YouTube now supports HDR video on the Apple iPhone X

by Alan Friedman / May 10, 2018, 12:05 PM

YouTube adds HDR support for the Apple iPhone X

Apple iPhone X users should be seeing an improvement in the quality of certain YouTube videos that they view on their phone. That's because YouTube has just added HDR video support for Apple's tenth anniversary model. With HDR, YouTube videos have greater contrast and offer more colors than standard digital video. Besides seeing a large improvement in how a video appears on the phone's screen, YouTube will also display the letters 'HDR' in the quality of the video (for example, '1080p60 HDR'). You can find that information by tapping on a video, tapping the three dots in the right hand corner, and clicking on Quality.

HDR video already came to the Apple iPhone X last year via Netflix. At the same time, Netflix added such support for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPad Pro models. However, when it comes to Apple's iOS powered handsets, only the Super Retina OLED display on the iPhone X supports HDR. Despite what Apple posts on its website, the Apple iPhone 8 and Apple iPhone 8 displays are not enabled for HDR. Users of the latter two models will see improvements in video quality when watching HDR video, but not to the extent as those using an iPhone X will see. As for the iPad Pro, all models will support HDR video. However, it appears that YouTube has yet to add support for Apple's high-end tablets.

Finding HDR video on YouTube isn't so difficult; the video streamer does offer many such videos, and there are a few dedicated channels with plenty of HDR enabled clips to choose from.

source: MacRumors, iDB

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15 Comments

1. ChafedBanana

Posts: 409; Member since: Sep 20, 2011

Ooooh, I wanna watch 144p videos in HDR!!!

posted on May 10, 2018, 12:32 PM 5

2. nwright94

Posts: 211; Member since: Oct 14, 2014

Looks great! Loved it on my S8, I’m glad I can watch HDR on my X now :)

posted on May 10, 2018, 12:43 PM 4

12. worldpeace

Posts: 3102; Member since: Apr 15, 2016

And that's a downgrade from 1440pHDR to 1080pHDR.

posted on May 11, 2018, 12:56 AM 3

3. ChafedBanana

So youtube supports hdr on Samsung 8, 9's and note 8?

posted on May 10, 2018, 12:52 PM 3

9. sgodsell

Posts: 7004; Member since: Mar 16, 2013

YouTube also supports HDR on the Pixels, Moto Z's, and a number of other Android smartphones.

posted on May 10, 2018, 7:09 PM 4

4. Godfather

Posts: 68; Member since: Oct 31, 2012

It is a great feature to have HDR on iPhone X now. I can't seem to view any resolution higher than 1080p HDR. Is 2160p HDR not supported yet?

posted on May 10, 2018, 1:12 PM 1

7. tywanjames

Posts: 63; Member since: Mar 02, 2012

Not on mobile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGzr7Q3AJAk

posted on May 10, 2018, 2:37 PM 1

5. CX3NT3_713

Posts: 2348; Member since: Apr 18, 2011

Loving it on my op5t

posted on May 10, 2018, 1:33 PM 2

6. Ciro1900

Posts: 591; Member since: Dec 17, 2017

Best hdr in xz2, 10 bits rec 2020

posted on May 10, 2018, 2:17 PM 4

8. UglyFrank

Posts: 2191; Member since: Jan 23, 2014

Shame apple didn't break the 1440p resolution barrier

posted on May 10, 2018, 6:46 PM 2

10. Godfather

Would be nice if YouTube unlocks (18:9) or 1440P HDR support to take full advantage of the OLED screen.

posted on May 10, 2018, 7:18 PM 1

11. gamehead unregistered

Any word on iPad pro models?

posted on May 10, 2018, 9:12 PM 1

13. deleon629

Posts: 442; Member since: Oct 04, 2014

This is indeed a step in the right direction for advanced phone tech...Too bad the world had to wait for Apple to catch up before the step was taken...