HDR vs SDR: Which One Should You Choose?

Introduction

You've probably seen some movies look way more colorful and sharp, while others look flat, even on the same TV.

A lot of times that comes down to HDR versus SDR. HDR gives you way better contrast and more vivid colors than regular SDR video, but not everything supports it. 

We'll break down what these two formats do, where you'll run into them, and how to tell if you're getting the full experience or not.

Table of Contents

1. What is Dynamic Range?

Dynamic range is how dark and bright parts of a picture can get. More range means you see details that usually get lost, so it looks more real.

Three things control how much range you get:

• Bit depth decides how many brightness levels a screen can show. SDR uses 8-bit color - that's just 256 levels per channel. HDR jumps to 10-bit or higher, giving over 1000 levels. Smoother gradients without those ugly bands where colors jump around is what you get.

• EOTF controls how digital signals become actual brightness on your screen. SDR uses old gamma curves like BT1886 that worked fine decades ago. HDR switches to smarter curves like PQ and HLG that actually work like human vision does.

• Peak brightness shows how bright your screen can get. SDR maxes out around 100 nits, which is pretty dim. HDR pushes 1000 nits or way higher. Sunlight, explosions, or reflections can look real without squashing everything else in the scene because of that extra power.

More light, more detail, and better pictures overall is what these upgrades let HDR show.

2. HDR and SDR

SDR was made for old displays with serious limits, like small Rec709 color range, basic 8-bit color, and low brightness. That worked back then but feels outdated now.

HDR targets modern screens that handle more: wider color spaces like Rec2020, more color data, and smarter tone curves. This makes scenes look deeper and more realistic instead of flat.

Out of the two, HDR also has many formats, each with strengths, such as:

• HDR10 gets the widest support. 10-bit color, the PQ curve, and static metadata is what it uses, so brightness settings stay the same for the whole video.

• HDR10 Plus makes that better by using dynamic metadata, so brightness and tone can change from scene to scene as needed.

There are a lot more, we’ll discuss them along with all the extra details later.

Regardless, the format you’re seeing depends on your device and content. Most of the time, it's HDR as the formats show details that SDR can't, giving creators more control. The picture can have more depth and life to it.

Figure1-HDR and SDR

3. HDR vs SDR: What's the Difference?

HDR makes images seem more realistic. SDR uses older limits that flatten these details. Here's a more thorough explanation.

2.1 Dynamic Range

Dynamic range makes the biggest gap between HDR and SDR. We measure how much space sits between the darkest and brightest parts of a picture here. HDR gives you a much wider space than SDR does. 

With this wider space, you see deep blacks next to bright highlights at the same time.

SDR works with a smaller space instead. This smaller space means you lose details in dark shadows or bright spots. Because HDR dodges this problem, you get pictures that feel more real and show depth that SDR can't match.

2.2 Brightness

Brightness shows another big gap between the two ways. HDR goes beyond 1000 nits, making bright effects pop, while keeping the rest of the image sharp and natural.

SDR screens work differently and top out around 100 nits. This brightness works fine when you watch everyday stuff but limits how vivid bright scenes can look. Because of this gap, you get more realistic bright scenes with HDR than you can get with SDR.

2.3 Colors

Color handling splits HDR and SDR in big ways beyond just brightness. Thanks to wide gamuts like Rec2020 and 10-bit color depth, HDR shows more shades with less effort. Gradients look natural, and banding fades away.

SDR takes a different path and sticks with the older Rec709 color range plus 8-bit depth. This older setup limits how many colors you can see with SDR. Because of this, you often get choppier transitions between colors and brightness with SDR.

2.4 HDR: Advantages and Use Cases

HDR's main selling point is visual impact; it's used for those movie scenes with incredible sunlight or game explosions that just pop. It handles extreme brightness and deep shadows way better than regular video.

HDR shines with:

• High-end TVs and monitors that can push out the extra brightness

• Streaming services and Blu-rays with HDR versions available

• Gaming where you want visuals that pull you in

• Pro video work where getting every detail right matters

Want something that'll make you go "wow"? That's HDR.

2.5 SDR: Advantages and Use Cases

Here's the thing about SDR… it just works everywhere! Doesn't matter if it's a new phone or old TV from 2010, plus it uses way less bandwidth.

That's why SDR still makes sense for:

• Broadcast TV is reaching every possible screen

• Streaming when you're not sure what device someone's using

• Older content made before HDR existed

• Any time you need the same experience across all screens

SDR might not be flashy, but it works reliably every time.

3. Common HDR Formats and Standards

You've got multiple HDR formats out there, and they all approach brightness levels, color data, and metadata in their way. Some are open-source, some require licensing deals, and most displays only handle a subset of them. Here's what the major formats do.

4. Where Can You Find HDR and SDR?

HDR and SDR show up in different spots depending on what you watch and how you watch it.

HDR happens when you:

• Stream from services that offer HDR versions of their content

• Play newer physical media like 4K discs

• Use recent TVs or gaming monitors that support it

• Game on current consoles or PCs with compatible displays

• Watch on phones and tablets made in the last few years

SDR happens when you:

• Watch traditional broadcast or cable television

• Play older physical media or legacy digital content

• Connect through slower internet or use basic devices

• View content on budget or older equipment

5. How to Choose Between HDR and SDR?

Three things decide what you get: your display, the content source, and whether they're compatible.

Go with HDR when:

• Your screen supports HDR and gets bright enough, you need at least 600-1000 nits for it to look right

• You're watching newer movies, games, or shows that were made with HDR in mind

• You want the most impressive visuals with better depth, color, and contrast

• You're using something like Netflix Premium that sends proper HDR signals

Stick with SDR when:

• Your device may not support HDR or might lack sufficient brightness, which can diminish the viewing experience. A smart projector like the CZUR StarryHub, for example, uses standard dynamic range (SDR) display. While it doesn’t support HDR, its 2200 ANSI lumens brightness and automatic image optimization features make it more than capable of handling most office tasks, meetings, and everyday video playback scenarios.

• HDR content looks washed out or weird, which happens when your screen doesn't handle the conversion well.

• You're trying to save battery on your phone or dealing with slow internet.

• You're watching older stuff that was never made for HDR anyway.

Do Note: If HDR looks worse than SDR on your setup, don't blame the content. Your display is probably struggling with tone mapping or just isn't cut out for HDR.

Figure2-smart projector

6. HDR and SDR FAQs

1. Can I watch HDR content on an SDR screen?

Your device will play it fine, just convert everything down to regular video levels. You're watching SDR at that point.

2. Does HDR use more data or bandwidth?

HDR files are chunkier and stream at higher bitrates. Slow internet with 4K HDR usually brings a lot of buffering.

3. Is Dolby Vision better than HDR10?

The tech specs say yes; better metadata, deeper colors. In practice, though, it depends what your TV can do with it.

4. Can a screen be called HDR if it only gets to 300 nits?

300 nits is barely brighter than most regular displays. Calling that HDR is pretty misleading.

5. Do all HDR videos look amazing?

No, they don’t. Some look incredible, others look flat or have weird colors. Bad mastering ruins HDR just like it ruins everything else.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, this isn't really about technical numbers; rather, it's about how things actually look to you. HDR gets us closer to seeing stuff the way our eyes normally do, which makes everything feel more real. SDR built the groundwork, but HDR takes video toward something that feels more natural and pulls you in.