Netflix Sees HDR as 'More Significant Step Forward' Than 4K

Netflix has continued “to deliver a variety of algorithmic and data improvements that put better choices in front of members,” said CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Financial Officer David Wells Tuesday in a quarterly letter to shareholders. “We are also pioneering offering new high-quality video formats, delivering UHD-4K for House of Cards and Marco Polo.” Netflix soon will begin offering high dynamic range video, which “captures and renders pictures with more realistic peak brightness in the highlights, and may be a more significant step forward in viewing pleasure than UHD-4K,” they said. “We will start building our library to deliver in HDR as new TVs become available from several manufacturers this year.” At CES, Netflix said it would support the HDR technologies of Dolby Vision and the open HDR standards espoused by the new UHD Alliance (see 1501050023). On the issue of “strong net neutrality,” people around the world “increasingly view Internet access as a necessary utility,” the letter said. “Finland even made fast Internet access a legal right.” Recently, President Barack Obama “echoed the same themes in his call for the FCC to take bold steps to be able to ensure a low-cost high-speed Internet,” it said. “The support for strong net neutrality continues to grow.”