May 30, 2024
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5 min read
Today, we tackled how to effectively showcase JPEG XL's HDR (High Dynamic Range) capabilities.
JPEG XL’s support for HDR images is a standout feature, but demonstrating this on the web is currently a bit of a pain. The main issue? Not all browsers, devices, and platforms support HDR content equally — or at all.
One major hurdle we’ve encountered is the lack of HDR support in Safari. You'd think with the HDR workflow built into macOS this would be a no-brainer, but apparently not. HDR video works great – HDR images? No go. One obvious workaround is a single-frame HDR video. It looks like a few other sites have taken that approach. It seems to produce a slight flicker, but we may not have a choice. We’ll use an AVIF fallback image for Chrome browsers.
Now we have to find a stellar HDR image with some vibrant colors and super bright highlights to really make it pop.
Note from the future (July 29, 2024): Jon published an HDR test page.