The HDR Alphabet Soup
You finish shooting stunning 4K footage on your mirrorless camera, and then the confusion starts. Your camera produced HDR10 footage. The streaming platform wants Dolby Vision. Your TV displays HLG. The editing timeline shows PQ transfer curves. And somewhere in the export dialog, there's a checkbox labeled "HDR metadata" that you're not sure whether to tick.
HDR video delivers brighter highlights, deeper shadows, and more vibrant colors than standard dynamic range (SDR) content. But the ecosystem of competing formats — each with different requirements and capabilities — creates real friction for creators and viewers alike.
This guide cuts through the confusion. You'll understand what each HDR format actually does, where each one belongs in a production workflow, and how to convert or transcode between them when compatibility demands it.
What HDR Actually Means for Video
Standard dynamic range video encodes luminance values from 0 to 100 nits. Modern displays can output 400 to 2,000+ nits. HDR video formats use a larger luminance range — typically up to 1,000 or 4,000 nits — to take advantage of these capabilities.
Two technical components define an HDR format:
Transfer function (EOTF): The mathematical curve that maps encoded values to actual screen brightness. SDR uses gamma 2.2. HDR uses either PQ (Perceptual Quantizer, ST 2084) or HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma). PQ is absolute — a value of 1,000 always means 1,000 nits. HLG is relative — it scales to whatever peak brightness the display supports.
Metadata: Information that tells the display how to interpret the content. Static metadata (HDR10) describes the overall peak brightness once per file. Dynamic metadata (Dolby Vision, HDR10+) adjusts scene by scene or frame by frame.
HDR10: The Open Standard
HDR10 is the baseline HDR format. It's an open standard with no licensing fees and works on every HDR-capable device: 4K TVs, Ultra HD Blu-ray players, game consoles, and streaming services.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Color space | BT.2020 |
| Bit depth | 10-bit minimum |
| Peak luminance | Up to 10,000 nits (typically 1,000 in practice) |
| Transfer function | PQ (ST 2084) |
| Metadata type | Static |
| Licensing | Royalty-free |
| Container support | MP4, MKV, TS |
The static metadata is HDR10's biggest limitation. If a film has one very bright explosion and mostly dark interiors, the display tone-maps the entire film based on that single peak value — which often makes darker scenes look washed out.
Pro Tip: HDR10 content encoded at 10-bit with H.265 achieves the best balance of quality and compatibility. Use the video compressor to reduce file size while preserving the 10-bit HDR information.
Dolby Vision: The Premium Tier
Dolby Vision builds on HDR10 and adds dynamic metadata that adjusts tone-mapping on a per-scene or per-frame basis. Every Dolby Vision stream is backward-compatible with HDR10.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Color space | BT.2020 |
| Bit depth | Up to 12-bit |
| Transfer function | PQ |
| Metadata type | Dynamic (per-scene or per-frame) |
| Licensing | Proprietary (royalty-bearing) |
| Container support | MP4, MKV |
Dolby Vision Profiles
- Profile 5: Single-layer for streaming (Netflix, Disney+). The base layer is HDR10.
- Profile 8: Single-layer, backward compatible with HDR10. Most common for streaming.
- Profile 7: Dual-layer for physical media (Blu-ray).
Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video all deliver Dolby Vision. iPhone and iPad cameras capture Dolby Vision natively.
HLG: Made for Broadcasting
Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) was developed jointly by the BBC and NHK. Unlike HDR10 and Dolby Vision, HLG uses a relative transfer function that scales to the display's peak brightness.
This makes HLG backward-compatible with SDR displays — an HLG signal on an SDR display produces a reasonable SDR image without a separate version. This is why HLG is dominant for live broadcast television.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Color space | BT.2020 |
| Bit depth | 10-bit |
| Transfer function | HLG (arib-std-b67) |
| Metadata type | None required |
| Licensing | Royalty-free |
| Container support | TS (broadcast), MP4, MKV |
HDR10+: Samsung's Alternative
HDR10+ is Samsung's royalty-free alternative to Dolby Vision — dynamic metadata without licensing fees.
| Feature | HDR10 | HDR10+ | Dolby Vision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metadata | Static | Dynamic | Dynamic |
| Bit depth | 10-bit | 10-bit | Up to 12-bit |
| Royalties | Free | Free | Paid |
| Display support | Universal | Samsung + some | Wide |
| Streaming support | All platforms | Amazon, Disney+ | Most platforms |
Converting Between HDR Formats
HDR to SDR (Tone-Mapping)
ffmpeg -i input_hdr10.mp4 \
-vf "zscale=t=linear:npl=100,format=gbrpf32le,zscale=p=bt709,tonemap=hable:desat=0,zscale=t=bt709:m=bt709:r=tv,format=yuv420p" \
-c:v libx265 -crf 23 -preset slow \
-c:a copy output_sdr.mp4
HDR10 to HLG
ffmpeg -i input_hdr10.mp4 \
-vf "zscale=t=linear:npl=1000,format=gbrpf32le,zscale=p=bt2020,tonemap=reinhard,zscale=t=arib-std-b67:m=bt2020nc:r=tv,format=yuv420p10le" \
-c:v libx265 -x265-params "colorprim=bt2020:transfer=arib-std-b67:colormatrix=bt2020nc" \
-crf 20 output_hlg.mp4
Remux Without Re-encoding (Preserves HDR Metadata)
ffmpeg -i input_hdr10.mkv -c:v copy -c:a copy output_hdr10.mp4
Use the MKV converter for container changes without quality loss.
HDR on Streaming Platforms
YouTube: Supports HDR10 and HLG. Upload H.265 or VP9 with 10-bit color, BT.2020 color space. YouTube tone-maps for SDR viewers automatically. See the best video settings for YouTube for recommended upload settings.
Apple Devices: iPhones (12+) record Dolby Vision Profile 8/HLG natively in HEVC. Use the MOV converter to handle iPhone video for other platforms.
Plex/Jellyfin: Support HDR10 passthrough on compatible devices. Dolby Vision passthrough depends on server version and client.
Platform HDR Support
| Platform | HDR10 | Dolby Vision | HLG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple TV 4K | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Roku Ultra | Yes | No | No |
| Fire TV Stick 4K Max | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chromecast w/ Google TV | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I watch HDR video on an SDR display?
Yes. Most players tone-map HDR content for SDR displays automatically. HLG degrades most gracefully to SDR due to its relative transfer function.
Does my video have HDR if it's 10-bit?
Not necessarily. 10-bit is required for HDR but doesn't guarantee it. True HDR requires BT.2020 color space combined with a PQ or HLG transfer function.
How much larger are HDR files vs SDR?
HDR requires 10-bit encoding, adding roughly 15-20% to file size vs equivalent 8-bit SDR at the same bitrate.
What codec should I use for HDR?
H.265 (HEVC) is the most compatible choice for HDR10 and Dolby Vision delivery. AV1 supports all HDR formats with better compression, but hardware decode support is still growing.
Should I always deliver HDR?
Only if your source was captured or graded in HDR. Converting an SDR file to HDR by changing metadata doesn't create HDR content — it creates SDR with incorrect metadata that displays wrong on HDR TVs.
Conclusion
HDR10 is the universal baseline — works everywhere, no licensing, covers most HDR use cases. Dolby Vision adds dynamic metadata for premium streaming. HLG is the right choice for broadcast. HDR10+ is a free Dolby Vision alternative that hasn't achieved broad adoption.
For most creators: shoot in log or HDR profile, grade in HDR10, deliver HDR10 to platforms, produce an SDR version for other environments. Use the video converter hub to handle format conversion, and read the H.265 vs H.264 vs AV1 comparison to choose the right codec for your HDR delivery.
