Online streaming platforms have been at the tip of broadcast innovation for many years. Ever since the inception of YouTube and similar services like Vimeo, we’ve had the opportunity to see some very unique and incredible content. Sure, you’d have to sift through a lot of crap to find it, but it’s there. Traditional media took a bit warming up, but in the past few years has boarded the gravy train of online platforms in an effort to better engage their audience. Today, I get all of my entertainment and news from online video sources – either favourite channels on Youtube or films/TV dramas on Netflix. I have a TV subscription, but I never use it. I only have it because I need it for my broadband. It’s a waste of money, but that’s a topic of a different discussion. To me traditional broadcast over the air media is deader than dead. That’s why I love YouTube.
And now, YouTube supports HDR videos, which is fantastic news. I may not have a 4K HDR TV yet, or an HDR capable computer monitor, but knowing that the technology is there warms my heart. I will probably get one of these Samsung Quantum Dot 4K HDR TV‘s very soon – after recently seeing a very impressive demo of a 65 inch set the images from which had me floored a bit. Google also recently added support for 8K videos on Youtube, so now you can have both 4K, 8K and finally (probably most importantly) HDR – or High Dynamic Range, which promises to give you a ton more colour fidelity and detail than SDR programming.
SDR vs HDR Example for illustration purposes only (click on image for full size)
YouTube’s been at the tip of new tech in the video streaming game for a while now – offering support for 360 degree video and also live-streaming. This below from YouTube:
Now you can watch YouTube videos in HDR on supported devices, such as HDR TVs with the new Chromecast Ultra, and soon on all 2016 Samsung SUHD and UHD TVs. If you’re using a device that doesn’t yet support HDR, don’t worry, videos will still play in standard dynamic range. As more HDR devices become available, YouTube will work with partners to enable streaming of the HDR version.
Check out the latest selection of HDR videos shot by YouTube creators like MysteryGuitarMan, Jacob + Katie Schwarz, and Abandon Visuals below:
We’ve been working closely YouTube’s engineering team over the last few months to provide this HDR version of some of favourite and unseen footage from the the last 3 years. If you don’t have an HDR display no worries, YouTube will automatically detect which type of display you are watching this on and down convert this video to SDR. FUTURE PROOFING AGAIN. 4K, 8K, HDR, YouTube is still leading the pack in allowing content creators to upload and future-proof their content for years to come.
To learn more about our journey on mastering and shooting in HDR please follow our blog
“Turning Point” – short film shot in 4K HDR. Check out the Making Off here.
You might have also seen Abandon Visuals’ THE REDWOODS short, that was shot on the RED Epic-W in 8K:
Right now, any Youtube creator can upload HDR videos to the platform, and to help you do it right, Youtube have prepared some guidelines about uploading HDR videos here.
To make sure creators can tell awesome stories with even more colour, we’ve been working with companies across the industry. We’ve worked with the DaVinci Resolve team to make uploading HDR just as simple as SDR videos to YouTube. We’ve also outfitted the YouTube Spaces in LA and NYC with all the gear needed to produce great HDR content.
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