Timothy Lottes’s attempt to rebrand black-level improvements as “contrast feel” while reducing HDR to a one-dimensional “peak white feel” reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the technology and its perceptual basis. He splits HDR into two sides, when in reality, HDR is defined as the expansion of both ends of the spectrum simultaneously.
Contrast vs. Black Level
“Contrast feel” is a misleading term that conflates two different things. Contrast is the ratio between the brightest and darkest parts of an image. Black level is just the floor. A perfect black level in SDR is the same as a perfect black in HDR. A display can have a perfect, 0-nit black level and still produce a flat, low-contrast image if its peak brightness is limited.
This is not splitting hairs over definitions; it’s the necessary correction of a core conceptual error.
Source: Timothy Lottes, “Christmas in VDR”, Neokineogfx YouTube channel (Dec. 26, 2025)
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