Samsung recruits Panasonic to bring HDR10+ to more TVs and devices
20th Century Fox is also joining the partnership out to beat Dolby Vision.
Despite corralling the likes of Sony and TCL into using its high dynamic range tech, it seems not everyone is interested in Dolby Vision. In April, Samsung bucked the trend by announcing its upgraded HDR10+ open standard. It also managed to snap up Amazon as its first video streaming partner. Fast-forward several months, and now the tech giant is looking to widen its net. In partnership with 20th Century Fox and Panasonic, Samsung will start licensing HDR10+ in January. Together, the trio will attempt to lure TV, Blu-ray, and set-top box manufacturers away from Dolby, to their fold.
At present, the two competing software offer similar results. Unlike static HDR10, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ both use "dynamic metadata" to adjust brightness levels on a scene-by-scene basis -- and even a frame-by-frame-basis. But, there are a couple of notable differences between the next-gen standards: Dolby Vision boasts a future-proof 12-bit color range and maximum 10,000 nit brightness. Critically, it also charges royalties, whereas Samsung only asks for an administrative fee. Whether that will be enough to convince manufacturers to opt for Samsung's alternative remains to be seen. Although it may complicate things for buyers in search of their next high-end TV. The same goes for 4K Blu-ray players and discs, and video streaming platforms. To overcome that hurdle, just keep your eyes peeled for products carrying the Ultra HD Premium logo, and you should be fine.
