HDR may be one of the most confusing terms among videographers, so we will start explaining it with a simple example.
Let’s say you want to shoot a video that includes a very bright object (like a light bulb, the sun, the sky at noon, etc.), If you have a camera—assuming it is a professional camera, it may be good enough to capture the full range of brightness despite its intensity, but if this video is played on an average screen, the screen might not be able to display that bright spot as it is captured by the camera.
…the solution?
In this case, the non-ideal solution is to “dimming” the bright bits a little so the screen can show it without losing much detail; this technique is known as SDR or Standard Dynamic Range.
Here comes HDR or High Dynamic Range technology, which is implemented in most modern displays and TVs. HDR simply aims -by integrating several technologies together- to preserve the details in highlights without the need to darken the entire shot. In other words, keeping highlights bright and keeping shadows dark, so the viewer can get a realistic image that includes the details of both highlights and shadows.
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HDR: a camera technology or a display technology?
The human eye have a wide steady-state dynamic range of 6000:1, and professional cameras have been able for decades to achieve HDR imaging of the human eye; unfortunately display technology has not been able to reach the capabilities of cameras to display the dynamic range as it should to be.
But that changed by 2010, when modern display and projector technologies hit markets. LCD and Plasma displays became reality, then OLED displays that allow pixel-by-pixel lighting control became the preferred technology; since then HDR has become a new reality in movies, TV channels, social media content, and even video games.
Therefore, HDR is a camera and display technology at the same time. To get an HDR video, it should be filmed with an HDR-ready camera, then it should be displayed on an HDR display (or projector).
HDR Photography The above should not be confused with HDR instills photography, which is a much older technology that works by combining multiple exposures—the amount of light reaching a frame of photographic film or the surface of a digital sensor, to get the best details of both highlights and shadows. In HDR video, the camera only uses one exposure
