Photo: internetua
HDR is one of those terms you often see in TV and monitor specs, yet many people still aren’t sure what it really means. The abbreviation stands for High Dynamic Range, and it has a major impact on how images look on screen.
At its core, HDR expands the range of brightness and color a display can produce. This lets the screen show deeper blacks, brighter highlights, and more accurate mid-tones, creating images that look closer to what the human eye sees in real life.
HDR became a standard feature with the rise of 4K TVs, but its quality can vary widely. Because of this, the “HDR” label can refer to truly impressive displays — or to models that don’t deliver any real benefit.
One of the key factors affecting HDR performance is peak brightness. For LED TVs, around 800 nits is considered a strong benchmark. More expensive OLED panels may not reach the same brightness levels, but they compensate with nearly infinite contrast and perfectly deep shadows.
HDR formats also differ in how they process video. Standard HDR10 uses static metadata — meaning one brightness and contrast setting applies to the entire video. Advanced formats like HDR10+ and Dolby Vision use dynamic metadata, adjusting the image scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame for better detail in bright and dark areas.
Newer versions, such as Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive, go further by analyzing ambient room lighting and automatically fine-tuning contrast so the picture stays clear in any environment.
In short, when choosing a TV, it’s not enough to see “HDR” in the specs — look for a combination of good peak brightness, strong contrast, and support for advanced HDR formats.
