Samsung has announced HDR10+ Adaptive, which aims to refine a TV’s HDR performance in accordance with varying lighting conditions in the home.
Around this time in 2020, Dolby announced their Vision IQ technology for refining the performance of their HDR format to compensate for changeable lighting conditions in a room. A year later and Samsung has announced its own version in HDR10+ Adaptive.
Related: What is HDR10+?
The format will be supported in Samsung’s upcoming QLED TVs and will also work with Filmmaker Mode that was initially announced in 2019.
Given HDR content is best watched in a darkened room, with brighter rooms you can get a performance that leads to colours looking washed out, weaker black levels and the HDR effect losing a sense of punchiness. To compensate for the varying conditions in which consumers view HDR content, the HDR10+ Adaptive format can now adjust to any room light condition – bright or dark – to optimise the HDR experience in accordance with the display’s abilities.
It works by using the TV’s light sensor to ensure detail and contrast aren’t lost regardless of the room’s lighting conditions. On a supported TV, Samsung says that all Prime Video HDR content “is automatically delivered in HDR10+”. Though if our recollection is correct, there are few shows on the service that appear in Dolby Vision.
Also mentioned in the press release is that Samsung and Prime Video have teamed up to enable Filmmaker Mode and HDR10+ Adaptive content for Prime Video viewers. Considering how little we’ve seen of actual content in Filmmaker Mode, this is an added plus.
The introduction of HDR10+ Adaptive, as well as partnerships with Amazon and Universal Pictures on the delivery and content side, should hopefully help bring the format to greater prominence. We included HDR10+ in our annual list of winners and losers for 2020, in light of how little content there seems to be compared to its great rival, Dolby Vision. This looks like a step forward rather than a sideways one.
HDR10+ Adaptive will launch globally with Samsung’s upcoming QLED TV products, of which we’ll be hearing more about very soon with CES 2021 just round the corner.
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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.
Professional conduct
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.
