INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
HDR, or high dynamic range, is a term often thrown about without much explanation
attention, as they produce four times the number of pixels of any HD TV on the market
But is more necessarily better Do you care how many pixels there are if none of them look any goodWhat HDR is promising is better pixels
With HDR, bright whites get brighter, dark blacks get darker, and 10-bit panels are finally able to display the 1 billion colors you've been
first: The kind of high dynamic range that your TV is capable of shouldn't be confused with the HDR photography options that have recently
been added to smartphone cameras.Both result in images that have a greater contrast between light and dark, but the way they work is
slightly different.High-end cameras and recent smartphone apps utilize HDR by combining several photos taken during a single burst.Separate
photos are taken at different exposures during the process
These are called stops, and the amount of light is doubled from one to the next
So while the first stop produces an extremely dark image, the last result is exceptionally bright, lending better luminosity to the final
portmanteau photo.But that's not the same for video.Yes, you're still getting an expanded color gamut and contrast ratio, but you're not
doing it by combining several images
It all has to do with the way an image is displayed on the screen and the source content used to do it.While it shares a name and some
common points with photography, clearly HDR video is different to smartphone photography
The end result, an image with more contrast between its lightest and darkest areas is the same, but instead of combining separate images
this effect is produced using better camera technology to capture footage in the first place.HDR creates a wider gamut of colors, allowing
brightness is the same shade of black, an HDR display's range goes further, allowing you to tell the difference between something that's
really really dark, and something that's just dark
(Go put on a horror movie and you'll be able to tell the difference immediately.)So, for example, a wide shot of a campfire at night could
have subtle details in the flame rather than appearing 'blown out', along with palpable definition to objects that are barely lit in the
gloomy surroundings at the edge of the frame.As Panasonic's training manager Michael Price says, "It's about control, not just extra
brightness and results in more natural expressions of light and shadow."When we caught up with Hollywood cinematographer Vanja Cernjul he
was positively brimming with excitement about HDR, saying that "The whole composition is affected by the increased detail in brightness."You
no longer have to choose whether to expose for the highlights or the shadows, so when I shoot I try and include a light source in the shot,
which I can play with in the HDR grading session."In post-production Cernjul will tinker with the levels of exposure, brightness, contrast
and colour saturation, making them look as good as possible on an HDR compatible screen.He thinks that filmmakers will, like him, be
Having just completed shooting the second season of Marco Polo in HDR, Cernjul sees streaming services as the natural home for HDR
production, because of the number of original shows being commissioned by the likes of Netflix and Amazon.HDR is bringing media closer to
what the human eye sees, and by doing so, is creating more realistic images, from scenes bleached with sunlight to nighttime shots on city
streets.Here's the takeaway: HDR TVs and content will display a more realistic color range, with an expanded contrast ratio to make black
parts of the image look closer to 'true' black.So what's HDR likeWatch some carefully crafted HDR such as Cernjul's short showcase
movie, Converging Beams, made for Panasonic, and you can see the potential
You get so accustomed to simultaneously seeing shadow detail and details in the highlights that you may come to find watching standard
images a bit flat and dissatisfying.Not only that, but HDR has real extra zip to it compared with standard viewing
There's a new level of dynamism to images, something hugely evident in a film like like the Lego Movie.When we went from standard
definition to HD, screen sizes were a lot smaller and just having the extra pixels was enough to transform the picture
Now that screens are so much bigger, however, it's not enough to simply add more pixels, as there are other aspects of the image that can
delivers a much more visually satisfying picture than simply having extra pixels
The overall effect is a punchiness that's tantamount to creating a 3D image.But the tech still needs to catch up to the promise
Some cheaper LCD HDR screens struggle with displaying bright objects against sharply darker backgrounds, causing streaks of light to run
down the screen or create halos around bright objects.These issues are of less concern on the kind of OLED screens made by LG, Panasonic or
Sony, where each pixel generates its own light and can go completely dark.How do I get HDRHDR is an end-to-end technology, so every step
from creation to distribution to the screen in your home needs to be HDR-compatible, which means that legacy TVs can't show it.When you go
out shopping for a TV screen you may notice an Ultra HD Premium logo on it
This means that the screen offers a level of performance that's guaranteed to get the most out of an HDR source
In terms of specification the screen must have 3840 x 2160 pixels (although this is no different to any other UHD screen) plus it must be
ratio of at least 1,000 nits peak brightness and less than 0.05 nits black level.Nits are a term that's been adopted by the TV industry to
indicate the brightness of a display
1 nit is approximately equal to the light from a single candle.Most TV screens in use today offer between 300 and 500 nits, so that gives
you a good idea of the greater luminosity required to show HDR.The above applies to LED-lit LCD screens while for OLED screens (which have
lower average brightness and much lower black levels than LCD) it's 540 nits peak brightness and less than 0.0005 nits black
level.Panasonic's Price says that edge-lit LED screens cannot produce high enough contrast and you need direct lighting (from behind the
picture, a less-common method of lighting screens) to get enough dynamic range to meet Premium HDR requirements.In fact, the vast majority
of LCD screens on sale aren't equipped to deliver the level of brightness required for a Premium badge so manufacturers are tending to
simply sell non-premium models.Ultra HD Premium - different to 'normal' 4KSince manufacturers aren't obliged to reveal the number of nits
(brightness) their screens achieve, or the contrast ratio, it's up to them to decide for themselves if a non-Premium screen has enough
brightness and contrast to deliver a meaningful HDR image.The consumer electronics industry has previous form when it comes to offering
similar but different standards, as while it was a lot easier to understand the difference between HD-Ready and Full HD the gap between
"regular" UHD and UHD Premium displays is more fluid.But the bottom line is that the Ultra HD Premium branding is the most reliable way of
(confusingly) using their own branding.Sony's product training specialist Gavin McCarran says: "What the Ultra HD Premium logo doesn't do
is show all the range of models that can receive an HDR signal."Maybe Sony thinks the Premium accreditation will put people off buying the
non-premium models because, after all, would you buy a bottle of Moet Chandon champagne if it were watered down to make it cheaperLG is
making some impressive HDR OLED TVsThe Ultra HD Premium hallmark can also be used on Ultra HD Blu-ray players and discs as HDR is a
mandatory part of the Ultra HD Blu-ray spec.UHD screens without HDR compatibility will still show a 4K picture in SDR (standard dynamic
range) from an Ultra HD Blu-ray but they won't be able to access the HDR metadata carried within the picture.Offering bit-rates up to 100
Mb/sec (approximately five times that used for streamed movies), in terms of content, Ultra HD Blu-ray is best placed to deliver the HDR
as the UHD Premium standard
It's compulsory on all Ultra HD Blu-rays, plus it appears on HDR dramas streamed by Netflix and Amazon.But there's another reason to be
careful about which brand of HDR screen you buy and it's all down to the fact that there are several varieties of HDR being used by
content creators.Dolby has an HDR10 rival called Dolby Vision, which has increased color depth (it's 12-bit rather than 10) and "up to"
10,000 nits peak brightness (which is far brighter than any current TV can offer)
It also offers a feature known as 'dynamic tone mapping' which adjusts the brightness and contrast of scenes depending on how bright or dark
enjoy the fruits of someone else's hard labor.Only screens and players equipped with Dolby Vision decoding will be able to show Dolby
Vision's 'improved' version of HDR
All of LG's OLED sets support it, as does Sony's flagship A1E OLED (two other Sony sets, the XE93 and XE94 are due to receive Dolby
Vision support in a forthcoming firmware update)
HDR by Technicolor, a nascent HDR format from the people who brought you colored cartoons; Hybrid Log Gamma, which is the standard designed
to work with broadcast television; and finally, HDR10+, a new standard that builds some of the benefits of Dolby Vision into an
versions simultaneously, so that separate streams won't have to be created and graded
The correct content will be automatically chosen to match the screen's peak brightness and dynamic range.Finally, the BBC and NHK Japan
are co-developing a version of HDR that can be used in conventional broadcasts
Called Hybrid Log Gamma,the interesting thing about the standard is that it's backwards compatible, meaning that if an SDR television
receives this HDR signal, it will still be able to display an image (though obviously not an HDR one).HDR isn't just for TVs, it's on your
recently made HDR videos available to certain mobile phones, including the the Google Pixel, LG V30, Samsung Galaxy S8,Samsung Galaxy Note8
and Sony Xperia XZ Premium.Interestingly, LG's handsets are compatible with the more advanced Dolby Vision standard, although you'll need
here.Of course, YouTube isn't the only place to get HDR on the go: Netflix has also recently released the news that it too supports mobile
landmark in home entertainment history that we can now watch movie content in our home with the same colour grading as in the cinema.We
between shadow and bright sunlight without a sudden jump in the exposure as the ball goes into the brighter section.Cinematically it's
going to have a big effect too, with the director no longer needing to choose between exposing for the shadows or the sunlight
Within a year or two it'll likely be possible to say HDR has finally put the ultra in to UHD viewing, and all the issues over different
standards will have been resolved.But unquestionably we are seeing yet another format war and it really is one that looks impossible to
call.Most hardware manufacturers are backing HDR10 (the official standard) but Dolby is a powerful force and has the content creators on its
way to play it safe would be to choose kit with Dolby Vision because HDR10 can always be shown on it.When will HDR be availableRight now
own one of the UHD Alliance-certified TVs, you can watch HDR content today.The two major streaming providers have also both pledged to bring
the technology to new series going forward.HDR has also been included as standard in the Ultra HD Blu-ray format
The amount of discs available, not to mention the number of players, is currently slim, but as more and more films get released in the
format HDR is set to hit the mainstream very soon indeed.If you're streaming, you'll need a broadband connection of at least 25Mbits to
watch streamed HDR, although Netflix uses something called adaptive streaming that gives the advanced screen tech priority over resolution
in the case of insufficient bandwidth.Editor's note: Additional reporting by Dave James, Nick Pino and Jon
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