YouTube now supports HDR videos

In a major quality update, YouTube now supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos that will allow higher color contrast as well as more detailed shadows and highlights on your HDR TVs with the Chromecast Ultra and soon on all 2016 Samsung SUHD and UHD TVs.

The new feature that was announced at CES 2016 in January supports a wider range than the conventional gamma curve, imitating how the human eye sees in the real world.

But don’t get too excited because, you can watch YouTube videos in HDR only on supported devices i.e. if you don’t have an HDR device, nothing changes for you.

Notably, most of us don’t have a 4K TV, let alone one with HDR. Then, there aren’t many computers with proper HDR support yet, and the only phone with official HDR implementation was the Galaxy Note 7 which sorry to say is almost dead now.

But, fret not as even without a screen of the proper specification, the format should allow for more details in the shadows and more vibrant hues. Also, given its huge user base, YouTube support will surely help bring the technology to the masses and get manufacturers to implement support more quickly.

The Google-owned company also says that uploading HDR videos is as easy as uploading anything else, though creators will have to grade videos using the Rec 2020 color gamut, not DCI-P3 or any other standard.

For more information about HDR uploads and color grading, check out YouTube’s support document.