HDR vs SDR – A Photographer’s Perspective

These timelapses were recorded edited in HDR and output to HDR.

YouTube shows the video in HDR also as evidenced by this icon:

The screenshot is not HDR, ha, ha!

Introduction

As photographers, we constantly push to capture and present images as close to reality as possible. SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) has been the baseline for years, but it has clear limitations: clipped highlights, crushed shadows, and banding in gradients. HDR (High Dynamic Range) is designed to address those limits, giving us more headroom to work with and producing results that more closely match what we saw when we pressed the shutter.

What This Article Isn’t About

Photographers often hear “HDR” and think of exposure blending or HDR brackets—capturing multiple exposures of the same scene and merging them to extend dynamic range. That process is different from what we are discussing here.

This article is not about exposure blending. Instead, we’re focusing on editing and exporting in HDR formats. That means working with higher bit depth, wider color spaces, and HDR-capable export formats (such as AVIF, HEIF, or HDR10 video). The benefit isn’t merging exposures—it’s preserving and delivering more of the detail already captured in a single RAW file or video clip, and making sure HDR-capable displays can show it.

What Is SDR vs HDR?

SDR (Standard Dynamic Range): Peak brightness typically between 100–300 nits, 8-bit color depth (around 16.7 million colors), Rec.709 color space. Limitations include clipped highlights, lost shadow detail, and banding.

HDR (High Dynamic Range): Supports 1,000 nits or more, 10-bit or 12-bit color depth (billions of colors), Rec.2020 color space. Maintains highlight and shadow detail while providing smoother tonal transitions.

Key Distinctions Between SDR and HDR

1. Dynamic Range (Brightness & Contrast)

Dynamic range refers to how much detail a system can show in both highlights and shadows.

• SDR: Highlights clip into white and shadows collapse into black.
• HDR: Preserves detail in both extremes, so reflections, sunsets, and night scenes retain structure and nuance.

2. Color Depth

Color depth is about how many shades of color can be represented.

• SDR: 8-bit (16.7 million colors). Often shows visible banding in skies and gradients.
• HDR: 10- or 12-bit (billions of colors). Produces smooth, natural transitions without banding.

3. Color Gamut

Color gamut is the total range of colors a system can display.

• SDR: Rec.709 covers a smaller portion of real-world colors.
• HDR: Rec.2020 extends into more saturated reds, greens, and blues, showing auroras, sunsets, and neon lights more accurately.

4. Transfer Functions (How Brightness Is Encoded)

Transfer functions define how brightness values are mapped from capture to display.

• SDR: Uses gamma, an approximation of human vision.
• HDR: Uses PQ (Perceptual Quantizer) or HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), both modeled on how our eyes perceive brightness. This produces more natural highlights and shadows.

5. Metadata

Metadata tells the display how to handle brightness and tone mapping.

• HDR10: Static metadata, one setting for the whole sequence.
• HDR10+ and Dolby Vision: Dynamic metadata, adjusting frame by frame or scene by scene for better accuracy.
• HLG: Designed for live broadcast, compatible with both SDR and HDR displays.

Why HDR Matters for Photographers

HDR improves highlight control, retains shadow texture, and allows smoother, less destructive editing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and other tools.

Types of HDR Formats

When people talk about HDR formats, they’re usually referring to how HDR content is delivered and displayed on screens, not how it’s created in camera or in editing software. These formats are mostly relevant to video distribution, streaming, and display manufacturers. Still, it helps photographers to understand them because they explain why HDR looks different across TVs, monitors, and devices.

• HDR10
  • The baseline HDR format and the most widely supported.
  • Uses static metadata — one set of brightness/tone-mapping instructions for the entire video or sequence.
  • All HDR-capable displays can handle HDR10, so it’s the “safe” standard.
• HDR10+
  • Adds dynamic metadata, meaning brightness and tone mapping can adjust scene by scene.
  • Helps preserve detail in challenging situations (e.g., a dark room with a bright window).
  • Supported on some TVs (Samsung, Panasonic) and streaming services (Amazon Prime Video).
• Dolby Vision
  • Considered the “premium” HDR format.
  • Supports up to 12-bit color depth, dynamic metadata, and higher peak brightness.
  • Requires Dolby Vision–licensed hardware/software. You’ll find it on many high-end TVs, Apple devices, and Netflix/Disney+ streaming.
• HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma)
  • Developed for live broadcast HDR (BBC, NHK).
  • Doesn’t rely on metadata, so it plays reasonably well on both SDR and HDR displays.
  • Less common for still photography, but important in live production and broadcasting.

What This Means for Photographers

As photographers, we don’t “choose” an HDR format inside Lightroom or Photoshop. When you export an HDR still image (e.g., AVIF, HEIF, JPEG XL), the software encodes the extra color and brightness information. Then, the viewing device and operating system decide how to display it, often aligning with one of the HDR standards above.For video projects, if you’re working in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere, or Final Cut, you may be asked to deliver in HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision depending on the client or platform. But for stills, you’re mostly concerned with exporting in a format that preserves HDR data (AVIF, HEIF, JPEG XL), not picking HDR10 vs Dolby Vision.

Transitioning from SDR to HDR

Moving from an SDR workflow to an HDR workflow doesn’t mean replacing all your gear. It means making sure each part of your process — capture, editing, and output — is set up to take advantage of HDR. Below is a step-by-step guide using Adobe Lightroom Classic (the same applies to Adobe Camera Raw inside Photoshop).

1. Verify Your Gear and Display Setup

• Camera: Most modern cameras (including mirrorless systems like the Fuji X-T4, Sony A7 series, Canon R series) capture RAW files with enough dynamic range for HDR editing.
• Display: You need an HDR-capable monitor (look for HDR10, HDR600, or HDR1000 certification). Apple XDR displays, modern OLEDs, and higher-end photography monitors (Eizo, ASUS ProArt) are good candidates.
• Connections: Ensure you’re using DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0/2.1 cables that actually support HDR bandwidth.

2. Enable HDR Editing in Lightroom

Lightroom now includes an HDR editing mode.

• Import a RAW file into Lightroom Classic.
• In the Develop module, scroll to the Histogram panel. When HDR is supported and enabled, Lightroom displays an HDR badge at the top right.
• Activate HDR mode to unlock highlight and shadow headroom beyond SDR limits.

3. Work in a Wide Color Space (10-bit Editing)

When editing in HDR:

• Lightroom automatically works in a wide-gamut internal space (based on ProPhoto RGB).
• Use the HDR Exposure, Shadows, and Highlights sliders aggressively — you’ll notice you can recover sky detail or shadow textures without banding or clipping.
• Check gradients (sunsets, skies) — in HDR, these remain smooth thanks to 10-bit precision.

4. Export in HDR-Capable Formats

When you’re ready to export:

• In the Export dialog, choose AVIF or HEIC/HEIF for HDR stills. These formats preserve 10-bit depth and Rec.2020 color space.
• Lightroom also creates an SDR “fallback” version automatically. Always export both HDR and SDR versions, since not all clients or platforms support HDR yet.

5. Control Your Editing Environment

• Lighting: Work in a dim, neutral-colored room. Ambient light reduces your ability to see HDR contrast accurately.
• Calibration: Use a calibration tool (X-Rite, Datacolor) to profile your HDR display. This ensures your edits look consistent on other HDR-capable devices.

Takeaway: Transitioning to HDR in Lightroom is less about “new tricks” and more about making sure your display, editing mode, and export settings are aligned. Once you enable HDR editing, you’ll see that highlight recovery, shadow detail, and smooth color transitions are on a completely different level compared to SDR.

What Industries Require HDR Content?

Landscape & Nature Photography

Photographers working in landscapes and nature can gain the most obvious benefits from HDR. Sunrises and sunsets, for example, often push a scene beyond what SDR can handle — the sky blows out while the foreground drops into shadow. With HDR editing and delivery, you can retain the glow and texture in the clouds while still showing detail in the rocks or trees below. Gradients in skies and reflections on water also render much more smoothly. This is especially important for clients such as tourism boards, environmental groups, or fine art buyers who view work on HDR-capable displays in galleries and luxury spaces. HDR landscapes don’t just look better — they meet the expectations of a market that wants realism and visual impact.

Astro and Night Sky Photography

Astro photography is another area where HDR makes a dramatic difference. The faint tonal shifts in the aurora or the Milky Way often break down into banding in SDR, especially when the files are pushed in post. HDR output preserves those subtle gradients and keeps meteor trails and fine star detail visible against the dark sky. Planetariums, science centers, and even fine art collectors are increasingly showing astrophotography on HDR projectors and OLED panels, where the effect is striking. Delivering HDR astro images positions you as someone who understands both the science and the art of presenting the night sky.

Architecture & Real Estate

Anyone who has photographed interiors knows how difficult it is to balance a bright window against a darker room. In SDR, windows often blow out completely, forcing you to choose between an exterior view or interior details. HDR gives you room to show both. This is why architectural firms, interior designers, and luxury real estate agents are investing in HDR-ready presentations and VR walkthroughs. Virtual tours viewed on HDR-capable headsets or OLED displays feel much closer to being in the actual space. Offering HDR delivery here isn’t just a technical flourish — it’s a way to make your work stand out in a competitive market.

Commercial, Product & Luxury Branding

In commercial photography, detail and polish sell products. HDR keeps reflective surfaces — chrome, glass, gemstones, metallic car paint — from blowing out, while maintaining realistic skin tones in fashion and beauty work. Brands that spend heavily on advertising are already displaying their campaigns on HDR billboards, flagship store screens, and social platforms optimized for HDR playback. For photographers pursuing automotive, fashion, jewelry, cosmetics, or high-tech product work, delivering HDR files shows you’re aligned with the way these industries want their products represented. In many cases, it’s no longer optional; clients expect it.

Event & Entertainment Photography

Concerts, sports, and large-scale performances have some of the most extreme lighting conditions. SDR clips stage spotlights and flattens shadow detail, while HDR preserves both, giving images the depth and energy of being there. Event organizers are also adopting HDR streaming and broadcast workflows, which makes HDR stills easier to integrate into their marketing. By delivering HDR-ready galleries, you present yourself as someone prepared for the way this industry is already moving. It’s a practical way to add value for clients who want their events remembered with the same impact they had in the moment.

Some of My Personal Work Shown in Both HDR and SDR

To help you see the difference of HDR and SDR output, I uploaded both versions of the same image to Lightroom Cloud.  Lightroom automatically exports the files in to an HDR format.  All I did was create a collection in Lightroom that I synced to the cloud.  When viewing the examples below, I suggest that you zoom into each image and toggle between both versions so you can see the differences between the HDR and SDR versions.

Acadia – Night Sky/Northern Lights

Key West -Sunset

Oleta River State Park – Sunset

Miami Architecture – Sunrise

Moon Landscape

Conclusion

HDR isn’t about hype—it’s about giving photographers more editing latitude and producing results closer to reality. SDR remains practical, especially for print, but HDR is the future for digital displays and online presentation.