Samsung introduces HDR-compatible Blu-ray

During the next few days Samsung will present at CES 2017 (Consumer Electronics Show) its new M9500 Blu-ray player, compatible with HDR technology.

At the moment HDR standards are not fully defined and no precise way for distribution has been imposed. However, the introduction of devices such as the Blu-ray M9500 gives us a clue as to where the consumer market is heading.

This model supports HDR10, thus positioning Samsung alongside other companies such as Sony, LG, Sharp and Vizio that opt for HDR10 as opposed to the advanced Dolby Vision. (I recommend this article to learn a little more about this topic).

HDR10 is an open standard that uses the Rec. 2020 color space, has a 10-bit depth and uses the SMPTE ST-2084 (PQ) curve. Dolby Vision is a more advanced standard, but belongs to Dolby Laboratories. The latter features 12-bit depth, up to 10,000 nits of brightness (as opposed to the 1,000 that HDR10 can achieve) and uses the Rec. 2020 and 2100 color spaces.

We don’t know many more details about the M9500 player, but Samsung has said that the options will automatically adapt to the type of content we’re watching, and that 360-degree video will be playable.