henyouthinkofthenext
generation of TVs, your
mind immediately goes
to 4K, and with the new
andimprovedformatofferingfour
times the amount of pixels as regular
Full HD it’s easy to see why.
4Kiscertainlyabigstepforward
inthedetailstakes,butthere’s
anothertechnologythat’sarrived
alongsideitthatoffersalmostasbig
astepforwardforpicturequality.
hattechnology’sname? High
dynamic range.
While4K(alsoknownasUltra
HD)offersmoreinthewayofpixels,
HDR’s focus is on improving the
qualityofindividualpixels.Ifyou’re
buying a new 4K TV that doesn’t
haveit,you’remissingoutonalmost
half of the benefits of the next
generation of television.WHAT IS HDR?
hankfully,thebenefitsofHDR
meanthatit’squicklybecomean
essential inclusion in most new
televisions. So what is HDR, and
howdoyoumakesure you’re getting
the most out of it?It’sgotadullname,buttheeffect
itcreatesisactuallyveryimpressive.
HDR allows the pixels of your
televisiontogetbothdarkerand
lighterthantheycouldpreviously.
hatmeansdarkpartsofthe
image will get truly black rather
than simply a muddy grey, and
whites can get so bright that they
addanextrasparkletoanimage that
would otherwise be lacking.
he number one benefit that this
gives you when you watch an HDR
screen is detail.
Imagineacampfirescenefrom
oneofyourfavouriteWesterns.he
fireitselfislikelytobeniceand
bright,whiletheworldaround it
is bathed in shadow.
his sort of situation is a
nightmare for an SDR TV. If it wants
toshowoffthedetailinthefire,then
it will have to adjust itself to be
darker overall, to bring the fire’s
brightness within the range it’s
capable of displaying. Doing this,
however,meansthatmostofthe
shadowswillbetoodarkfortheTV
to display, and all their detail and
depth will be lost.Trytheoppositetacticandyou’ll
lose just as much detail in the bright
fire, which will become a blurry
mess. Sure, you’ll be able to see
what’sgoingoninthe shadows,
but at what cost?
By increasing the spectrum of
brightnessthataTViscapableof
displaying,thendetailcanbe
preservedinbothincrediblybright
and incredibly dark parts of an
imageatalltimes.
Butit’snotjustincreasedlevelsof
detail that HDR has to offer. A wider
rangeofbrightnessesmeansthat
images have the appearance of
having more depth.
Imagine, in this instance, a TV
displaying a picture of a bowl of
fruit.heremightbeabitofa
reflectiononthewaxysurfaceofan
appleorgrapes,whilebetweenthe
fruitareshadowscreated by the
lightaroundthem.
By increasing the darkness of
theshadowsbetweenthem,and
increasing the brightness of any
reflections,HDRletsyouseeeach
pieceoffruitasa3Dobject,rather
than just a picture on a screen.W
Words: Jon Porter Photography: Neil GodwinWhilethearrivalof4Kpromisesusmorepixelsthanever
before,it’sHDRyouhavetothankforimprovingthequality
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HDR TV
& movies
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO...
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he complete guide
to... HDR TV & movies