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Netflix reveals HDR titles

April 19, 2016

By Colin Mann

Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer at Netflix, has revealed a raft of titles the service is planning to make available in both Dolby Vision and HDR formats.

Writing in the company Blog, Hunt says that pushing the boundaries on video quality is one of Netflix’s passions. “We’re particularly excited about High Dynamic Range – or HDR. While 4K offers more pixels, HDR offers better pixels that have greater depth, and on HDR screens you get brighter highlights, more detail in dark scenes, and a wider colour range that more closely matches the real world,” he advises.

“The new HDR technology looks great, and it will keep getting better. It is more true to life than anything you’ve ever seen on a TV, giving viewers a much more realistic and stimulating TV viewing experience that might even make you want to reach for your sunglasses,” he enthuses.

“It wasn’t so long ago that online video meant grainy quality and constant buffering, but today the Internet is the home of the best possible video you can get thanks to Ultra HD 4K and HDR. That’s why we are pleased to announce that Netflix is adding over 100 hours of HDR programming by August, with more than 150 hours slated by the year end,” he confirms.

Hunt notes that just as Netflix’s catalogue of 4K titles has grown over the past couple of years – now over 10x compared with when it started – it plans to grow its catalogue of HDR titles at a similar pace. “Today, you’re already able to watch Season One of the Netflix original series Marco Polo in HDR if you’re subscribed to the Ultra HD (4 screens at a time) price plan and have a 2016 Dolby Vision or HDR-enabled television from the top TV manufacturers,” he advises, unveiling some of the additional titles it plans to make available in both Dolby Vision and HDR formats:

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events
  • Bloodline
  • Chef’s Table
  • Hibana
  • Knights of Sidonia
  • Marvel’s Daredevil
  • Marvel’s Iron Fist
  • Marvel’s Jessica Jones
  • Marvel’s Luke Cage
  • Marvel’s The Defenders
  • The Do-Over
  • The Ridiculous Six

Entertainment streaming market competitor Amazon has had HDR available for a year, claiming to be the first video service to offer HDR, and has approximately 100 hours of HDR content already accessible, with plans to double that by early 2017.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Premium, Production, UHD, Ultra-HD/4K, VOD