Samsung Electronics announced that it will support the world’s first 8K HDR10+ content, partnering with major European streaming services. With this announcement, Samsung has established itself as the leader of the HDR (High Dynamic Range) specification industry. CHILI, The Explorers and MEGOGO – three key OTT (Over-the-top) service providers in Europe – will adopt 8K HDR10+ along with its support for 4K HDR10+.
HDR10+ technology optimizes brightness and maximizes the contrast ratio, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker. The feature is available on all UHD TV and 2019 8K TV models, including Samsung’s lineup of QLED TVs.
“With HDR emerging as one of the most important technologies for ultra-high picture quality, our HDR10+ format enables every image to be accurately displayed on screen just as the creator intended,” said Hyogun Lee, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to strengthen our industry leadership through establishing partnerships with top streaming service providers and equipping our televisions with the technology needed to support the world’s first 8K HDR10+.”
“Our main goal in this partnership with Samsung is to offer the highest-quality content services available to our customers,” said Victor Chekanov, CEO at MEGOGO. “We will maintain our initiative in the Russian OTT service market and plan to provide dozens of HDR10+ movies to Samsung Smart TV users starting late this summer.”
Aside from the aforementioned OTT streaming services, several other industry-leading content partners are collaborating with Samsung. Rakuten TV, Deutsche Telekom’s Magenta TV and Videociety are all expected to adopt HDR10+ support for its respective VOD services between Q4 2019 and Q1 2020. Also, Molotov, the first French OTT streaming service to offer live and on-demand TV channels all in one place, is also considering to adopt HDR10+. The growing list of premiere content partners is a testament to the industry’s commitment to the best viewing experience possible for consumers.
HDR10+ content availability continues to expand. Recent announcements from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment debuting HDR10+ on UHD Blu-ray with “The Secret Life of Pets 2” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, respectively, add to the UHD Blu-ray discs already released from Twentieth Century Fox and others.
Since Samsung began the HDR10+ logo certification program with Panasonic and 20th Century Fox last year, 81 companies have joined the program, boosting the program’s influence in the industry. Samsung has also strengthened its effort with the new opening of an HDR10+ center in China last December, following Korea, Japan and the U.S. With TV manufacturers such as Hisense obtaining HDR10+ certification in China, the HDR10+ alliance is expected to expand even further.
Along with HDR10+ certifications of existing TVs and smartphone products, Samsung is working to implement the program for its B2B products. For example, micro LED models such as The Wall Pro and The Wall Lux have been HDR10+ certified, and the company plans to expand the ecosystem to include Samsung’s line of LED products.
