If you snoozed through the past few generations of TV "innovations," you're not alone.3D was a bust. The "advantages" of 4K are imperceptible even if you squint. Curved TV screens are pretty useless. And smart TV is great, but all those cool streaming services are just a Roku, Chromecast or Fire TV away.
But for 2016 and beyond, there's a new TV technology that's actually worth caring about. It's called HDR -- short for high dynamic range, and it's very different from HDR for your phone camera. When TV HDR is properly implemented, the contrast between the whitest whites and darkest blacks is accentuated, colors are more realistic and the entire image becomes more vibrant. HDR can look spectacular, creating a noticeable difference to the naked eye of everyday viewers -- not just eagle-eyed videophiles.
You need HDR-compatible hardware (new TVs) and HDR content (movies, TV shows) to get this picture quality upgrade. But both of those bridges have been crossed. The mid- to high-end TVs in the 2016 model lines from all the major manufacturers will be HDR-ready. Studios from Fox to Warner to Netflix are prepping HDR versions of their latest movies and TV shows now. You can watch the sumptuous HDR version of Oscar favorite "Mad Max: Fury Road" today. And the big streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Vudu are going all-in on the new tech, too -- with compatible apps built right into those fancy new HDR TVs.
So, what's keeping us from buying a new TV today, settling into the sofa and soaking up the HDR-enhanced version of "Daredevil"? You guessed it: a good old-fashioned format war. Like the bad old days of HD DVD versus Blu-ray, SD versus Memory Stick, DVD versus DIVX or -- for you real old school video fans -- VHS versus Beta, there are actually two flavors of HDR: HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
TV titans Samsung and Sony are backing HDR10, and the format already has a lot momentum from studios, content providers and industry associations. However, it's also a weird alphanumeric "brand" you won't see on any TV boxes or specification sheets. Dolby Vision, meanwhile, is an easy-to-remember brand from one of the biggest names in Hollywood and home audio, and has been aroundlonger than its rival. Guess which one wins Google?
Like any good Hollywood story, this one has a twist. Some content providers -- namely, Netflix and Amazon -- are backing both formats. And more importantly, TV heavyweights LG and Vizio are making their new TVs compatible with both formats, too.
Make no mistake: If you're just looking for a cheap new TV, you don't need to worry about whether it can play back HDR content, or which HDR format it supports. But we can heartily attest that HDR support is a Good Thing To Have.
And support for two HDR formats is better than one.