High Dynamic Range

See the Dolby Difference—More Depth. More Content. More Information.

The image portrayed in these photographs contains a typical scene that we might encounter in the real world. The scene contains bright regions such as the neon sign and the lighted interior of the phone booth, but it also includes darker regions inside the shop window and in the detail of the flower bed. This level of dynamic range is well beyond the capabilities of a typical display (such as the computer monitor you are using to view this page). In order to see the full detail of this high-dynamic-range image on a conventional display, it is necessary to show three different versions of the same image. In the image on the left, the exposure setting was short in order to capture the detail in the bright regions. The middle photo used a midrange exposure to capture the middle dynamic range, and the long exposure on the right captured the detail in the dark parts of the scene. This “bracketed exposure” technique is useful for capturing HDR scenes, but it doesn’t really help us display the image in a practical manner. Before the development of BrightSide’s HDR displays, the best solution was to apply an image-processing technique called “tone mapping” to fit the image data to the limited capabilities of the display. This approach hides the limitations of the display technology to some degree, but it still leaves the viewer with a toned-down version of the original scene. The unfortunate result is that the image lacks vitality, depth, and realism. With the introduction of BrightSide’s HDR display technology, it is now possible to show the full vitality of this same scene, as we would experience it in real life, using a single frame.

Unfortunately, the display you are presently using is a non-HDR display, so we can only provide you with a poor simulation of the difference that HDR makes by using the tone-mapping technique referred to above. In reality the difference is much more spectacular. 

Dolby and BrightSide are now fully integrated, and we’re working to bring HDR video technologies to market. Please visit Dolby HDR video for consumers and Dolby HDR video for manufacturers.