YouTube has announced that its platform now supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos but you’ll need a TV or display that supports the technology to enjoy it.

HDR is technology which uses an expansive colour range and higher contrast to make an image appear more realistic.

“Simply put, HDR unlocks the most spectacular image quality we’ve ever streamed,” YouTube said in a blog post.

YouTube creators are able to start uploading HDR content from today though we recommend you check out the guidelines YouTube has published to make sure you do it correctly.

If you don’t want to wait for your favourite creators to make new content there are already a few videos that use the technology which you can check out in the playlist we’ve embedded below.

As we mentioned you’ll need a TV that has native HDR support and YouTube mentions 2016 Samsung SUHD and UHD TVs as having support for the technology. If you aren’t sure if your new TV supports this you’ll have to visit your manufacturers website to check. If you bought a UHD TV this year you can check to see if it has a UHD Premium sticker like the one pictured below.

If your TV or PC Monitor doesn’t support this content don’t worry as YouTube has said that videos will still play using standard dynamic range.

Before you start streaming

To truly enjoy the benefits of HDR you’ll want to stream video at UHD resolutions this means you’ll be watching the best quality video at the highest resolution, but beware of your data cap. Netflix for instance recommends users have an internet connection with a minimum download speed of 25Mbps to enjoy UHD content with HDR support.

Of course Netflix locks HDR and UHD support behind its most expensive “four screen” pricing tier but YouTube has made this technology available to all viewers, so long as they have a supporting TV.

[Source – YouTube]