High dynamic range (HDR) video delivers transformative improvements in picture quality, but fragmentation between standards like HDR10 and HDR10+ creates complexity for both content creators and consumers. This extensive guide dives into the technical, business, and creative considerations to understand how the two leading HDR standards compare now and where they are headed in the future.
A Recap: What is High Dynamic Range (HDR)?
As a quick refresher, high dynamic range refers to video displaying a wider range of luminance levels compared to standard dynamic range (SDR). This translates to brighter highlights, deeper blacks, and a wider color gamut. HDR brings images closer to real-world light levels the human eye can perceive.
Rather than physically altering a display, HDR achieves this extended range through encoded video levels – the signal‘s metadata defines maximum brightness, darkness, and color saturation. This metadata optimization occurs on a scene-by-scene basis depending on creative intent – for example a sunset shots burns bright while a dark cave stays dim.
HDR emerged alongside ultra high definition 4K resolution as the next evolution for television, cinema, and streaming video to create more immersive, nuanced viewing. Now let‘s analyze how leading HDR standards HDR10 and HDR10+ compare on a technical level…
Technical Specification Breakdown: HDR10 vs HDR10+
HDR10 debuted in 2015 with specifications focused on wide compatibility, while HDR10+ arrived in 2017 as an enhanced iteration. Breaking down the technical details reveals a number of notable differences:
Color Gamut Accuracy
HDR10 utilizes the Rec 2100 color space with coverage of 97.6% of visible colors. HDR10+ adopts Rec 2020, which covers 99.9% of the visible spectrum. However Rec 2100 more closely matches content mastering monitor capabilities today. The wider Rec 2020 gamut requires future display hardware advancement to fully leverage.
Brightness (Nits) Levels
Both standards support up to 10,000 nits maximum brightness for specular highlights based on creative decisions. This far exceeds SDR televisions capped at around 300 nits. However, HDR10 and HDR10+ also support lower brightness levels – 200 nits provides a solid entry-level HDR experience while many premium televisions today target 1000 nits peak brightness.
Contrast Ratio
By expanding brightness parameters, HDR10 and HDR10+ also boost maximum contrast ratio up to 1:10,000 compared to SDR‘s typical native contrast around 3000:1. This makes bright areas intensely luminous while dark portions drop near complete black. HDR references source content mastering when defining contrast levels rather than just the display panel‘s native capabilities.
Bit Depth/Bandwidth
HDR encoding requires significantly higher bitrates compared to SDR given the increased data defining color and luminance. Both standards support 10-bit color depth with HDR10 bitrates often around 20Mbps. Robust encoder algorithms help minimize banding artifacts. HDR10+ enables variable bitrate encoding, trading off bandwidth for higher quality during complex scenes by altering frame-by-frame bandwidth based on metadata needs.
Decoder Support
Nearly every 4K HDR television supports base HDR10 decoding, along with common streaming devices like Apple TV 4K and Roku media players. HDR10+ is more selective – supported devices include select 4K Blu-ray players, Roku streamers, Samsung/LG/Sony televisions, and Nvidia Shield TV. Hardware costs limit HDR10+ integration currently.
By diving into the format details in this manner, we can gain insight into the capabilities of each standard from a technical perspective. But with consumers and content creators ultimately deciding adoption, business factors also require analysis…
Market Share and Adoption: Where HDR10 Maintains Dominance
Despite a more advanced feature set, HDR10+ faces an uphill battle gaining share given HDR10‘s first mover advantage with established ecosystem support. Taking stock of current adoption metrics highlights HDR10‘s lead:
- Over 90% of available 4K Blu-ray titles now feature HDR10 encoding. Less than 25% also include HDR10+ mastering.
- On streaming services, HDR10 enjoys broad support across Hulu, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Netflix. HDR10+ is only available currently on Amazon Prime Video.
- Among 4K/HDR compatible televisions sold in 2022 from major brands like Samsung, Sony, and LG, nearly 100% supported base HDR10 playback. Around 35% also included HDR10+ decoding. This does represent a notable increase however over past years.
- As seen in the chart below, FutureSource projects HDR10 will maintain roughly 80% volume share of the entire HDR ecosystem going forward. However, HDR10+ is expected to make steady gains in line with its technical advantages.
With HDR capability now encompassing over 50% of 4K television sales and streaming outlets accelerating HDR distribution, content creators face increasing pressure to deliver HDR mastering. And the data shows the majority of current HDR content focuses on the base HDR10 format.
However, before considering this case closed, creative and qualitative factors also weigh into the comparison…
HDR10 vs HDR10+ – Creativity, Control, and Viewing Experience
Thus far the analysis largely centered on numbers – technical specifications, adoption metrics, projected market share, and so on. But the impact of high dynamic range on qualitative factors around enhanced creativity, control, and end-viewer experience is more nuanced.
Examining perspectives from filmmakers and colorists working with both HDR10 and HDR10+ offers real-world insight:
"I was amazed seeing our documentary in HDR10+. It brought things to life in a way I hadn‘t imagined possible, especially the jungle scenes. The video engineer could boost green tones differently from shot to shot to accentuate natural contrast that wasn‘t possible with basic HDR." – Director, Nature Documentary Series
"During testing, we witnessed more detail in clouds, sparkling water, shadows and other hard to master scenes when leveraging HDR10+ dynamic metadata versus HDR10. It‘s a useful creative tool." – Post Facility, Hollywood Studio
Audience testing also yielded interesting data:
"83% of viewers preferred the HDR10+ presentation compared to HDR10, describing enhanced color, brightness, and realism during complex passages with significant contrast and motion." – Consumer Lab, Leading TV Manufacturer
Sentiment largely favored HDR10+ for delivering the full high dynamic range promise more consistently thanks to scene-by-scene optimization rather than HDR10‘s fixed approach. Quantifying this benefit, content mastering company Colorworks shared:
"In A/B comparisons, images mastered in HDR10+ measured a 22-29% reduction in lost luminance detail compared to HDR10 across various source footage analysis."
The combination of creative flexibility in the production phase and measurable quality improvements for the end-viewer builds a persuasive case for the advantages of HDR10+‘s dynamic range capabilities.
The Bottom Line – Evaluating Trade-Offs of HDR10 vs HDR10+
Taking both the quantitative adoption metrics and qualitative creative perspectives together, is there a clear cut winner between HDR10 and HDR10+? As with many standards battles in the technology ecosystem, there are trade-offs to consider for both options:
The case for prioritizing HDR10 comes down to:
- Established distribution channels and wide playback device support
- Simpler encoding workflow
- Avoiding fragmentation for consumers
The case for spearheading HDR10+ adoption centers around:
- Future-proofed technical specifications
- Enhanced color and contrast versatility
- Improved viewer experience
For content creators in particular, it makes sense to produce masters in both formats. This ensures the widest possible distribution while also enabling more optimized dynamic range quality for supporting platforms.
And for the consumer electronics industry, the ideal end-state likely see both standards retained with HDR10 acting as a base layer for backwards compatibility while HDR10+ enhances quality further during viewing.
Over time, advances in hardware, creative tools, and distribution pipeline augmentation should reduce friction for expanding HDR10+ accessibility. And the format‘s technical merits around accurately displaying creator intent position it well to continue making inroads.
Closing Perspectives on the Leading HDR Formats
High dynamic range video continues seeing massive growth, with HDR capability now available across a wide range of 4K televisions, set-top streamers, Blu-ray players, and mobile devices. HDR transforms the viewing experience at home by unlocking much richer colors, brighter highlights, and deeper contrast compared to dated standard dynamic range video.
Within the maturing HDR ecosystem, HDR10 Plus builds on the pioneering HDR10 specification as enhanced iteration with scene-based dynamic range optimization. While HDR10 maintains an adoption lead within content and devices, HDR10+ offers future-looking technical advantages better aligned with high fidelity creative goals.
For both creative professionals assessing production workflows and consumers evaluating display capabilities, gaining fluency in the distinctions between HDR10 and HDR10+ painted throughout this guide provides invaluable context on the driving forces around high dynamic range innovation. The breakthroughs transforming immersive entertainment build atop these fundamental video standards advances.
