LG is getting in on the high dynamic range (HDR) action.
Flat and curved 4K Ultra HD OLED TVs in LG’s 2015 OLED lineup have joined select Samsung TVs in streaming Amazon’s HDR titles, which use the SMPTE 2084/2086 HDR standard.
Amazon Video is the first streaming service to deliver HDR titles to LG OLED 4K TVs, and it’s the first service offering HDR, which Amazon launched in June.
Amazon’s HDR titles are “Transparent,” “Mozart in the Jungle” and the pilot episode of “Red Oaks,” all of which are Amazon Original series. Amazon promises “many more series and movies will be available in the near future.”
The compatible LG TVs are the just-announced EF9500 flat OLED 4K TV series and the currently available EG9600 curved OLED 4K TV series. The EF9500 series offers built-in HDR compatibility, and the EG9600 series just got a firmware update, LG said.
The TVs are the $6,999 65-inch and $5,499 55- inch flat OLED TVs in the EF9500 series and the $6,999 65-inch and $5,499 55-inch curved OLED TVs in the curved EG9600 series.
HDR produces greater contrast between light and dark images on the screen, enabling dark parts of a picture to display subtle details often invisible with non-HDR content and screens. Amazon said. HDR also gives a more natural look to colors and helps create a wider range of colors, the company said.
LG said its HDR-capable OLED 4K TVs meet the new Consumer Electronics Association guidelines for HDR-Compatible Video Displays. LG also called its OLED technology “perfectly suited for HDR content” because it delivers perfects. “By starting from perfect black, OLED is able to produce the required light ranges at lower peak brightness, resulting in an exceptional – and more comfortable – HDR viewing experience,” the company said.
Other HDR standards are available from Philips and Dolby, and Dolby has signed up TV-maker Vizio and streaming-service Vudu to use its technology.
For its part, Samsung offers 13 SUHD 4K Ultra HD TVs in seven series with Amazon’s 4K UHD-capable streaming app.
