Why use hdr

It's creating something that isn't there, because at the mastering stage, the director and her team had to take that all out. Is the "Vivid" version close to what they saw or what was in the theater? Doubtful, and there's no way to know since it's your TV's creation.

Thanks to the additional storage and transmission capacities of 4K BD and streaming video from Amazon, Netflix and others , additional data, called metadata, can be added to the signal. This is a huge advancement in how we're able to see images on TVs. One example of how this is down is Technicolor's Intelligent Tone Mapping tool for content creators.

It's design to let creators more easily as in, more affordably create HDR content. I've seen it in action, and the results are very promising. This is a good thing, as it means it's not labor intensive to create HDR versions of movies and shows. If it took tons of time, and time equals money, then we'd never get any HDR content. This is just one example of the process. You won't need new cables for HDR Even if you do need new cables, they're very inexpensive. If you use a receiver, that too must be HDR-compatible, to be able to pass the signals from the source to the TV.

If you've bought your gear in the last few years, it's probably HDR-compatible. If you're not sure, put the model number into Google with "HDR" after it and see what comes up. The next generation of HDMI connection is called 2. It's something to keep in mind for your next purchase, but it doesn't make your current gear obsolete and will largely be backward compatible other than the new features.

Most experts I've spoken frequently say something along the lines of "More pixels are cool, but better pixels would be amazing. What we've seen, now that we've had a few generations of HDR TVs to sort out the bugs, is a general improvement in overall image quality, though perhaps not quite to the extent many of us myself included initially expected.

In some cases they are significantly brighter and with a much wider range of colors, which is quite a sight to see. The sky or background may or may not have detail, or be clipped as well. Take note of the exposure settings I recommend there.

Look at the silhouette images below. The dark outline of the subject against the colorful sky is what makes them so dramatic. So for a good silhouette or sunset image — just let the foreground go dark and expose for the sky. Get the sky dark enough to get nice deep rich colors and your sunset images will automatically go up a notch. This is a pet peeve of mine. So it is also true that without shadows your images will be missing something.

You need both light AND dark to make a photograph and show shape, dimension and depth in your images. Here is another scene where the little bush being lit by direct sunlight caught my attention. You tell me which processed version has more impact and drama? You cannot take a bad image and make it into a good one by using any processing technique, HDR included.

Generally, it is a bad idea to attempt HDR when there are people in your scene. I actually forgot my camera was set to bracketing when I shot the images above from our vehicle. Looks not too bad at first glance right? HDR takes at least three photos and processes them, if either you are the subject you are trying to capture moves by more than a little then the final image can appear blurry.

Photos often take longer to process when captured with HDR, this processing time is used to combine the three images for optimal output, most new smartphones process HDR images in the background and allow you to shoot images back to back with HDR turned on. In some situations, images can look great with a strong contrast between the dark and the light regions, in these situations avoid using HDR.

Using HDR here will reduce the contrast so the effect is less noticeable, if you want to retain the drastic difference in contrast then it might be a good choice to leave HDR turned off. If you are already capturing an image with very vivid colors you might want to keep the HDR feature turned off.

While HDR does make lifeless colors look vibrant in many cases, if you are already dealing with a lively and colorful picture, then it might become garish. It is better not to overdo the color saturation and contrast. Almost every current smartphone has an HDR setting in the system camera app. To make use of HDR most of the time, just fire up your default camera app and head to the camera settings. This might vary slightly by manufacturer, but you should find the HDR option in one of the corners of the screen when the camera app is launched.

The best thing to do is to try out taking a picture with and without HDR of the same scene and see what appeals to you the most. It is quick, easy and gives you a better idea of what you can achieve with the HDR option turned on.

It is important to remember to keep your hands steady all the time and your eyes will soon train themselves to spot scenes that will be better with HDR turned on. Read More Read Less. Featured Stories. Highlights of the Story. HDR enhances images with a lot of details, it can come very handy in under and overexposed shots HDR is less effective in low light and with moving objects and can result in a worse overall result HDR works by combining multiple images at different exposure settings for the best end result.

What is HDR? The brighter parts of the sky are completely over-exposed. They appear pure white with no color or detail. The darker areas, such as the boat and plants in the foreground, appear slightly under-exposed. Now compare the above image to HDR version below. Using HDR has resulted in a perfectly lit photo with plenty of color and detail in both the foreground and the sky. It can be used in other shooting situations with tricky lighting conditions.

The examples below show how you can use HDR when photographing a shaded subject against a bright sky. If the shadows appear too dark or the highlights are too bright, switch on HDR in the Camera app. Knowing when to use it, and when not to use it, is key to capturing the best quality photos in different situations. If you want to intentionally capture the high contrast nature of a scene, keep HDR switched off.

This allows you to capture sharp HDR photos of moving subjects. If you have an older iPhone, be wary of using HDR when photographing moving subjects. This is especially important when shooting HDR photos in low light. For best results, use an iPhone tripod and iPhone tripod mount. This ensures it remains perfectly still while capturing the multiple HDR exposures. Also, ensure Keep Normal Photo is switched on.

This tells your iPhone to save a non-HDR version of the photo too. If you have these options, choose On. Note that it takes slightly longer to capture an HDR photo than a regular one.

This is because the camera has to capture three images at different exposures and combine them into a single photo. Any movement would result in a blurred photo caused by camera shake. HDR is an amazing tool for helping you create better exposed photos. It has a range of HDR shooting and editing options, allowing you to customize the final result. It has vibrant colors, and lots of detail in both the shadows and the highlights.

For comparison, below are two photos of the same scene that were shot with the native Camera app. The difference between the two native camera photos is quite subtle. The HDR photo has more detail in the bright areas of the sky, and slightly more detail in the shadows. It also produces vibrant colors that could normally only be achieved with a photo editing app. The camera screen will appear as shown below. Tap the Menu icon three horizontal lines , then open Settings gear icon.

Check the options are set up as shown below, then tap Done. Drag these boxes around to select which parts of the image you want to expose for, e. When you press the shutter button, the camera needs to take three separate photos at different exposures. To avoid any blurring in the final image, hold your iPhone steady or mount it on a tripod.

The example below shows what happens if you move your iPhone while the camera is taking the pictures. When the app has captured and blended the three exposures, the resulting HDR image is displayed. The HDR effect can be overpowering to start with. The colors might look over-saturated, and the highlights may appear too dark or grainy.

You might also see a bright halo effect around the darker areas of the image. If the HDR effect is too strong, make adjustments to the image using the sliders in the editing panel. You can access more editing options by tapping the icons at the bottom of the screen. Tap the left icon for exposure sliders, the middle icon for color sliders, and the right icon for cropping, filters , frames and text.