2018 4Ks from Samsung and Panasonic are receiving support for the HDR10+ format via a firmware update currently rolling out. The tech is being pitched as a rival to the Dolby Vision standard in the High Dynamic Range format war.
Both companies, along with 20th Century Fox, are founding members of the HDR10+ consortium so it would make sense it would bring the format to its existing sets as well as including it new ones.
The upgraded version of the existing High Dynamic Range format HDR10 adds pre-encoded dynamic metadata to each frame in order to bring true-to-life pictures for displays with advanced chipsets. The first version of HDR10 offers fixed metadata.
Related: What is HDR?
There currently isn’t much content available in the HDR10+ format, but Amazon’s Prime Video HDR library is compatible. The other member of the founding consortium, the studio 20th Century Fox, is about to begin encoding its films with HDR10+, the release on Tuesday says.
“20th Century Fox has committed to incorporating HDR10+ in its upcoming new release slate. The studio is currently exploring several titles for release in the marketplace and plans to announce availability in the coming weeks.”
Warner Bros. is also on board, but the studio is yet to encode any movies in the HDR10+ format, Engadget reports. The list of companies adopting HDR10+ is pretty sparse at present, with no household names beyond the aforementioned trio.
In terms of the tech itself, there’s no support for 10,000 nit TVs or 12-bit colour encoding like Dolby Vision. However, there are few TVs with that tech available just yet.
While both formats offer plenty of benefits, it would probably be better for consumers if there’s a format war winner sooner rather than later. Those waiting to pull the trigger on a HDR-enabled TV would surely appreciate it.
Has your Samsung or Panasonic TV received the HDR10+ update? Drop us a line with your thoughts @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
