BBC is starting online trials of Ultra HD HDR content in the U.K. through its online media service, BBC iPlayer. Beginning today, a test stream features four minutes of footage from the new Planet Earth II series.
The test uses the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) HDR standard that the BBC developed in conjunction with Japan's NHK. It is now the third major standard for HDR, alongside Dolby Vision and HDR10.
The footage will only be available on certain "compatible connected TVs," the BBC said — and, because iPlayer is not offered outside of the U.K., the international community will not get a peek at it.
"It’s still early days for the technology, but this experiment puts us in the best possible position once audience demand is there," said the BBC's iPlayer head, Dan Taylor-Watt, in a prepared statement. "This year we’ve brought live events like the Euros and Olympics to iPlayer, introduced new personalized features and now we’re giving people a glimpse of what the future may hold."
BBC iPlayer: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
