If HDR is your thing, you’re in for a treat! YouTube just announced that not only regular video content (that’s old news), but also live streams are now available in HDR.
Back in 2016, YouTube added support for HDR (high-dynamic range) videos to bring HDR to the masses. Since then a lot has happened and HDR content became certainly more popular due to this decision. Fast forward 4 years and HDR is now coming to live streams.
YouTube Live Streams in HDR
2020 will be remembered as the year live streams went off the charts. Product announcements, events, entire trade shows are now held online via live streams. YouTube’s decision to enable HDR content for live streams is therefore only a logical step towards the ever-changing media scene out there.
What is HDR video?
If you’re wondering what the hell HDR is and how it could be beneficial for your production (or live stream of course), maybe Samuels review of the new Apple iPhone’s 12 capabilities of capturing 10-Bit HDR in Dolby Vision might be a decent entry point for broaden your knowledge. And speaking of the iPhone 12: Since this is pretty much a mainstream device, I’m sure it work well with YouTube as the go-to video distribution service out there.
HDR really shouldn’t be a niche technology but a mainstream technology for achieving more natural reproduction of colors and contrast.
How Does it Work?
To host a live stream of HDR content on YouTube, you need two things: a supported encoder on the backend, and your viewers need a supported device to benefit from the extended HDR color and contrast. The list of suppored devices will grow rather quickly, I guess.
Link: YouTube Blog
What do you think about HDR in general? Something worth exploring? Share your experiences in the comments below!
