HDR10 is commonly used when we talk about 4K UHD media. If I am buying a 4K UHD player or a 4K UHD TV then my first concern would be HDR10 or HDR10+. So, I would keep asking “does it have HDR10 support” before actually buying it. In this article, we will discuss HDR, HDR10, Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

 

Part 1: What is HDR, HDR10, and HDR10+?

 

What is HDR?

HDR is short for ‘High Dynamic Range’ used in photography. It is the ratio of the lightest whites and darkest black. Basically, the HDR combines 3 images captured at different exposures. This combination gives the image a lifelike clarity. It’s the same thing in the case of UHDTVs because the aim of the HDR technology is to reproduce images that are close to the human’s eye vision. More the dynamic range the more close the image will be to the human eye vision. However, if you go in deep, HDR with respect to UHDTVs has some more considerations like colors, contrast, and a wide spectrum.

No matter whether it is dark or bright HDR will render both of them with the highest level of detail. Having a large spectrum of colors means you see exactly the same color on the screen that you see in the physical world which would be more close to reality. HDR is used by UHD Blu-ray discs and to play these discs your UHD player and UHDTV should be HDR compatible

 

What is HDR10?

HDR10 is the standard version of HDR which is the default ultra high definition standard for Blu-ray discs, gaming consoles, and many online streaming services. It is a 10-bit video stream which is fully backward compatible with HDR devices. HDR10 tells the display how bright and well lit the things should be on the screen. Nowadays you will find HDR10 on Blu-ray discs, gaming consoles like X Box One X, PS4 Pro, Netflix etc. HDR 10 sends static metadata to the video stream, which is encoded information on color calibration settings required to make an image look real. HDR10 uses this info all at once which remains fixed.

The aim of the HDR10 is to maintain the same picture quality that was used by the studio camera to shoot those movies. HDR10 only supports display brightness upto 1000 nits.

 

HDR10 vs. Dolby Vision

Dobly Vision is a 12-bit video format and an another part of HDR which is much more advanced than HDR10. HDR10 uses a fixed set of meta instructions which tells the display how to handle the detail, how bright the display should be, and how warm or light the colors should be. HDR10 keeps this meta info fixed (static) for the entire length of a movie. While Dolby Vision uses more advanced algorithms and uses this meta information frame by frame (dynamic). That’s why Dolby Vision is superior to HDR10. Secondly Dolby Vision can support display brightness upto 10,000 nits while HDR10 only support upto 1000 nits. However, we currently only have Dolby Vision supported TVs which have display brightness levels upto 4000 nits. So, Dolby Vision is pretty future proof while HDR10 needs more work. And lastly HDR10 is free to use by TV manufacturers while Dolby Vision has licensing fee that’s why many TV manufacturer’s either stick to HDR10 or use HDR10+.

 

HDR10 vs. HDR10+

The UHDTVs which have HDR10 support also support HDR10+ or HDR10 plus. HDR10+ is the newest format of the HDR technology which uses dynamic metadata instead of static metadata used by the HDR10. With its dynamic metadata advantage, the HDR10+ is able to send the luminance information wherever and whenever it is required to enhance the picture quality up to the realism level. HDR10+ thus works frame by frame and sends updated luminance information with every frame. This renders more accurate contrast and colors as compared to the HDR10.

HDR10+ is a boon for HDR TVs with a low-quality hardware. A low-quality TV hardware doesn’t have enough picture processing power and sometimes it may not perform accurately or smoothly with the static metadata that remains constant to the entire length of the movie. Here comes HDR10+ which sends dynamic metadata frame by frame. This small dynamic information even lets the low-quality hardware HDR TVs process the information efficiently. This is because the metadata is coming frame by frame and it is easier to process by TV’s picture processing unit. HDR10+ is owned by Samsung and it is completely free to use as compared to the Dolby Vision which demands a royalty fee. One thing to note here is that Dolby Vision uses 12-bit video and HDR10+ uses a 10-bit video, but still HDR10+ is better because it is free, compatible with many devices and because it is of open standard then it has more chances of future improvements than Dolby Vision.

 

HDR10 vs.HLG

HLG is the final variant of HDR and stands for Hybrid Log Gamma. It is an HDR standard developed by BBC and NHK and is a royalty free standard. HLG is solely used for broadcast signals. The problem with HDR10 and Dolby Vision is that they use metadata which can’t be read by older TVs and some newer TVs. So to fix this HLG uses the same gamma curve that an SDR signal uses but adds a logarithmic curve with extra brightness over the top of the signal. That’s why HLG is more suitable for broadcast signals. Biggest advantage of HLG is that it works with a wide range of TVs which doesn’t support HDR.

 

Part 2: DVDFab Player 5: The Best UHD Player Software With HDR10

DVDFab Player 5 Ultra is the only UHD player software that uses your PC’s graphics power to deliver the ultra-high definition entertainment on your 4K TV screen. You only need to connect your TV to PC/laptop through an HDMI cable. DVDFab Player 5 features HDR10 mode which delivers crystal clear image on a UHD screen. HDR10 is a hardware feature which is used by movie cameras to capture even more details and blend it with 4K UHD. This 4K UHD plus HDR10 combination delivers that lifelike TV experience on your UHD screen. For HDR10 you will need a Nvidia GeForce GTX 9 series or above graphics card on your PC. DVDFab Player 5 is the only 4K UHD player that is designed to work with high-end graphics cards, though it will work on the lower-end graphics card. But your eyes can easily spot the difference in clarity if lower end graphics are being used like Intel HD graphics. DVDFab Player 5 works in two modes one is the PC mode and the other one is the TV mode. TV mode will turn your 4K TV into a mini home theater system with 7.1 digital surround sound. It fully supports Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby TrueHD Atmos, DTS:X, and DTS-HD Master.

DVDFab Player 5 is also fully compatible with Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray movies if your 4K TV is 3D compatible. An advanced update is pending and after getting that update DVDFab Player 5 will be able to upscale 2D content to 3D. A player that upscales 2D movies to 3D, now all you need is a pair of 3D glasses. I say DVDFab Player 5 is the best 4K UHD Blu-ray player for Windows 10 and Mac. So what are you thinking of just download it and start your 30-day trial with full functionality. After 30 days you can easily decide whether to buy it or not. And don’t worry it would be always free to play common video formats like MP4 etc.

DVDFab Player 5 Pros

·         Specially designed for high-end graphics cards to deliver UHD entertainment on any 4K screen.

·         HDR10 mode delivers crystal clear images on the screen.

·         Works in TV and PC mode.

·         Supports 4K UHD and 3D Blu-ray discs and ISO files.

·         Use it for free for lifetime to play common video formats like MP4, AVI, WMV etc.

 

Conclusion

So, I hope after reading the article you are now familiar with HDR, HDR10, Dolby Vision and HDR10+. So, if you are looking a lifelike entertainment then invest your money in an HDR10 compatible UHD TV. HDR10 TV will be compatible with HDR10+ and it is good to say that these TVs will be future proof at least for more than 10 years. Having an HDR10 enabled TV is a must if you want UHD entertainment. But having a UHD Blu-ray hardware player is not. Because you can utilize your PC’s processing power to get the same UHD experience that you can get from a UHD player. For this purpose, we recommend you DVDFab Player 5 which uses your computer’s powerful hardware to deliver the 4K UHD quality with HDR10 on your UHD TV screen. Now it’s up to you whether you want to use it with your PC monitor or UHDTV because it supports both. And if you have a powerful graphics card like Nvidia GeForce GTX 9 series or above then I bet you will never feel the need of a UHD hardware Blu-ray player because DVDFab Player 5 is capable enough to replace it anytime.

If you want to learn the relationship between UHD and HDR, please click UHD vs. HDR.