Netflix has announced that it's adding support for the HDR10+ advanced HDR format, which is a rival to Dolby Vision, and is supported on TVs from the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, Hisense and TCL.
You'll need a Netflix Premium account to access HDR10+, and Netflix said that initially it will be available on 50% of "eligible viewing hours", including new releases and existing movies and shows on the platform.
Exactly what is meant by "eligible viewing hours" is unclear, but I take it to mean that it's not necessarily on 50% of HDR titles, but rather that only half of the total number of hours content is possible to view in HDR.
In any case, Netflix says that its plan is to have HDR10+ support on every HDR movie and show by the end of the year.
This is great news for owners of the best Samsung TVs and best Samsung phones, because these don't support Dolby Vision HDR – in the world of TVs, Samsung is the only brand that doesn't support the format on its premium TVs.
HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are superior to regular HDR (officially called HDR10) because they can support a wider dynamic range to make the most of today's brighter and bolder TVs, but they can also embed scene-by-scene tone mapping – meaning that instead of your TV having to work how best to get all the detail out of a super-dark or super-bright scene, this information is included in the video stream.
It should mean less blown-out highlights, fewer crushed blacks, and an overall look that's closer to the original master version of one of the best Netflix movies or one of the best Netflix shows.
Dolby Vision is generally considered to be technically superior, and is more widely supported in both hardware and on streaming services – but despite this, support has been growing for HDR10+ in recent years, and it's already become available on Prime Video and Apple TV+. Now Netflix has joined the party.
Don't expect a new dawn for HDR10+
Despite HDR10+ becoming available on the biggest streaming service in the world, I don't expect to see the long-term holdouts on the format – LG and Sony – supporting it in their TVs.
I asked LG about the potential for supporting it now that it's on more streaming services (and there are some big 4K Blu-rays that use it) directly during a launch event for its 2025 TVs – read our five-star LG C5 review if you're interested on more on that – and was told "we don't believe in that".
Sony hasn't announced its 2025 TVs yet, but we have seen a demo of its next-gen RGB mini-LED tech, and the company seemed unmoved by the idea of adding new formats during that launch event.
One thing LG noted is that while support for HDR10+ is growing, it tends to be an additional alternative to Dolby Vision on the best streaming services, not a replacement – so by supporting Dolby Vision the company is providing all the advanced HDR support it thinks is needed.
That approach backed up by how Netflix is adding its support: the company confirmed that it's asking production companies and studios to supply it with the Dolby Vision version, and is then adding HDR10+ support as part of its tech pipeline. This means that anything with HDR10+ must logically also have Dolby Vision support.
Still, this is great for Samsung owners in particular, who can get a nice image boost – especially for its less bright TVs, such as its lowest-tier OLEDs and budget QLED models, which don't have high-end brightness, and so tone mapping is really important for them.
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