Netflix has taken a bold step into the future of streaming visuals, announcing on March 24, 2025, that it’s now delivering HDR10+ content to AV1-enabled devices, enhancing the experience for certified HDR10+ hardware previously limited to HDR10. The upgrade, leveraging dynamic metadata, promises sharper details, richer colors, and greater fidelity—think a flashlight’s glow preserved in dark scenes—across its 11,000+ hours of HDR titles. With HDR viewing surging 300% in five years and AV1-HDR10+ already hitting 50% of eligible watch time, Netflix aims to blanket all HDR content with this format by year-end, cementing its decade-long bet on High Dynamic Range (HDR) innovation.
Since pioneering HDR with Marco Polo in 2014, Netflix has seen HDR-configured devices more than double, fueled by a catalog spanning Stranger Things to The Night Agent. “We were confident it would greatly enhance our members’ viewing experience and unlock new creative visions—and we were right!” the company boasted in a blog post. HDR10+, built on the efficient AV1 codec (standardized by the Alliance for Open Media in 2018), outshines HDR10’s static metadata with frame-by-frame adjustments, rivaling Dolby Vision’s polish. Where HDR10 clips highlights—like a flashlight’s beam in a dim room—HDR10+ retains nuance, as shown in side-by-side stills Netflix shared.
Accessing HDR10+ isn’t universal yet. You’ll need a Premium plan ($22.99/month), an HDR10+ title, and an AV1-capable device—think 2024 Samsung Smart TVs, Google TV streamers, or select Android phones (Netflix’s site lists certified models). Enable the HDR toggle in-app, and you’re set—guidance lives at help.netflix.com. New releases and popular back catalog titles are already streaming in HDR10+, with 50% of eligible hours logged since the quiet rollout began weeks ago (spotted on X: “HDR10+ on my QLED—game changer!”). Netflix’s encoding pipeline, flexible enough to derive HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision from Dolby Vision masters, ensures scale without compromise.
The industry’s HDR trinity—Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+—relies on metadata to guide playback, but HDR10+’s dynamic edge shines in scene shifts, unlike HDR10’s one-size-fits-all approach. “It’s consistency—members stay in the story,” Netflix said, crediting teams from Client Engineering to Encoding Technologies for the launch. With 281 million subscribers (Q4 2024), this isn’t just tech flexing—it’s a promise of “even better picture quality” for all, one vivid frame at a time.
Please follow us on Facebook and X for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help. You can find Luke on X HERE.