While high dynamic range (HDR) content is seen as the future of video quality across a variety of platforms, the burgeoning format is currently still a confusing, often unsupported mess.
Now, Google Chrome is set to join the HDR party, at least on supported devices, according to a report stemming from XDA Developers.
While Android has officially supported HDR playback since the release of Android 7.0, few smartphones actually feature the format, with LG’s G6 and V30 and Samsung’s S8 and Note 8 being the most prominent examples when it comes to Dolby Vision and HDR10 — the two most widely used high-end high dynamic range protocols.
Aside from a lack of devices that support high dynamic range viewing, an additional obstacle is a lack of content that supports the format. While HDR is becoming increasingly popular, not every streaming video platform supports high dynamic range. For Example, in the Canadian market, Netflix and Apple’s iTunes platform are the two largest content platforms that offer HDR-compatible videos.
In the context of displays, HDR improves luminosity range and widens colour space, resulting in more contrast between an image’s lightest and darkest hues.
Chrome’s new HDR compatiblility stems from two recent updates on the Chromium Gerrit, originally spotted by XDA Developers.
Source: XDA Developers, Chromium Gerrit
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