting screens are more realistic and visually appealing.
To understand what is HDR video, it’s essential to know that the HDR process flow works by expanding the range of luminance and color that a display produces. An advanced technique is used to adjust the brightness and color settings simultaneously on every frame.
HDR has a profound impact on the streaming industry today, making it the most picked video quality for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other OTT platforms. These platforms support enhanced versions of HDR, such as HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+.
What is HDR Video?
HDR refers to high dynamic range video-quality technology that gives excellent visual experience by delivering greater detail in both the darkest and brightest parts of an image. It offers a better range of brightness and color, vibrant visuals, and better parameters. HDR functions by increasing the color accuracy and contrast video of the images, which is achieved by advanced metadata. The metadata used can be static, by offering a uniform setting, or dynamic, by offering scene-by-scene adjustment.
HDR has a strong bandwidth that supports a broader color gamut and higher peak brightness level. Some advanced formats can support 12-bit color depth and brightness up to 10000 nits.
Significance of the HDR Video Technology
HDR has given the video industry a clear and sharp edge through its high quality and realism. Some of the key highlighting points that show HDR video benefits for industry today:
- Visual quality: HDR has transformed the video quality range between the darkest blacks and brightest whites. It has introduced a wide range of colors, making the experience more vibrant and accurate.
- Detail enhancement: Preserving the details in bright and dark areas allows the viewers to see better, which gets lost in SDR. The enhanced color depth gives images a three-dimensional feel, making them more impressive.
- Industry adoption: Almost all video & live streaming platforms, such as Enveu, Netflix, and Amazon, offer HDR content.
- Competitive edge: HDR is now used as a selling point by many OTT platform creators today, giving them a competitive advantage in their products and services.
Different Standards of HDR Video
1. HDR10
This open standard for HDR is developed by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). It is the most used format, offering greater advancement in picture quality when compared to SDR. HDR10 supports a 10-bit color depth and can display over 1 billion colors. It uses static metadata and applies the same HDR setting throughout the entire video, regardless of changes in scenes.
Advantages
- Highly compatible: HDR10 offers broad adoption and compatibility across a wide range of devices.
- License: Video content creators are not required to pay any license fees for making HDR10 accessible.
Disadvantages
- Visual performance: Static metadata might not optimize all the scenes, thereby limiting visual performance.
- Performance: Peak brightness and color depth are lower when compared to HDR standards.
2. HDR10+
It is an enhancement model of the HDR10 standard developed by Amazon Video and Samsung. It has a foundation in HDR10 with the incorporation of dynamic metadata, which allows the HDR setting to adjust on a scene-by-scene basis. This dynamic adjustment gives better brightness, contrast, and visual quality.
Advantages
- Visual quality: Dynamic metadata gives more detailing and enhances the visual quality of each scene.
- Peak brightness: It supports up to 4000 nits’ peak brightness, resulting in vibrant images.
Disadvantages
- Widespread adoption: It has less widespread adoption when compared to HDR10.
- License: Video content creators will require a license to use HDR10+.
3. Dolby Vision
Dolby Laboratories developed Dolby Vision. It is considered one of the advanced visions of HDR formats. It is preferable for both static and metadata, thus offering flexibility in HDR settings. This vision offers 12-bit color depth and a display of up to 68.7 billion colors.
Advantages
- Quality optimization: Dolby offers superior visual quality with dynamic metadata.
- Peak brightness: It can achieve up to 10000 nits’ peak brightness.
Disadvantages
- License: Video content creators will require a license and certification, hence making it a costly option.
- Adoption: This option is not highly adopted yet, as HDR10 is highly compatible.
4. Hybrid Log-Gamma
HLG is an HDR standard developed by NHK and BBC. This format doesn’t rely on metadata. Moreover, it combines SDR and HDR into a single video signal, thus making it compatible with both HDR and SDR displays. With this approach, broadcasting is made simpler, and the same signal can be used for different types of displays.
Advantages
- Broader accessibility: This display mode is compatible with both HDR and SDR, thereby offering vast accessibility.
- Less complex: The broadcasting process is less complex as no metadata is used.
Disadvantages
- Limited support: The support is limited for color depth and peak brightness.
- Dynamic adjustments: This quality is not ideal for prerecorded content as the complex scenes require dynamic adjustments.
5. Advanced HDR by Technicolor
It is an HDR technology designed to optimize the production, distribution, and display of high-quality video content. The layers include SL-HDR1, SL-HDR2, and SL-HDR3. For broadcast and static metadata, SL-HDR1 is used, while SL-HDR2 and SL-HDR3 are used for dynamic metadata performance.
Advantages
- Complete package: It offers coverage for various HDR needs, right from broadcasting to dynamic content.
- Compatibility: It is highly compatible with existing SDR displays.
Disadvantages
- Unknown: This format is yet unknown and unsupported when compared to HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
- Complex: The implementation of the vision can be complex because of different versions and requirements.
HDR Video vs. LDR Video
Conclusion
High dynamic range (HDR) video quality has revolutionized the streaming industry by enhancing brightness, contrast, and color accuracy. Formats like HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG, and Advanced HDR by Technicolor each bring unique advantages.
As Enveu is supporting thousands of video content creators and serving multiple companies today with OTT building support, it knows the quality that the audience is seeking when it comes to display. Enveu supports HDR video format, which enhances video with better brightness, color accuracy, and contrast.
The audience will get a lifelike visual experience and detailed view even during the live-streaming. By utilizing HDR, Enveu stands out in the crowded video streaming market by addressing user demand and offering a superior experience.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Ans: HDR video offers a broader range of colors and contrasts, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker, while SDR video has a more limited color and contrast range.
Ans: Common HDR formats include HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma). Each format has its own set of features and compatibility requirements.
Ans: Yes, you need an HDR-compatible TV or monitor and, in some cases, an HDR-capable media player or streaming device to fully experience HDR video content..
Ans: Yes, many streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ offer HDR content. Availability can vary depending on the specific service and subscription plan.
Ans: HDR video can enhance the visual quality of many types of content, but the extent of improvement can depend on the original content’s production quality and the HDR format used.
