What Is HDR? Dolby Vision vs HDR10 vs HDR10+ Explained
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a TV feature that shows brighter highlights, deeper shadows and a wider range of colour than the older SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) standard. On the same scene, an HDR TV can hold detail in a bright sky and a dark shadow at the same time, where SDR would blow one out or crush the other. There are four formats you will see on spec sheets: HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and HLG. For most buyers the short version is this: you want HDR10 at a minimum because it is universal, and Dolby Vision or HDR10+ are useful extras that depend on the brand you buy and what you watch.
What HDR actually changes
Three things separate HDR from SDR:
- Contrast. A bigger gap between the darkest and brightest parts of the picture, so highlights like sunlight, headlights or explosions pop while shadow detail stays visible.
- Colour. HDR content is mastered for a wider colour range, so skies, skin tones and neon look richer and closer to life.
- Bit depth. HDR uses at least 10-bit colour, which reduces the visible banding you can get in gradients like a sunset.
The catch is that HDR is only worth having if the panel can deliver it. Contrast and bright highlights need a TV that can actually get bright and control its backlight well. A budget set labelled "HDR" that tops out at a few hundred nits will accept an HDR signal but show only a faint slice of the benefit. This is why brightness matters as much as the HDR badge itself, and where panel technology comes in. Our guides to OLED TVs and Mini-LED versus standard LED-LCD cover how each handles brightness and contrast.
The four HDR formats
| Format | Metadata | Licensing | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDR10 | Static | Open, royalty-free | Every 4K HDR TV and effectively all 4K HDR content (the baseline) |
| HDR10+ | Dynamic | Free to license | Samsung TVs, Amazon Prime Video |
| Dolby Vision | Dynamic | Proprietary, licensed | LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense TVs; Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ |
| HLG | None (broadcast) | Open | Live and free-to-air broadcast HDR |
HDR10
HDR10 is the open, royalty-free baseline. If a TV supports HDR at all, it supports HDR10, and almost every piece of 4K HDR content is available in it. It uses static metadata, explained below.
HDR10+
HDR10+ was led by Samsung and adds dynamic metadata on top of the HDR10 base. It is free for manufacturers and content makers to use. Samsung backs it across its TVs, and Amazon Prime Video is the main streaming service that carries HDR10+.
Dolby Vision
Dolby Vision is Dolby's proprietary, licensed format and also uses dynamic metadata. It has the widest content support of the premium formats: Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+ all stream in Dolby Vision. On the TV side it is backed by LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense, among others.
HLG
HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) was designed for broadcast rather than streaming. It carries no metadata and is built to work on both HDR and SDR screens from a single signal, which suits live TV and free-to-air. You do not shop for HLG, but it is handy that most HDR TVs support it for broadcast content.
Static vs dynamic metadata: the real difference
Metadata is the instruction set that tells your TV how to map the content's brightness and colour to what your specific panel can display. This is the genuine quality difference between the formats.
- Static metadata (HDR10) sets one instruction for the entire film or show. A single tone-mapping decision has to cover a dark night scene and a bright daytime scene alike, so it is a compromise.
- Dynamic metadata (HDR10+ and Dolby Vision) adjusts that instruction scene by scene, and in some cases frame by frame. Each scene gets tone-mapping suited to it.
Dynamic metadata matters most on TVs that cannot reach the brightness the content was mastered at, which is most TVs. When the set has to compress a very bright master down to what it can show, doing that per-scene keeps more detail than doing it once for the whole film. On a very bright, high-end TV the gap narrows, because the panel has less compressing to do in the first place.
Brand support: who backs what
This trips up a lot of buyers, so it is worth being specific.
- Samsung supports HDR10 and HDR10+, and does not support Dolby Vision. If you are set on Dolby Vision content playing in Dolby Vision, a Samsung TV is the one brand to rule out.
- LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense support Dolby Vision. TCL and Hisense also commonly support HDR10+, giving you both dynamic formats; LG and Sony have historically leaned on Dolby Vision rather than HDR10+, though support varies by model and year, so check the spec sheet for the exact set.
Every one of these brands supports the HDR10 baseline, so no matter which you pick, standard HDR content plays.
What this means when you buy
- HDR10 is non-negotiable and you already have it. Any HDR TV covers it, and it plays practically all HDR content. This is the floor, not a feature to pay extra for.
- Dolby Vision or HDR10+ is a bonus, not a dealbreaker. Which one helps you depends on what you watch. Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+ lean on Dolby Vision; Amazon Prime Video uses HDR10+. If your viewing is mostly Netflix and Disney+, Dolby Vision support is the one to look for, which points away from Samsung. If you are deep in the Samsung ecosystem, HDR10+ has you covered for Amazon, and everything else still plays in HDR10.
- Do not let a format decide the whole purchase. A capable panel that gets genuinely bright and controls contrast well will look better in plain HDR10 than a dim TV showing Dolby Vision. Brightness and panel quality come first; the format is the tie-breaker.
- HLG needs no thought. If a TV supports the formats above, it almost certainly handles HLG for broadcast too.
If you want to see how your TV is interpreting an HDR signal, or you are not sure it has switched into HDR at all, our guide to TV picture modes walks through the settings that affect how HDR looks.
The short version
HDR is a real upgrade over SDR when the panel can back it up. HDR10 is the universal baseline every HDR TV has. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ add scene-by-scene dynamic metadata and are the extras worth weighing, with the deciding factors being the brand (Samsung skips Dolby Vision) and what you stream. Above all of it, a TV that can get bright and hold contrast is what makes HDR look like HDR.