Netflix Set to Expand HDR Slate

Netflix is making a big bet on high dynamic range (HDR), a format that delivers “better” pixels by making them brighter and enabling a richer gamut of colors.

Netflix’s foray into HDR plan is underway with support for season one of original series Marco Polo, offered to subs on Netflix’s $11.99 per month Ultra HD/four-stream plan who also have a compatible 2016 Dolby Vision or HDR-enabled TV.

Netflix plans to add over 100 hours of HDR programming by August, with more than 150 hours slated by the end of 2016, Neil Hunt, Netflix’s chief product officer, announced Tuesday in this blog post.

“While 4k offers more pixels, HDR offers better pixels that have greater depth, and on HDR screens you get brighter highlights, more detail in dark scenes, and a wider color range that more closely matches the real world,” he wrote.

Hunt also shed some light on titles that Netflix will offer in both Dolby Vision and HDR formats: A Series of Unfortunate Events; Bloodline; Chef’s Table; Hibana; Knights of Sidonia; Marvel’s Daredevil; Marvel’s Iron Fist; Marvel’s Jessica Jones; Marvel’s Luke Cage;Marvel’s The Defenders; The Do-Over; and The Ridiculous Six.

Netflix streaming rival Amazon, which this week added a standalone streaming video subscription option for U.S. members, began to offer select originals in HDR format last year, including Mozart in the Jungle and the pilot episode of Red Oaks, in markets such as the U.S., U.K. and Germany.

Update: Amazon said it now has about 100 hours of HDR available now and expects to double that by early 2017.