Samsung has announced that its first ever HDR10+ Gaming compatible gaming displays in the new Q70 lineup are coming soon. And what's even better is that they'll be at CES 2022 for attendees to try out on the show floor.
Samsung's 2022 lineup of Q70 QLED TVs will be the first to feature HDR10+ Gaming as standard and (barring any absences due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic) will be showcasing certain games on the CES 2022 show floor including Redout 2 and Pinball FX.
But what is HDR10+, and why do displays benefit from it? On the surface level, it's an improvement over HDR10 in that it can output a higher peak brightness. HDR10+ also boasts support for VRR (variable refresh rate) and an auto low latency mode to seriously cut down input lag from wireless controllers, making it a superb gaming option.
That is, if you don't already own a display that features the competing standard, Dolby Vision, as supported by the LG C1 OLED TV for example. However, an official Samsung news post claims that its HDR10+ Gaming standard will support refresh rates upwards of 120Hz. That would give HDR10+ Gaming an edge over Dolby Vision, if true.
There's also one big caveat to bear in mind if you're going to be using one of Samsung's new Q70 displays for gaming; an Nvidia GPU like ones in the GeForce RTX 30 series. Also, much as is the case with Dolby Vision, you'll need to find games that are pre-programmed to support the format.
What this means is that only certain titles (like the aforementioned Redout 2 and Pinball FX) will be compatible with the HDR10+ Gaming format. And much like Dolby Vision, the initial selection of compatible titles will be limited.
However, as more powerful TVs become ever more affordable in the wake of shiny new QLEDs and 8K TVs, formats like HDR10+ Gaming and Dolby Vision will naturally find themselves in more and more households. The knock-on effect of this? More developers and publishers will start to treat these picture formats as more of a priority.
Dolby Vision has already made leaps and bounds here, particularly on Xbox Series X/S, where several high-quality titles are compatible with the format, including Halo Infinite and Gears 5. As such, HDR10+ Gaming might have a little bit of catching up to do.
