LG: HDR10 No Longer At The Top Of The HDR Hierarchy

In April, LG published a help guide entitled Dolby Vision vs. IMAX and HDR10: A Comparative Analysis. Here’s some of what the Korean electronics manufacturer had to say about Dolby Vision and HDR10:

Dolby Vision

“Dolby Vision is a visual technology designed to enhance the viewing experience to unprecedented levels. It empowers visual creatives to infuse their work with unparalleled depth and vibrancy, revolutionizing how we perceive visual content. By leveraging High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology, Dolby Vision dynamically optimizes image quality based on the specific service, device, and platform.”

HDR10

“HDR10 is a widely adopted HDR format that is compatible with every HDR-capable TV. It allows for a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits and a color depth of 10 bits, enabling over one billion shades compared to the 16 million Standard Dynamic Range (SDR). HDR10 increases brightness, contrast, and color palette, enhancing video content’s overall visual quality.”

Baseline Standard

“While it significantly improves brightness, contrast, and color palette, HDR10 is no longer at the top of the HDR hierarchy, falling short of the advanced features offered by Dolby Vision in the Dolby Vision vs. HDR10 comparison.”

What the colorist sees on their reference display while making grading decisions and what the client signs off on is PQ10, essentially HDR10 without any metadata. HDR10 and Dolby Vision metadata are only embedded after the fact, at the time of rendering the finished project. The footage will never be imbued with more “depth or vibrancy” than what was approved in the grading suite as a result of metadata. The purpose of metadata is to tone map content to fit the limited peak brightness and gamut of less capable consumer displays. As most streamed content is mastered to P3-D65 1,000 nits, no tone mapping is required of TVs that meet or surpass those parameters, regardless of the display technology – MiniLED, QD-OLED, or MicroLED – provided their power budget exceeds a couple hundred nits. If a TV is able to reproduce 100% of DCI-P3 and 1,000 nits of peak brightness, then for content graded at 1,000 nits the TV will take a one-to-one approach and show the content as it was mastered. However, if a colorist thoughtlessly grades content with an average picture level much higher than a couple hundred nits, the entire picture will dim down on practically all current OLED TVs, irrespective of metadata. Inexplicably, not a few TVs with capabilities that equal or surpass the reference monitor will indiscriminately tone map just the same. What’s more, many TVs disregard MaxFALL and MaxCLL metadata altogether. Then there are TVs like Sony’s former flagship, the Bravia XR A95L, whose Dolby Vision processing introduces unsightly artifacts like banding and posterization, making the picture all but unwatchable. Since replacing our A95L with Samsung’s S90C QD-OLED, we can’t honestly say that we miss Dolby Vision at all.