HDR (High Dynamic Range)
What is HDR (High Dynamic Range)?
HDR means capturing or displaying a much wider range of brightness levels than standard ( from very deep blacks to very bright highlights ) so that both extremes show detail simultaneously instead of one being lost.
At a glance
- Also known as
- High dynamic rangeHDR10Dolby vision (specific HDR standard)HLG (hybrid log-gamma)
- Used for
- Capturing wide tonal range in camera for later gradingDisplaying content with enhanced brightness and shadow detail on HDR screensAchieving tonal depth in post-production colour grading
- Common tools
- ARRI camerasSony veniceRED camerasHDR-capable displaysDaVinci resolve (HDR grading)Netflix and apple TV+ HDR delivery
- Related terms
- Dynamic rangeLog footageColour gradingLUT (look-up table)Tone mapping
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How it compares
SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) is the conventional display and capture standard, limited to a peak brightness of around 100 nits and a narrower colour gamut. HDR extends both the peak brightness and colour gamut significantly, allowing displays to reproduce a much wider range of light intensities and more saturated colours. The difference is most visible in highlights ( which can genuinely appear to glow on an HDR display ) and in shadow areas, where HDR preserves detail that SDR would crush to black.
Think of it like…
Think of HDR like the difference between a copy of a painting and the original: the copy can only use the inks it has available, so very bright areas look flat and very dark areas look muddy, whereas the original uses a full range of light and pigment that shows all the subtlety the artist intended. When audiences watch HDR content on a compatible display, the image has a depth and luminosity that standard displays cannot replicate, particularly in scenes with bright lights or extreme contrast.
Pro tip
When shooting for HDR delivery, use a log encoding profile and expose to protect the highlights rather than midtones: it is far easier to recover shadow detail from log footage than to reconstruct blown highlights. Monitor on a calibrated HDR display with a log LUT applied during the shoot so you can assess the graded look in real time rather than discovering exposure problems during post-production.
Types and variations
- HDR in display technology exists across several competing standards.
- HDR10 is the most widespread open standard, requiring a peak brightness of at least 1,000 nits and using static metadata that applies a single brightness profile to the entire piece of content.
- Dolby Vision is a proprietary standard from Dolby Laboratories that supports up to 10,000 nits and uses dynamic metadata that adjusts the brightness profile scene by scene and even frame by frame for more precise tonal control.
- HLG, or Hybrid Log-Gamma, is a broadcast-oriented format developed by the BBC and NHK that is backward-compatible with standard dynamic range displays, making it useful for live broadcast.
- HDR10+ from Samsung is an open alternative to Dolby Vision that also uses dynamic metadata.
- In camera capture, manufacturers use different log encoding formats ( ARRI LogC, Sony S-Log, Canon Log, DaVinci Intermediate ) each offering different characteristics in how they distribute tonal information across the recorded signal.
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Try MorphicCommon use cases
- HDR capture is used whenever a scene has a high contrast ratio that would cause a standard-dynamic-range camera to clip highlights or crush shadows: bright window interiors, outdoor scenes with a mix of sun and shade, scenes involving fire or practical light sources.
- Film and television content destined for streaming platforms is increasingly mastered in HDR to take advantage of the growing proportion of compatible consumer displays.
- In photography, HDR techniques are used in architectural and landscape photography to manage challenging contrast ratios.
- AI content creators reference HDR in prompts to generate images with greater tonal depth and luminance range.
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FAQs
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It refers to the extended span of brightness values ( from deep shadows to bright highlights ) that an imaging system can capture, process, or display. In different contexts it applies to camera sensors, display technology, and content delivery standards.
In cameras, HDR refers to the sensor's ability to capture a wide range of tonal information simultaneously without losing detail in highlights or shadows. In displays, HDR refers to the screen's ability to reproduce that wide tonal range, showing brighter highlights and deeper blacks than standard dynamic range displays. Both are necessary for the full HDR benefit: an HDR display showing SDR content, or an HDR camera delivering to an SDR screen, does not provide the complete experience.
The main HDR display standards are HDR10, an open standard with static metadata and a minimum peak brightness of 1,000 nits; Dolby Vision, a proprietary Dolby standard supporting dynamic metadata and up to 10,000 nits; HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), a broadcast-oriented format compatible with standard dynamic range displays; and HDR10+, Samsung's open alternative to Dolby Vision using dynamic metadata.
Log footage uses a specially designed encoding curve that compresses the wide dynamic range captured by a professional camera sensor into a flat, low-contrast image that protects detail across both highlights and shadows. In post-production, a LUT or colour grade transforms the log-encoded footage into the desired look, with the full range of captured information available for the colourist to work with. Log capture is the standard approach for HDR production workflows.
Professional HDR grading requires a calibrated HDR reference monitor to accurately assess how the content will look on HDR consumer displays. Editing on a standard SDR monitor with HDR tone mapping applied can provide a working approximation, but colour and brightness decisions made without an HDR reference may not translate accurately to the final HDR delivery.
Modern professional cinema cameras typically offer between 14 and 17 stops of dynamic range. ARRI cameras are widely regarded as having some of the highest dynamic range available, with the ALEXA 35 offering around 17 stops. This compares to roughly 13–14 stops for high-end mirrorless cameras and around 5–7 stops for standard consumer devices.
Including HDR in AI image generation prompts often steers models toward producing images with greater tonal depth, more luminous highlights, and richer shadow detail, as these visual characteristics are associated with the term in training data. However, the actual dynamic range of the generated file is constrained by the standard display format in which it is saved, so true HDR image generation depends on the specific capabilities and output formats of the tool being used.
Tone mapping is the process of converting HDR content for display on SDR screens, compressing the wider tonal range of the HDR original into the narrower range an SDR display can reproduce. Well-executed tone mapping preserves the visual intent of the HDR grade while keeping the image legible and appealing on standard displays. Poorly executed tone mapping can produce flat, washed-out images or crushed shadow areas.
