Since January 2025, Disney+ has offered HDR10+ support on selected content, such as the Star Wars and Marvel sagas. Netflix, for its part, announced the arrival of this format in March for its premium subscribers. Until now, both services relied on HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The integration of HDR10+ therefore represents a discreet but strategic turning point for streaming platforms in a context where cost control is becoming an important issue.
HDR10+: a dynamic, open and royalty-free format
HDR10+ differs from HDR10 in its use of dynamic metadata. Where HDR10 applies the same contrast and brightness settings to an entire film or episode, HDR10+ adjusts these parameters scene by scene, or even shot by shot. As a result, the image is more balanced, preserving details in both dark and bright areas.
Unlike Dolby Vision, HDR10+ involves no licensing fees. It is governed by the Alliance for Open Media industry consortium, which includes Samsung, Panasonic and broadcasters such as Netflix, but remains free and open. It is often combined with the AV1 codec, also free of charge, which improves compression without any visible loss of quality. Like YouTube, Netflix already uses AV1 and can therefore easily implement HDR10+ on its platform.
Following in the footsteps of Prime Video, YouTube and Disney+, Netflix now officially supports HDR10+. While this will initially make it possible to offer dynamic content to viewers who don’t have a Dolby Vision-compatible screen, this free, open format could eventually replace Dolby’s fee-based technology. However, Dolby Vision’s color depth of up to 68 billion hues, compared with 1 billion for HDR10+, gives Dolby a clear lead. Especially as this is the format favored by Netflix on compatible devices.
What are the alternatives to Dolby’s expensive technologies?
The integration of HDR10+ into major streaming services echoes a broader trend: the need for manufacturers and broadcasters to no longer be dependent on certain technologies. Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are well-known standards, but their use requires the payment of royalties. This can represent a significant cost not only for manufacturers of TVs, smartphones, soundbars and AV receivers, but also for content creators and broadcasters.
In this context, the tech giants are exploring other avenues. Samsung and Google presented Eclipsa Audio, a new immersive sound format developed jointly. Compatible with certain televisions and soundbars, this format is based on the IAMF (Immersive Audio Model and Formats) architecture and is intended as a direct alternative to Dolby Atmos. Once again, the model is open and license-free.
The Alliance for Open Media already includes major players such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Samsung and many others. This move seems very clearly to be a response to the costs involved in using Dolby’s technologies. In practice, if these open formats are adopted by the entire industry, it could mean lower production and broadcast costs. It remains to be seen whether this will have a direct impact on consumers, or whether it will boost margins.
HDR10+ Gaming for video games
For video games, the adoption of HDR10+ Gaming remains limited, but is slowly gaining ground. This format delivers a dynamic picture, without adding latency. A plug-in is already available for developers using the Unreal Engine, making implementation relatively straightforward. This is also the case for Dolby Vision, but for a fee.
- Read: HDR in video games
For the moment, few titles are compatible. The First Descendant, Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are the ambassadors of HDR10+ Gaming on PC, as neither PlayStation 5 nor Xbox Series X|S natively support this format. Conversely, Dolby Vision Gaming is already functional on Xbox Series and PC, but its adoption also remains marginal. While the fee imposed by Dolby Vision may be an obstacle, the fact that HDR10+ is free could more easily encourage developers to integrate this technology.
By betting on HDR10+, streaming and tech giants are beginning a transition to open, royalty-free formats. A strategic move that could ultimately shake things up for Dolby’s proprietary standards.
