While there isn't a single, universally defined color space for all HDR monitors, they generally aim to cover a significantly wider color gamut than standard dynamic range (SDR) displays. The most common color spaces associated with HDR are DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020.
Here's a breakdown:
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DCI-P3: This color space is widely used in the digital cinema industry and is a common target for HDR monitors and televisions. It offers a significantly wider color range than the sRGB color space commonly used in SDR displays. Many HDR displays advertise achieving 90% or more coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.
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Rec. 2020 (ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020): This is an even wider color gamut than DCI-P3 and represents the ultimate goal for UHD (Ultra High Definition) content and displays. While most current HDR monitors don't fully cover Rec. 2020, they strive to get as close as possible. It's essential for future-proofing your setup.
Key Differences and Considerations:
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Color Bit Depth: HDR monitors also differ from SDR displays in color bit depth. Instead of 8 bits per color channel (red, green, blue), HDR displays typically process video at 10 or 12 bits per color component. This allows for finer gradations of color and reduces banding artifacts.
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Luminance: High dynamic range imaging captures, processes, and displays a much wider range of luminance and color values. HDR can represent luminance values as high as 10,000 nits.
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Dynamic Range: HDR offers a much greater dynamic range (the ratio between the darkest and brightest tones) than SDR.
In summary, an HDR monitor typically operates within the DCI-P3 color space and aims to approach Rec. 2020, utilizing a higher color bit depth (10-bit or 12-bit) for richer and more accurate colors.
