HDR10+ Advanced is the newest evolution of the HDR10+ dynamic metadata standard, designed to push picture quality further as TVs become brighter, faster, and more capable. Developed and licensed by HDR10+ Technologies, the Advanced tier builds on the original HDR10+ format with a significantly expanded metadata toolset that gives displays more precise control over brightness, contrast, color, and motion on a scene by scene basis.

HDR10+ Technologies now includes more than 170 adopters and nearly 20,000 certified products worldwide. With HDR10+ Advanced, the goal is not just incremental improvement, but long-term scalability. The format is designed to grow alongside display technology while remaining compatible with existing HDR10 content and workflows.

What’s New with HDR10+ Advanced

At the core of HDR10+ Advanced is a much richer layer of dynamic metadata. Extended statistical metadata allows displays to make more intelligent tone mapping decisions by analyzing both average and peak brightness within each scene. This helps prevent blown-out highlights, crushed shadows, and distracting brightness shifts that can pull you out of the experience.

Localized tone mapping is another major advancement. Instead of applying a single global adjustment across the entire image, HDR10+ Advanced enables more precise brightness control in specific areas of the screen. Bright highlights can be pushed further without sacrificing shadow detail elsewhere, resulting in greater depth and realism.

Motion handling also receives a meaningful upgrade. HDR10+ Advanced introduces metadata-driven motion smoothing that allows TVs to selectively reduce judder and jitter only where needed. This avoids the heavy-handed motion processing that often strips movies of their cinematic feel, while still improving clarity for sports and live content.

Color and brightness headroom expand significantly as well. HDR10+ Advanced supports video from 10-bit up to 16-bit color depth and brightness levels up to 10,000 nits. While today’s consumer TVs do not approach those limits, this extra headroom ensures the format is ready for future panel technologies without needing another major revision.

AI-Driven Enhancements and Content Awareness

HDR10+ Advanced also introduces AI-assisted tools designed to adapt the picture to different types of content and viewing environments. HDR10+ Bright uses extended metadata and intelligent processing to take advantage of ultra-bright displays in the 4,000 to 5,000 nit range. HDR10+ Genre allows tone mapping and color behavior to automatically adjust based on whether you are watching a movie, sports, or other content types.

For gaming and cloud-based streaming, HDR10+ Advanced includes adaptive features that respond to ambient light conditions and real-time performance needs. This helps maintain visibility and contrast in brighter rooms while keeping motion smooth and responsive.

Industry Support and Availability

Momentum behind HDR10+ Advanced is already building. Amazon Prime Video has committed to offering select titles mastered in HDR10+ Advanced, with plans to expand over time. On the hardware side, early supporters include MediaTek, Panasonic, Roku, TP Vision, and Samsung, which is expected to debut HDR10+ Advanced on its high-end 2026 TV lineup.

While broader streaming adoption will take time, especially considering how long it took some platforms to support the original HDR10+, the foundation is clearly in place for HDR10+ Advanced to become a major next-generation HDR option.

HDR10+ Advanced vs Dolby Vision 2 and Why This Matters

With the arrival of HDR10+ Advanced, comparisons to Dolby Vision naturally follow, especially with Dolby Vision 2 entering the market. Technically, both formats are chasing similar goals. Each uses advanced dynamic metadata, targets higher brightness displays, and focuses on preserving creative intent while improving real-world performance.

Dolby Vision 2 continues Dolby’s tightly controlled, end-to-end approach. Its proprietary ecosystem allows for extremely consistent results when content, playback devices, and displays are all aligned. In ideal conditions, this can deliver exceptional tone mapping and color accuracy across a wide range of scenes.

HDR10+ Advanced takes a different philosophy. It expands its metadata and processing capabilities to compete directly on image quality while remaining an open standard. There are no licensing fees, and manufacturers have greater flexibility in how the format is implemented. As a result, HDR10+ Advanced gives brands more freedom while still delivering advanced tone mapping, localized brightness control, intelligent motion handling, and genre-based optimization.

In practice, the visual gap between the two formats is shrinking. On a high-quality modern TV, especially one capable of very high brightness, viewers are likely to notice more similarities than differences when content is mastered properly. Both formats are capable of delivering stunning highlights, preserved shadow detail, and smooth motion.

What This Advancement Means for the Average Viewer

For everyday viewers, this competition is overwhelmingly positive. As HDR formats push each other forward, picture quality improves across the board. Highlights retain detail instead of clipping. Dark scenes reveal more information without looking washed out. Motion looks smoother without artificial artifacts.

HDR10+ Advanced and Dolby Vision 2 also do a better job adapting to real living rooms, not just dark home theaters. Features like ambient-aware adjustments and smarter metadata help TVs look good during the day as well as at night, which is how most people actually watch.

There is also a future-proofing benefit. HDR10+ Advanced supports higher bit depth and brightness levels than current content or displays require. That does not mean you need a 10,000-nit TV to benefit today. It means the format is built to scale, reducing the chance that your next TV feels outdated too quickly.

The Audio Advice Take

From our perspective at Audio Advice, HDR10+ Advanced is exciting because it addresses real-world viewing challenges rather than just chasing specs. Better tone mapping leads to more consistent images across different content types. Smarter motion handling improves sports and live TV without ruining movies. Expanded metadata gives modern TVs more room to show what they are capable of.

Just as importantly, competition between HDR formats drives faster innovation. Whether you ultimately watch content in HDR10+ Advanced or Dolby Vision, the push forward benefits everyone. For most buyers, the smartest move is choosing a high-quality TV with strong processing and broad HDR support rather than fixating on a single format.

If you are planning a TV upgrade in 2026 or building a new media room, HDR10+ Advanced is a spec worth paying attention to. It represents a meaningful step forward in HDR and a strong signal that the next generation of picture quality is focused on accuracy, consistency, and real-world performance.