Samsung says it’s enabling support for 8K HDR10+ content on its latest TVs.
The company said three leading European over-the-top content providers are planning to offer 8K HDR10+ content in the near future, and viewers will be able to enjoy it to the fullest on Samsung’s 8K TVs.
HDR10+ is a High Dynamic Range format that optimises brightness and maximises the contrast ratio. The technology makes bright areas of the screen brighter, and dark areas become darker, enabling more realistic images to be shown on screen. HDR10+ is available on most of Samsung’s higher-end 2019 UHD TVs and all of its 8K TVs, as well as some Panasonic TVs. Other brands tend to use competing HDR formats – including Dolby Vision, Advanced HDR by Technicolor and standard HDR, though these can only be used with 4K content.
HDR10+ was developed by Samsung as an alternative to those formats, and is notably superior to standard HDR as it provides frame-by-frame processing rather than doing it scene-by-scene.
“With HDR emerging as one of the most important technologies for ultra-high picture quality, our HDR10+ format enables every image to be accurately displayed on screen just as the creator intended,” Hyogun Lee, executive vice president of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement. “We will continue to strengthen our industry leadership through establishing partnerships with top streaming service providers and equipping our televisions with the technology needed to support the world’s first 8K HDR10+.”
Chili, The Explorers and Megogo are the three European streaming services that have already adopted 8K HDR10+, along with their existing support for 4K HDR10+. Other content providers, including Rakuten and Deutsche Telekom’s Magenta TV have also promised support for 8K HDR10+ by the beginning of next year.
In other news today, Samsung also announced the launch of its smallest 8K TV yet, a 55-inch QLED model that's slated to go on sale this September, retailing at around £2,000. The TV will join Samsung's 65, 75, 82 and 85-inch 8K QLED models and will be powered by the same Quantum AI processor, have the same 8K upscaling technology, and support for HDR10+.
