HDR10
A video format that defines at least a billion distinct colors, for greater contrast and detail, usually noticeable in the darkest and lightest parts of a scene. (Non-HDR video is limited to 16.7 million colors.) HDR10 also mandates a minimum display brightness.
The HDR10 standard also specifies brightness levels that can override a display's usual brightness curve, sometimes even exceeding a display's usual maximum brightness with a peak brightness used only for small parts of HDR content.
HDR10+ adds metadata to dynamically control display brightness / tone mapping. This allows darker scenes to have even more detail, for example.
Standard video has 8-bit depth, which means 256 levels of brightness for each of the red, green, and blue primary colors. Mixed together, that makes 16.7 million color possibilities. HDR video has 10 bits of depth, for at least 1,024 levels of brightness per primary color, for at least a billion total colors. HDR10+ allows up to 12 bits, for even more colors.
A phone may have an HDR10-capable display — meaning it can properly show HDR10 video — and/or may be able to capture HDR10 video with its camera. Phones that have an HDR10 display are not necessarily able to capture HDR10 video, although many high-end phones have both.
Last updated Mar 15, 2024 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
