According to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210980 the 2020 iMac supports HDR. Does anyone have any comments/reviews on it maybe relative to an OLED HDR display?
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The 2020 iMac supports HDR ... anyone with some reviews or comments?
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This feature has bugs. It seems to only work in Chrome with YouTube with videos that transmit HDR metadata in its stream. However, the browser doesn't "tone map" correctly like your TV would to fit the large dynamic range into the limited DR of the 27 inch LCD screen.
In my test of Katie +Jacob Shwarz very popular Youtube videos, the highlights are completely blown. The cool part is that you get a cool little HDR red logo where you choose the resolution. Im not sure if the issue lies with Catalina or with YouTube or Google Chrome. Most likely, it's Chrome.
Interestingly enough, Apple TV tone maps movies correctly so you see ALL the details in a film. I test Mad Max Road Fury in 4K HDR, which I own from iTunes, and the the highlights will not clip or blow out. It was evident in the scenes were they race through the desert and there are bolts of lightning in the dust storm. The flashes are bright but you can still see the facial details of the actors just fine.
It's a nice move despite the 500 nits panels that Apple uses with our iMacs but why not, right? It's definitely nowhere near as nice as watching them on my C9 OLED for sure.
In my test of Katie +Jacob Shwarz very popular Youtube videos, the highlights are completely blown. The cool part is that you get a cool little HDR red logo where you choose the resolution. Im not sure if the issue lies with Catalina or with YouTube or Google Chrome. Most likely, it's Chrome.
Interestingly enough, Apple TV tone maps movies correctly so you see ALL the details in a film. I test Mad Max Road Fury in 4K HDR, which I own from iTunes, and the the highlights will not clip or blow out. It was evident in the scenes were they race through the desert and there are bolts of lightning in the dust storm. The flashes are bright but you can still see the facial details of the actors just fine.
It's a nice move despite the 500 nits panels that Apple uses with our iMacs but why not, right? It's definitely nowhere near as nice as watching them on my C9 OLED for sure.
Is there any other ways of watching HDR movies on the 2020 iMac besides Apple TV? Netflix? Amazon?
It actually does according to both Apple's spec sheet linked by the OP and my own personal experience using Chrome and viewing HDR encoded videos on YouTube.
HDR is a relative term and you will find that you it being printed on cheap TVs you find at Costco and BJs by Vizio for example. Those TVs barely hit 600 nits and it definitely is not the same experience as an OLED or a high end Sony LCD with local dimming. I also have a 2017 27 iMac that isn't able to show the HDR version of the same video on YouTube even while using the same Chrome browser and there was a marked difference when the 2020 played the same video. Once Apple goes with Mini LED panels, you will get true HDR performance.
Youtube on Chrome is your only other bet as far as I know. Search for HDR videos and you should find them. But keep in mind that highlights are blown until Google or Apple fixes the tone mapping issue.
Also, don't forget that the AMD 5000 series chips now support hardware 8K decoding! You can now view the 8K version with ease as long as your have enough internet bandwidth to stream them. Only source I know of is again YouTube on Chrome. Go look them up and enjoy! I know they are very compressed but at least we now have a option that is slightly sharper than 4K.
It's only able to be called HDR because there isn't a generally-accepted specification for HDR. Apple uses the available brightness when the display is in a reduced-brightness mode to display HDR content by compressing the dynamic range of said content into the 500-nit-maximum-brightness range. There's a WWDC session video from a few years back that explains how they do this.
Don't forget that HDR also incorporates WCG, so in theory we should get 10-bit P3 video when watching HDR, which to me is just as important.
iMac's built-in display is not true 10-bit. It's 8-bit + FRC.
It won't be even close, to be honest.
I have a 2017 iMac 5K and it's a nice panel, but my LG B7 OLED next to it is on the next level.
I am assuming that the T2 chip handles the "HDR" since the 2017 iMac Pro can do it but my 2017 (or a 2019) iMac 5K cannot yet all three computers have identical panels. The 5K panel in the 2020 iMac is likely new since it supports TrueTone, but again, I expect it supports it because of the T2 chip since all the Macs that can do it have T2 chips.
We don’t though.
The screen spec is the first thing i looked for when the iMac was announced. 500 nits doesn’t cut it.
Dang...it's a shame PC and Macs are so far behind on this. We are 5 months from 2021 and it's still a very primitive implementation for watching movie and tv content. A lot of people have to bootleg content because of drm.
No. I am still on 13.1 at this point. Are there updates in 14 that will make HDR viewing possible?
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Could you check? My new iMac hasn't been shipped yet
Safari 14 on macOS Big Sur supports HDR and resolutions greater than 1920-by-1080 on YouTube. Safari 14 Beta on macOS Catalina does not yet support this though. It's unclear whether this requires macOS Big Sur.
Apple released a new beta version of Safari 14 for macOS Catalina today. In the release notes, it says, "Added HDR video playback support." So it looks like Safari 14 HDR support is coming to macOS Catalina in addition to macOS Big Sur.
That's good to hear. Actually, it's about time Apple catch up with Google in supporting > 1080P resolution and HDR. Now I have 1 less reason to use Chrome, which is not power efficient on my MBP and is no longer as fast.
Oddly enough, I tested the latest beta for Safari 14 on macOS Catalina yesterday and it still doesn't support HDR or resolutions greater than 1920-by-1080, despite it being in the release notes. Apple clearly still has some bugs to resolve.
Both are working in Safari 14 on macOS Big Sur beta, though.
So I actually just realized my 2014 iMac on Catalina is now showing HDR for Chrome. Holy moly you are correct the highlights are blownout...terrible.
Yeah! This is almost unwatchable. They need to address this issue with an appropriate tone mapping algorithm. Else, it’s no more than a feature on paper.So I actually just realized my 2014 iMac on Catalina is now showing HDR for Chrome. Holy moly you are correct the highlights are blownout...terrible.
I can't seem to get the EDR option to show up. I tried holding down the Option key and then clicking around Displays with no luck. Can you clarify slightly how to do this correctly? Thank you!