HDR has entered our line of sight unknowingly, and this technology has gradually become the “standard” of TVs. Whether it is a TV of several thousand yuan or a TV of tens of thousands of yuan, HDR is available. However, you Know HDR? Are HDR TVs any good? What is the difference between HDR TV and 4k TV? Below, let’s take a look and find out!
HDR technology HDR technology
What is HDR high dynamic range image, English High-Dynamic Range, referred to as HDR, can provide more dynamic range and image details than ordinary images, according to LDR (Low-Dynamic Range) images with different exposure times, the LDR images with the best details corresponding to each exposure time are used to synthesize the final HDR image, which can better reflect the visual effect in the real environment.
What is HDR TV? HDR TV uses HDR technology to synthesize the final HDR image according to the LDR image with the best detail corresponding to each exposure time, which can better reflect the visual effect in the real environment.
HDR TV is good or not HDR TV is good or not 1 Advantages of HDR TV
(1) Bright colors
The details of the image are clear in both highlights and shadows, creating a kind of highlight that is not overexposed, The effect of shading without underexposure. While making the bright places bright, the dark also retains more details, and can distinguish the outline and depth of objects, instead of the previous black, and the visual experience is also better.
(2) Wide color gamut
HDR TV and HDR video content are based on the 10-bit or 12-bit BT.2020 color space, which is 60% of the traditional BT.709 color space. This improvement plays a key role in enhancing the color level and transition of the entire image, for example, it can display high-density orange, dark green, etc.
2 Disadvantages of HDR TV
(1) Lack of HDR content
Videos in HDR format can be said to be hard to find now, and the vast majority of video resources on the Internet are mainly demo films or clips. Watching, and the shooting of HDR video requires the hardware support of the camera. In a short period of time, HDR video is far from meeting the needs of daily viewing. And HDR TV will not improve the effect of playing SDR video (standard dynamic range, that is, ordinary video, the same below), so let’s talk about it after popularization.
(2) Poor picture quality adjustment will be counterproductive.
If it is said that HDR TV plays SDR video with the same effect as SDR TV, it will be fine, but if the manufacturer does not have a good grasp of HDR effect If so, the picture quality effect will even be inferior to SDR TV. The HDR effect brings an increase in peak brightness and contrast, which can bring out the details of the highlights and shadows in HDR video. But for SDR video, the details are impossible to talk about. If HDR TV still blindly improves brightness and contrast, it will only make the picture worse than SDR TV.
(3) HDR formats are very different
Although manufacturers have spared no effort in promoting HDR, the HDR industry is still in its infancy, and relevant standards, technologies, and even concepts have not yet been unified. The HDR standards supported by HDR TVs on the market are different. If the HDR video of other standards is played, it will either become an SDR video, or even cannot be decoded and cannot be played at all. It is an impossible task for ordinary consumers to identify HDR formats of different standards.
(4) Expensive
The development of new technologies requires a lot of capital, and it is difficult to achieve affordable prices before popularization, and HDR, as a symbol of high-end, means buying now HDR TVs not only have to pay for the material cost and R&D cost of the product, but also pay for a high premium.
HLG standard
In fact, the HLG standard was initially jointly developed by the British BBC and Japan’s NHK TV station. Its most fundamental feature is that the broadcast individual signal stream can be compatible with HDR at the same time and non-HDR TVs. Therefore, the benefits of HLG are very obvious: due to the compatibility with ordinary TV, TV stations and content producers do not need to deploy two different signal transmission systems, which also saves everyone time and money.
In addition, since HLG has support from the Japan Association of Broadcasting Industries and Business (ARIB), it can be used without a license fee, so this standard is likely to be popularized in the broadcast industry. From this point of view, there is no need for us to worry about whether the HDR TV we buy supports the HLG standard.
HDR10 and Dolby Vision (Dolby Vision)
HDR10 and Dolby Vision, in one sentence to describe the relationship between the two, that is, HDR10 is more like Dolby Vision ” low-end version”. First of all, Dolby Vision uses 12-bit color, and HDR 10 uses 10-bit color. From a color gamut perspective, Dolby Vision is better.
Also, since HDR 10 is a “compromise” that the standard setters have made to meet the average performance of most devices, it’s free. To obtain Dolby Vision with better display effects, TV manufacturers need to pay Dolby royalties, and this part of the cost is bound to be passed on to consumers. In other words, HDR 10 compatibility is better “large and complete and free”; Dolby Vision is “small but fine but charged”, as for how to choose, the benevolent sees the wise and sees the wisdom.
What is the difference between HDR TV and 4k TV? The difference between HDR TV and 4k TV
HDR stands for High-Dynamic Range, which refers to high dynamic range images. It is a technology for rendering images, which can improve picture quality. Multiple photos with different exposures are superimposed, which can better reflect the details of the highlights and shadows of the picture, and reflect the visual effect close to the real environment.
And 4k refers to the physical resolution of the screen, the standard is 4096 × 2160, but the most commonly used ratio is 16:9, so most of the current 4k refers to 3840 close to 4k resolution ×2160 UHD standard.
HDR and 4K are not contradictory and can exist at the same time. HDR is biased towards the technical application layer, while 4K resolution refers to the physical layer. HDR and 4K can also be combined to make the screen image more high-definition, more dynamic.
How to choose HDR TV? High brightness
HDR content is produced with high dynamic range, and high brightness is conducive to showing more bright details , has the effect closer to the real nature. At the same time, if the brightness range or dynamic range is wide, many details that are originally dark can also be well displayed. Therefore, the first element of a qualified HDR TV is high brightness.
Light control
For LCD TVs and quantum dot TVs, it also needs to have outstanding light control technology and the ability to restore dark details, that is Blacks must not only be black enough, but also not lose details in the shadows, which requires constant adjustment of the backlight brightness to achieve high contrast or high dynamic range. If you blindly pursue pure black and sacrifice the details of the dark parts, it is obviously not worth the loss, and it does not meet the HDR standard.
Color Gamut
HDR has changed the entire industry chain from camera, content production to display. In addition to brightness and dynamic range, wide color gamut is also the focus of HDR technology. Because under high brightness and high dynamic range, the picture can show more details. If the color performance of the TV is poor, it will show an overall brighter or darker picture, and there is no bright color detail as a Transition, the viewing experience is naturally poor.
