I tested HDR10+ Advanced and Samsung's biggest upgrade isn’t necessarily brightness

Barely a week into 2026 and Samsung has already shown off plenty of its year's forthcoming products – using CES 2026, the world's largest tech show, as its base.

I was on the ground at the show in Las Vegas but, realistically, it was the brand's behind-closed-doors private exhibits, which I attended, that were most fruitful.

Case in point: seeing the new S95H TV – which has fixed my biggest bugbear with modern high-end tellies – and how it levels up the brand's OLED offering once again, with yet more brightness.

TVs have been getting brighter and brighter, which is why the old high dynamic range (HDR) standards have recently gotten updated – such as Samsung's own HDR10+ progressing to the newer HDR10+ Advanced format.

But just what's so 'advanced' about it? I got to side-by-side test HDR10+ against HDR10+ Advanced with a walkthrough from Samsung engineers and, while brightness is a key factor, personally I don't think it's necessarily the biggest advantage of this new format. Here's why...

HDR10+ Advanced: 4 key new benefits

• Enhanced brightness – caters for brighter TVs
• Motion control – creators can apply judder control
• Specific tone mapping – zoned TV types can benefit further
• AI picture mode application – by recognising content types

In summary (as per the bullet points above), HDR10+ Advanced is designed to squeeze more out of modern panels to deliver even better picture quality potential.

As HDR mastering can now be performed with higher ceilings – to 10,000 nits in theory, although I'm not aware of any colourists who work anywhere near to that – there's a much broader range of 'white to black' that can be utilised.

HDR10+ Advanced unlocks more of this range, in effect, which is clear to see in side-by-side comparison. Even in the lead image, top of page, you can see subtle yet clear distinctions between the two formats.

HDR has been seen as too dark sometimes, which is something HDR10+ Advanced looks to correct. The format means content can be optimised for the display type, while new advanced metadata can be better applied in zones – to skip those 'black out' visibility issues.

Motion is the winner

But the real winner in HDR10+ Advanced? For me it's down to motion.

That's because this HDR standard's motion smoothing – to offset judder – can be controlled by the content provider, delivering specific visual smoothness as the creator intended.

I've too often gone to friend's houses and been watching hyper-smoothed movies suffer the soap opera effect. I'm reticent to grab the controller and make changes to settings, but it certainly crosses my mind.

With HDR10+ Advanced, however, the content which is graded in this format – with Amazon Prime being a launch partner – will automate the visual look and smoothness without you needing to do anything.

And if the content isn't available in HDR10+ then one of the other features is artificial intelligence (AI) that can read metadata and apply pictures modes as it judges fit – based on the content type that you're watching.

So while the picture can look better owed to greater brightness and more nuance to zoned tone mapping – especially if you own one of the best TVs – I think it's the difference in motion that marks Advanced's biggest step forward.

Some may disagree, but that was my biggest takeaway from Samsung's walkthrough at CES 2026. Dolby Vision 2 will deliver similar, but as that format isn't open-source, not all TV-makers will necessarily adopt it – which could see HDR10+ Advanced's share grow in coming years.