The HDMI Forum has announced the specification for HDMI 2.0a which allows for transmission of HDR video.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) greatly increases the contrast ratio possible on 4K Ultra HD content, meaning broadcast TV, Blu-rays and streamed 4K content will look even richer on your shiny new TV.
This paves the way for TV owners to make the most of improvements in future blockbuster titles.
Related: Does the 4K Ultra HD badge mean my TV is future proof?Arnold Brown, chairman of the HDMI Forum’s board of directors, said: “By adding HDR, the HDMI Specification continues its history of supporting the latest formats and technologies planned for Hollywood content.”
Current 4K TV sets with HDMI 2.0 connections aren’t able to properly display content that’s been mastered in HDR, but this should be fixed with an upgrade to 2.0a.
Robert Blanchard, President of the HDMI Forum, suggested that you won’t need to rush out and buy a new TV set just because it has HDMI 2.0a ports.
Blanchard said: “Our support for HDR enables our 800+ HDMI 2.0 adopters to develop market-leading products that include HDR and will maintain interoperability across the entire HDMI ecosystem.”
That said, it’s still unclear if a firmware update is required to bring your 4K telly up to speed. It might be the case that you’ll need to purchase a separate peripheral like Samsung’s UHD Evolution Kit or Sony’s FMP-X5.
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