What Is Eclipsa Video? Google's New Open HDR Standard Explained

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Google has officially unveiled Eclipsa Video, a new open HDR standard designed to solve one of the most persistent frustrations in modern video playback: inconsistent HDR quality across different devices. Developed in partnership with Apple and NBCUniversal, Eclipsa aims to deliver predictable, balanced high-dynamic-range content on every screen — from smartphones to flagship TVs.

The Problem Eclipsa Solves

High Dynamic Range (HDR) video delivers striking brightness and color depth, but its performance varies wildly from one display to the next. A scene that looks cinematic on a high-end OLED television may appear muddy on a phone or suffer from blown-out highlights in a dim room. Eclipsa Video tackles this unpredictability head-on.

At its core, Eclipsa is Google’s branded implementation of the SMPTE ST 2094-50 standard, an open specification the company co-developed with Apple and NBCUniversal. Google describes it as a way to make HDR look “consistent, balanced and comfortable on every screen.”

How It Works

Eclipsa Video uses a more flexible set of dynamic metadata instructions than traditional HDR10. It tells displays how to handle brightness, contrast, and highlights as the video changes from scene to scene. Compatible devices can even adjust the picture based on the ambient lighting in your room.

According to Google, Eclipsa relies on two key components:

A white reference anchor — a baseline that maps the brightest elements of standard dynamic range (SDR) content, reserving additional brightness for HDR highlights.
Headroom-adaptive gain curves — custom instructions embedded by content creators that tell the display how to adapt when its brightness can’t match the full HDR specification.

The result is fewer crushed shadows, clipped highlights, washed-out tones, and jarring brightness spikes. Eclipsa also aims to let HDR and SDR content coexist seamlessly on the same screen.

Eclipsa vs. Dolby Vision and HDR10

The most direct comparison is Dolby Vision. Both Eclipsa and Dolby Vision use dynamic metadata to adapt the picture on a per-scene basis, whereas standard HDR10 uses a single set of static instructions for the entire video. (The newer HDR10+ variant does adopt dynamic metadata, but it remains less widely adopted.)

A critical differentiator is openness. Eclipsa Video and HDR10 are built on open standards. Dolby Vision remains a proprietary format, requiring licensing fees from device manufacturers and content partners. By contrast, Eclipsa — as an open standard backed by Google, Apple, and NBCUniversal — has the potential for broader and faster adoption across the ecosystem.

Availability and Outlook

Platform-wide support for Eclipsa Video — both playback and capture — is coming to Android 17. Google plans to bring the standard to phones, tablets, and TVs. However, as with any new video format, widespread adoption will hinge on buy-in from device makers, streaming apps, and content providers.

If the industry embraces it, Eclipsa Video could mark a genuine shift in how HDR content is delivered and experienced — finally making the format as reliable as it is impressive. Given the weight of its backers (Google, Apple, and a major studio in NBCUniversal), Eclipsa stands a strong chance of becoming the default HDR solution across the Android ecosystem and beyond.

This article was written based on reporting from Engadget and Google’s announcements. Feature image via Pixabay.

Dolby Vision on Know the Tech

What Is Eclipsa Video? Google's New Open HDR Standard Explained

The Problem Eclipsa Solves

How It Works

Eclipsa vs. Dolby Vision and HDR10

Availability and Outlook