How we see HDR
Are you seeing what I'm seeing?
In this month's blog we unpack the miracle of colour, and explain how we're bringing incredible HDR colour to everybody, regardless of their studio setup and equipment
We're all familiar with the idea that the colours we see might not be the colours that others see. Indeed, it's frequently this realization about colour that is the catalyst for teenagers everywhere suddenly understanding the concept of solipsism - the idea that the only thing we can be truly sure of in this world is the existence of a self'. Which inevitably leads to them suddenly deciding to wear only black and carry a beaten-up copy of Bertram Russel's History of Western Philosophy' with them everywhere.
But the idea that I don't see the same kind' of green as you do goes even further than the inability for us to compare the experience of our eyes - questioning whether our sensors work in the same way. Because in reality, there are some colours that we literally aren't seeing: we don't have the colour cones to pick them up. Instead, they are our brain's best guess at what is happening. It's effectively the ol' grey sponge filling in the gaps where information is missing.
This happens with quite a few colours - you can see in the helpful chart below. Green s - yep, the brain knows what's going on there. Everything in-between is just your brain shrugging and saying meh, this'll do'.
Think Pink
The extent to which the brain is making up things becomes particularly pronounced with magenta. See, we're often used to seeing colours in a wheel, but in reality they exist on a spectrum based on wavelength - and as you probably know, if you extend the sides of that spectrum you don't get more colours, you get other exciting things like microwaves or gamma waves. So magenta is our brain's best attempt to circle the square and bridge the gap between the furthest edges of red and violet. It's a truly theoretical colour. This differs from - say - yellow, which does exist on the light spectrum, but which we don't have the cones to see. So our brains just made something up. But speak to a Goldfish, and they really are seeing' yellow, because they've got the right kind of cones for it.
And even if we could see' any of these colours, our poor old brain is just doing best guess work anyway, because it can't be bothered to work with the sheer volume of data hitting it every second (2*10 photons per seconds, which for those that don't like maths, is really quite a lot). So it just grabs a sample of that and averages things out. It might be lazy, but it certainly seems pretty effective (which Bill Gates would certainly approve of, declaring famously: Ask a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.
Why this sudden colour obsession? HDR, of course
All of this is to say that given that our eyes are actually kind of primitive when it comes to dealing with concepts of colour, it's quite remarkable that we experience such a vibrant, colour-rich world.
And of course technology has had a hard time trying to play catch up with the remarkable things that our brains have been doing in large part because they are limited to dealing with the reality' of electromagnetic waves, rather than having the luxury of making things up like our brain does.
But the progress has been significant. The last black and white broadcast was in 1967. 50 years later and we now have HDR; a technology that has significantly extended the range of luminosity in which differentiation can be achieved - in essence meaning that areas which once would have been marked only by washed-out bright light or dark shadow now display greater detail. The net result is a deeper, richer and more vibrant image. Something that far better replicates our own experience of the world.
With technological progress comes empty pockets
Of course it's great that we've made this progress within the broadcast industry, and audiences are benefitting hugely. But as with any technological progression, there's a constant concern for implementers relating to the cost of implementation - particularly in an industry where change and progress can be fast-paced. Just as you've kitted out the studio to deal with one thing, the next big thing has rolled around and you're stuck with legacy systems and no more money in the upgrade account to keep up.
It's this concern that has always been at the root of our IP evangelism. One of the most significant benefits of IP-based broadcast and production systems is their immense amount of flexibility and their future-proof nature: they're ready to tackle and accommodate pretty much any new developing standard or technology. And our VB440 aims to sit at the heart of all this - facilitating the highest levels of production, whether in a fixed studio, a remote OB van, or a distributed network of individual operators, whilst constantly evolving to accommodate new standards; JPEG XS, immersive audio, and now HDR.
HDR - anywhere, anytime, anyhow
Indeed, in the field of HDR, we've managed to pull off a pretty clever trick that means that studios can work with HDR outputs without needing the immense investment associated with upgrading their monitors and hardware to accommodate its specific demands.
In essence, what we've managed to do is create a visual preview of HDR outputs that can be displayed on any browser and monitor - even, or perhaps especially - those which are not specifically HDR compatible. This is achieved by converting the specific coding of the HDR image into the sRGB colourspace of the browser, thus effectively mimicking' a localised preview of what the HDR output will be like for audiences.
T
Europe Stories
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
19 Dec 2025
VEON's Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Oper...
19/12/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
19/12/2025
Rohde & Schwarz drives the future of mobility at CES 2026 At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz will present a powerful lineup o...
19/12/2025
RT is proud to return to the RDS to support the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & T...
18/12/2025
Canada's largest indoor arena has transformed its live production capabilities with a full ST 2110 infrastructure and Calrec's compact Argo S console. S...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
18 Dec 2025
VEON Upgraded to Nasdaq Global Select Market, Enhancing Investor Visibility Dubai, December 18, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital o...
18/12/2025
Thursday 18 December 2025
Sky Sports remains the exclusive home of the Masters ...
18/12/2025
Using the additive process of 3D printing, layer after layer gets printed until an object is as close to the final shape needed as possible. Historically, machi...
18/12/2025
In 2025, RT proudly supported 185 arts and cultural events across the island of Ireland, reflecting significant growth since the scheme was re-launched in 2014...
18/12/2025
RT Sports Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
18/12/2025
RT lyric fm presents a very special Winter Solstice edition of Ambient Orbit, l...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Wuppertal December 17, 2025
Riedel Builds Global Communication and Commentary ...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
Friday 12 December 2025
Ted is back! Seth MacFarlane's live-action comedic ...
12/12/2025
Uachtar n na h ireann, Catherine Connolly visited RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's...
12/12/2025
Ireland AM host Eric Roberts has been revealed as the sixth contestant taking to...
How we see HDR
