Posted Thu Apr 20, 2017 at 09:00 AM PDT by Steven Cohen
The enhanced HDR format is coming to Amazon streaming content through Samsung displays.
Samsung and Amazon have announced plans to introduce support for HDR10+. Serving as an updated version of the HDR10 open standard for high dynamic range content, HDR10+ uses dynamic metadata to create improved contrast and colors.
"As an advanced HDR10 technology, HDR10+ offers an unparalleled HDR viewing experience — vivid picture, better contrast and accurate colors — that brings HDR video to life," said Kyoungwon Lim, Vice President of Visual Display Division at Samsung Electronics. "We're excited to work with world-class industry partners, including Amazon Video, to bring more amazing HDR content directly to our 2017 UHD TVs, including our QLED TV lineup."
Currently, the standard HDR10 format uses static metadata that does not change during playback. This can lead to inconsistent HDR quality in certain scenes, especially if a movie has an overall bright color palette mixed in with a few dimly lit sequences. In these instances, dim scenes tend to look significantly darker than they were originally intended by the director. But with HDR10+, the format is now introducing dynamic metadata which will allow a compatible display to adjust brightness levels on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis, producing images that are closer to the director's intent. Likewise, this upgrade makes the new HDR10+ open standard more in line with the competing Dolby Vision HDR process, which already incorporates dynamic metadata along with higher specs for max color and brightness performance over HDR10.
"Together with Samsung, we are excited to offer customers an enhanced viewing experience on a broad range of devices," said Greg Hart, Vice President of Amazon Video, worldwide. "At Amazon, we are constantly innovating on behalf of customers and are thrilled to be the first streaming service provider to work with Samsung to make HDR10+ available on Prime Video globally later this year."
HDR10+ is now supported by all of Samsung's 2017 UHD TVs, including its premium QLED TV lineup. In addition, Samsung's 2016 Ultra HDTVs are also set to receive HDR10+ support through a firmware update during the second half of 2017. Meanwhile, Amazon is poised to launch support for HDR10+ content through Prime Video later this year.
The 2017 Samsung QLED TV lineup with HDR10+ support includes:
55" Class Q7F QLED 4K TV - $2,500
65" Class Q7F QLED 4K TV - $3,500
75" Class Q7F QLED 4K TV - $6,000
55" Class Q8C Curved QLED 4K TV - $3,500
65" Class Q8C Curved QLED 4K TV - $4,500
Source: Samsung
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