HDR

Dolby unveiled Dolby Vision 2 Tuesday with big changes to the industry-leading HDR picture quality technology — and the timing couldn’t be better for Apple users. With Apple expected to announce next-gen Apple TV 4K at its September 9 Awe dropping event or shortly thereafter, the streaming device could be perfectly positioned to support the updated display standard as Dolby Vision 2 arrives, from day one or soon.

And Dolby Vision 2 could even solve users’ “too dark” complaint about Apple TV content.

Google Photos’ advanced editing tools will now play better with HDR photos. They preserve both the dynamic range and HDR metadata after edits.

The photo backup tool is also gaining a new “Ultra HDR” tool. It will enable you to control the brightness of HDR images.

When you watch HDR videos on the mini-LED screens of a Pro Display XDR or a 2021 MacBook Pro, the displays can crank out up to 1,600 nits of brightness. But under most conditions, they’ll emit about 500. So a new app called Vivid, by developers Jordi Bruin and Ben Harraway, now offers to double usable screen brightness under all conditions.

“Full Brightness, System-Wide,” reads the app’s tagline.

One of the easiest ways to make any photo pop is to process it with High Dynamic Range, or HDR. Basically, it combines high and low exposures so that your photo represents a wide spectrum of light and color. HDR gives you a ton of creative options, which you can easily explore with the three Mac apps and plugins in the Photomatix Pro Plus Bundle, which we’re currently offering at an unbelievable discount.

Some Apple TV 4K owners are reporting that they can no longer enjoy Apple TV+ content in Dolby Vision.

Titles like The Morning Show and See are still available in standard HDR. But even earlier episodes, which were available with Dolby Vision initially, can no longer be watched in the enhanced format.

Apple this week upgraded its official USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter to support 4K HDR video at up to 60Hz.

The newest model, numbered A2119, boasts HDMI 2.0 connectivity. That means you can enjoy HDR10 and Dolby Vision content when outputting video from a compatible Mac or iPad Pro.

The Netflix app is now fully compatible with the new iPad Pro.

It takes full advantage of the space offered by the latest Liquid Retina displays, which are the first iPad screens with rounded corners that stretch edge-to-edge.

The official YouTube app for iOS has been updated to display HDR videos on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

HDR content was already available on last year’s iPhone X, but an update was required to enable it on Apple’s latest devices. Sadly, there is still no option to watch videos in 4K.

There’s a whole YouTube channel devoted to HDR videos, and the iPhone X can now display them as they are meant to be seen.

High Dynamic Range offers a greater span of colors that most screens can display. The OLED display in Apple’s flagship device is up to the job, though.

Nvidia has unleashed the world’s first lineup of big-screen TVs fit for gaming.

They’re called BFGDs (Big Format Gaming Displays) and they’re capable of displaying 4K content at an ultra-fast 120Hz. They boast support for Nvidia G-Sync and HDR — and they have a Shield TV built right in.

On the day that the long-awaited iMac Pro finally goes on sale, Apple has rolled out a big Final Cut Pro update. Its professional video editing software now supports HDR and 360-degree virtual reality content.

Vimeo’s fight to keep up with YouTube means exciting new improvements for its fans. The service just added support for super-sharp 8K content and HDR video. iPhone X owners will be able to enjoy the latter on their Super Retina HD displays.

Apple TV 4K has a video output problem. It’s pretty serious when your main purpose is to output video. But after listening to user complaints, Apple has fixed the issue in tvOS 11.2, its next major software update.

Apple TV has finally caught up with the 4K revolution.

It may be late to the game, but Apple’s newest set-top box pulls out all the stops to be the best on the field. It’s packing incredibly powerful new hardware that leaves competitors in the dust, and a much-improved tvOS platform that is years ahead of its rivals.

It may seem pricey starting at $179, but with amazingly sharp videos and great apps and games all rolled into one, Apple TV 4K is well worth the upgrade.

Watch our Apple TV video review:

Netflix has rolled out an update that makes its content look even greater on iPhone 8, iPhone X, and iPad Pro.

The app now serves up HDR (high dynamic range) video where available — but only if you have a premium subscription.

This week on The CultCast: We react to everything announced at Apple’s iPhone X press event! Plus, we’ll tell you all we now know about iPhone X, iPhone 8, the new Apple TV 4K, Apple Watch Series 3, the AirPods update, and the new AirPower charging mat. It’s a packed show. Better hit play, fam.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Apple’s next big iPhone unveiling will happen on September 12.

Following a rumor last week that circled the second Tuesday of September as the date for the big iPhone 8 keynote, two more reports from reliable sources have practically confirmed that the next Apple smartphone will be revealed in just two weeks.

Apple TV is expected to get a major upgrade this September. Sources familiar with Apple’s plans say the set-top box will finally deliver 4K video streaming with support for HDR, and a greater focus on live television content like news and sports.

Your iPhone photos can look more spectacular than ever, thanks to an update to Lightroom Mobile that brings an HDR mode capable of capturing three RAW DNG files.

We’ll explain all the acronyms in a bit, but here’s the gist: Adobe Systems’ popular image processing app can now capture the kind of rich photographic details you previously could get only with a conventional digital camera.

Google’s new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are ready to do battle with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and based on the first hands-on reviews, Apple could learn a few things from the new devices.

Apple’s shadow loomed large during today’s Google event. Exec from the search engine giant threw plenty of shade at the iPhone-maker for its lack of a headphone jack and storage limitations. Even though Google’s new devices look like total iPhone ripoffs the initial reaction has been mostly positive.

We’ll have to test Pixel in the wild before making our final judgement but here are some of the first reactions to the device from people that got to play with it:

The iris in the human eye sees more than what your camera records. Photo-imaging software company Macphun seemed to solve this problem last year with Aurora HDR, an easy-to-use tool that gives a final photograph the luminosity experienced by your eye.

On Wednesday, Macphun rolled out a new version of the software that can make a single natural-looking image from three exposures in as little as one click.

As mentioned in our iOS 7.1 screenshot roundup, the new iOS update adds auto-HDR mode for the iPhone 5s, letting the camera’s brain decide whether or not to activate the High-Dynamic Range feature.

In theory, this should mean that your iPhone will switch to HDR when there is too much contrast in the scene for the camera to capture in one exposure.

The iPhone 5 has one of the best cameras you’ll find on a smartphone, but Apple could be looking to make it even better for the iPhone 5S. According to the latest rumor surrounding the next iPhone, we can expect a 12-megapixel camera with improved low-light shooting, and HDR video recording.

Yeah yeah, Vine is all the rage right now. But remember Socialcam, the share-heavy iOS video app from effects-wizard Autodesk? If you don’t, here’s a reminder that the app is a sharp tool for shooting and sharing quick vids on Facebook — and it’s just been spiced up with HDR, new filters and the ability to shoot in 720p.

No, it’s not Egon. HDR Express, the enthusiast-level high dynamic range Mac app from Unified Color Technologies, is now out in a new version with improved de-ghosting algorithms for images with moving subjects, among a handful of other interesting new features.