YouTube Starts Rolling Out HDR Support To Select Android Devices
High Dynamic Range (HDR) is not new in the world of tech, but, it is no longer restricted to high-end Televisions anymore. YouTube has started rolling out an update for HDR support to select Android devices.
The feature was made available to HDR televisions last year and now phones like the Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, Galaxy Note8, Sony Xperia XZ Premium, and the LG V30 will have HDR support as well. Since YouTube has not officially announced the update yet, there are doubts over other handsets getting the update. The feature was observed to be available in videos starting 144p resolution.
Even though the update is a useful upgrade and will surely bump up the video viewing experience, all doesn’t seem rosy for the users of aforementioned devices, According to SlashGear, Reddit users are reporting stuttering videos and battery-draining brightness levels. Some users have also claimed that the update gets rid of the option to switch to full screen.
HDR videos have a wider colour gamut with the shadows having more details than the usual non-HDR video formats. HDR images are supported a more accurate representation of what a human-eye can see. Netflix has also jumped this ship and the Netflix CEO said, “Starting with the LG G6 phones that support both Dolby Vision and HDR 10 streams, Netflix would be supporting HDR on mobile devices” during the 2017 Mobile World Congress.
A more aggressive push with fixed bugs expected to be rolled out by Google to more devices in the future, but, as of now, if you own any of the devices currently supported, click on the three dots while playing a video and select the desired resolution.
