HDR
High Dynamic Range
Technology that renders the bright and dark areas of video and photos with greater vividness and detail.
In Simple Terms
HDR handles a wide range between bright and dark areas, preventing blown-out highlights and crushed shadows to render realistic light and shadow. There are two kinds of HDR: capture-stage HDR and display-stage HDR. Capture-stage HDR combines multiple images shot at different brightness levels to handle scenes with a wide range of light and dark. Display-stage HDR is a standard where compatible content and displays render a video's broad brightness information to match the screen's capabilities. Note that buying an HDR-capable TV doesn't automatically turn your regular photos into HDR.
Behind the Name
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. "High" means high, and "dynamic range" refers to the span of brightness a display or image can represent. So the name itself tells you what it does: handling a high, wide range of brightness, from deep shadows to bright highlights.
Take a Closer Look!
HDR is a technology that expands the range of brightness video and photos can express, allowing for more realistic colors and contrast between light and dark.
It prevents extremely bright areas from washing out to white and dark areas from crushing to solid black, so bright highlights and deep shadows can be rendered clearly at the same time.
Broadly speaking, HDR works through two mechanisms: "processing at the capture stage" and "the display standard used to show it on screen."
Capture-stage HDR refers to techniques such as combining multiple images shot at different brightness levels, or using dedicated hardware to adjust the contrast between light and dark.
For example, when photographing a sunset sky alongside a building's shadow, it prevents blown-out highlights and crushed shadows, producing a clear, easy-to-view photo or video. In some cases, the brightness is instead adjusted for a standard (non-HDR) screen.
Display-stage HDR, meanwhile, is a standard in which a compatible TV or monitor takes the wide range of brightness information embedded in the video data and adjusts it to match the screen's capabilities as it displays the image.
When compatible video content, a playback device, and a display all come together, it can render dazzling light and deep shadow in a striking way.
This lets you enjoy a sense of depth and presence in movies and games that feels almost as if it's right in front of you.