Your Chromecast and Roku just got upgraded to HDR10+ video
Good news this week for owners of the Chromecast with Google TV, plus a handful of new Roku streaming sticks: These have now been certified to work with HDR10+ video.
As you might well guess, HDR10+ is an upgrade to HDR10, which is itself a form of HDR video, which stands for High Dynamic Range.
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This video offers more vivid colors, deeper blacks and brighter whites thanks to it containing dynamic metadata. Whereas regular HDR boosts the brightness and dark levels of a TV screen when the content starts, then sticks to those levels, the metadata of HDR10+ video adjusts the brightness and darkness on the fly.
This means the brightness of the screen adjusts constantly while you watch a video, helping to improve your view of every frame. If this technology sounds familiar, then you might already know that Dolby Vision also does this.
Thanks to the new certification, HDR10+ is coming to the Chromecast with Google TV, as well as the new Roku Express 4K+, Roku Express 4K, and the Roku Ultra. The Paramount Plus streaming app is also getting the upgrade to HDR10+, when installed on compatible televisions.
Matt Frost, director of product management at Google, said: "We envision HDR10+ being a key enabler for Chromecast with Google TV plus other platforms going forth and we look forward to helping our various partners across the industry achieve a great HDR experience."
There isn't a huge amount of HD1R10+ content available right now, however, and Dolby Vision is the more popular video format to include the brightness metadata. But that could change with more devices being certified, and HDR10+ content is already available on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and YouTube.
All of that said, you can only access HDR10+ content through a compatible TV (and streaming device), so you will want to check the specifications of your TV, or the one you intend to buy, to see if it supports HDR10+. These TVs include some models from Panasonic and Samsung, with the latter being the primary company behind HDR10+. For that reason, Samsung TVs do not support Dolby Vision.
It's a slightly messy situation for now, and we hope in the near future all models of TV support both the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats.
Roku Express 4K+ 2021 | Streaming Media Player HD/4K/HDR with Smooth Wireless Streaming and Roku Voice Remote with TV Controls, Includes Premium HDMI Cable
