Overview: High dynamic range (HDR)

HDR video represents a wider range of light and color under defined capture, mastering and presentation conventions.

HDR connects what a camera records, how a programme is mastered and what the display can present. Luminance supplies the light-level vocabulary; metadata and format definitions carry additional interpretation through that path.

This area establishes those relationships before tone mapping addresses a mismatch between source and output. It also keeps capture and mastering choices distinct from the capabilities of the screen showing the finished programme.

• What HDR video adds to SDR
  HDR video gives filmmakers more room to separate bright highlights, ordinary scene content, and dark detail.

• Luminance and nits
  A nit is one candela per square metre, a unit used to describe the luminance of displayed images.

• HDR capture in cameras
  HDR capture preserves a wide range of scene light so the final grade can retain both highlights and darker detail.

• HDR mastering in the studio
  HDR mastering establishes the finished image on a reference display and prepares it for distribution.

• HDR metadata and light levels
  HDR metadata describes mastering conditions or content light levels that can inform presentation and adaptation.

• HDR formats
  HDR formats define how an HDR signal and its associated interpretation are carried to a compatible playback path.