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Netflix: sorry, our UHD streams don't support the Galaxy S8 or LG G6 HDR displays for now

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Apr 05, 2017, 7:46 AM

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Netflix: sorry, our UHD streams don't support the Galaxy S8 or LG G6 HDR displays for now

As you can see in our chat with Netflix reps below, only devices that are certified as being able to display its streaming UHD content can show it in its full glory. Both the Galaxy S8 and LG G6 aren't among those just yet, despite being tagged with "Mobile HDR Premium" and "Dolby Vision" displays, respectively. Thankfully, Netflix is said to be working on mobile-first streaming, so we hope that these two flagships' HDR abilities will be in the mix, along with more coming down the pipe, like Sony's Xperia XZ Premium, which actually has a 4K display, and is HDR compliant as well.

To be "Mobile HDR Premium"-certified, as the Galaxy S8 and S8+ displays are, you have to fit in certain criteria, some of which overlap with the Ultra HD certified 4K TVs. They have to at least be able to cover the DCI-P3 "wide color" gamut, and be able to reach 1000 nits of peak spot brightness for LCDs (less for OLED), while for UHD certification the panel, naturally, also has to be of 4K resolution. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ check the boxes when it comes to DCI-P3 gamut coverage, which is the one they reach in the display's Cinema Mode, and also their peak brightness can hit 1000 nits in certain limited conditions like high ambient lighting in auto brightness mode.

The story with the "Dolby Vision" LG G6 is a bit murkier, as that standard requires 12-bit, or 64 billion colors, instead of the HDR10's billion, and ten times the brightness. These requirements that Dolby put out, are just an ideal benchmark, it turns out, while for mobile displays it's enough that "all Dolby Vision devices look as close as possible to the reference," according to Dolby's VP of interactive imaging Taeho Oh.

Thus, both the HDR10 panel on the Galaxy S8, and the Dolby Vision screen on the LG G6, are making the standards a bit flexible, but in the end they are still able to show higher dynamic range picture than your average smartphone display. When it comes to actual HDR content apart from the preloaded test vids on the phones, however, things get murkier. There are titles - both movies and TV series - that you can stream from Netflix or Amazon that can be delivered in HDR10 or even Dolby Vision format, but will those be displayed as intended on the S8 or G6 displays, at least in terms of color depth? Nope, at least not for now, but you aren't missing on many right now, as these are all of 20 HDR or Dolby Vision shows you can currently stream on Netflix, for instance:

- Iron Fist
- Samurai Gourmet
- Cosmis Laundromat
- Chefs Table Season 3 only
- Abstract
- Sparks (3 minute demo)
- Santa Claira Diet
- Luke Cage
- Knights of Sidonia 2 seasons ANIME
- Jessica Jones
- DareDevil season 1&2
- The OA
- Meridian
- Hibana Spark
- Chefs Table France
- Marco Polo season 1 DV/HDR10
- The Do-Over HDR10 and DV
- The Ridiculous 6 DV/hdr10
- Marco Polo season 2 DV/hdr10
- Marco Polo: one hundred eyes dv/hdr10

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.

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Netflix: sorry, our UHD streams don't support the Galaxy S8 or LG G6 HDR displays for now

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