Samsung Electronics confirmed on August 4, 2026 that Prime Video will become the first streaming service to carry HDR10+ Advanced. The rollout covers supported titles globally starting this month, and only Samsung's 2026 TV lineup can decode the format at launch. Two capabilities arrive first, Enhanced Overall Brightness and Intelligent Motion Smoothing, and both change how your TV handles bright scenes and fast motion.
Prime Video Becomes the First Streaming Service to Carry HDR10+ Advanced
Samsung published the announcement through its Global Newsroom on August 4, 2026. Prime Video gets the format on supported titles worldwide, not in a staged regional launch. Samsung's 2026 TV models are the only hardware certified to play it at launch.
BA Winston, Vice President of Technology at Prime Video, framed the move as a picture-quality upgrade rather than a catalog change.
"With Enhanced Overall Brightness and Intelligent Motion Smoothing, the picture quality adapts to bring out the best details in every scene," Winston said in Samsung's release.
Taeyong Son, Executive Vice President of Samsung's Visual Display business, said the partnership brings the standard into home entertainment systems for the first time. The reach here is real. The Herald Business reported Prime Video's global subscriber base at roughly 250 million when covering the same announcement.
[IMAGE: Samsung 2026 QD-OLED TV displaying a Prime Video title with an HDR10+ ADVANCED badge on screen — Alt text: "HDR10+ Advanced Prime Video playback on a Samsung 2026 TV"]
The Samsung and Prime Video HDR10+ History Behind This Launch
This partnership dates to December 2017. Prime Video became the first streaming provider to ship HDR10+ that year, making its entire HDR library available in the format on Samsung's 2017 UHD TVs.
The standard has grown considerably since. Samsung's release puts the HDR10+ ecosystem at 183 adopter companies and more than 22,000 certified products. Netflix joined in April 2025, when Samsung announced HDR10+ support for Netflix shows and movies.
Prime Video going first again in 2026 follows the exact pattern from nine years ago. Samsung needs a launch partner with scale, and Amazon has taken that role twice.
What Enhanced Overall Brightness and Intelligent Motion Smoothing Actually Do
Both features work through metadata carried alongside the video, not through processing your TV invents on its own.
Enhanced Overall Brightness
The feature uses extended statistical metadata to describe a scene's tonality more precisely than standard HDR10+ dynamic metadata. Your TV then pushes brightness further across the full tonal range instead of clipping highlights.
Samsung pairs this with AI-driven tone mapping that protects shadow detail in dark scenes. The company specifically calls out sports and action content as the beneficiaries. Samsung told T3 at CES 2026 that "HDR is seen as too dark sometimes," which explains the priority.
Intelligent Motion Smoothing
This one deserves scrutiny. The feature reads scene-by-scene metadata and tells compatible displays how much motion processing to apply.
Judder reduction on a 24fps film pan is a genuine problem worth solving. Motion interpolation applied to the wrong content produces the soap opera effect that ruins film. Samsung's pitch is that the metadata comes from the content side, so the creator's intent decides how much smoothing runs.
Does that mean your TV stops guessing? Effectively, on supported titles, yes. The decision moves from your TV's picture engine to metadata authored during mastering.
[IMAGE: Side-by-side comparison of a fast-motion sports scene with and without Intelligent Motion Smoothing — Alt text: "Intelligent Motion Smoothing judder reduction on Samsung 2026 TV"]
The HDR10+ Advanced Features Missing From the August Rollout
Samsung named exactly two capabilities in this announcement. The HDR10+ Advanced specification, documented by HDR10+ Technologies on its official site, lists six.
| HDR10+ Advanced capability | Named in the August 2026 Prime Video launch |
|---|---|
| Enhanced Overall Brightness | Yes |
| Intelligent Motion Smoothing | Yes |
| Local Tone Mapping | Not mentioned |
| Genre-based Optimization | Not mentioned |
| Advanced Color Control | Not mentioned |
| Adaptive Cloud Gaming | Not applicable to streaming video |
Local Tone Mapping gives colorists brightness control over specific areas of a frame. Genre-based Optimization lets providers tag content so displays match processing to content type. Advanced Color Control calculates color gamut data dynamically.
None of those appear in Samsung's Prime Video announcement. Treat this launch as the first slice of the standard rather than the whole thing.
What's Confirmed and What's Still Unclear About HDR10+ Advanced on Prime Video
Confirmed: Prime Video ships HDR10+ Advanced on supported titles globally beginning August 2026, per Samsung's Global Newsroom release.
Still Unclear: Samsung named no specific titles, no catalog size, and no date within the month.
What It Means: Expect a small initial set of titles rather than a library-wide flip like the 2017 HDR10+ launch.
Confirmed: Samsung's 2026 TV lineup supports the format first, with additional products planned as the ecosystem grows.
Still Unclear: Samsung has not confirmed whether any 2025 or older TV will receive support through firmware.
What It Means: Owners of a 2025 S95F or QN90F should assume no upgrade path until Samsung says otherwise.
Confirmed: HDR10+ Advanced does not work when Filmmaker Mode is enabled. Samsung states this in a footnote to its own release.
Still Unclear: Samsung has not explained which picture preset it recommends instead.
What It Means: You will choose between reference-accurate presentation and the new format. You cannot have both.
Confirmed: HDR10+ Advanced content and compatible displays carry no royalty fees, according to HDR10+ Technologies, LLC.
Still Unclear: No second streaming service has committed publicly. Roku and MediaTek executives voiced support on the HDR10+ site without naming dates.
What It Means: Prime Video holds an exclusive of unknown length.
[IMAGE: Samsung TV picture settings menu showing Filmmaker Mode toggled off — Alt text: "Filmmaker Mode setting that disables HDR10+ Advanced on Samsung TVs"]
What HDR10+ Advanced Changes for Your Living Room Setup
You need a 2026 Samsung TV and a Prime Video subscription. There is no separate fee, no new tier, and no hardware accessory.
WARNING: Leaving Filmmaker Mode on will block HDR10+ Advanced entirely. Samsung buries this in footnote one of its announcement, and most coverage of the launch skipped it.
That caveat matters more than it sounds. Filmmaker Mode exists to disable motion interpolation and preserve original aspect ratio and frame rate. A format built partly around motion processing sitting incompatible with it is a real trade-off, not a bug.
Which do you value more on a Friday night, reference accuracy or a brighter picture with cleaner motion? Your answer decides your picture preset.
PRO TIP: Check your model year before assuming support. Samsung's 2026 certified models include the QN990H 8K, the Micro RGB R85H, and the S95H QD-OLED, per CES 2026 coverage from SamMobile.
The competitive read is straightforward. Dolby unveiled Dolby Vision 2 at IFA 2025, and Samsung has never supported Dolby Vision on its TVs. Locking the largest TV brand's 2026 lineup together with Amazon's 250 million subscribers gives the royalty-free standard scale Dolby cannot easily match.
If you want a broader picture of how Samsung ships features across its devices, our Samsung how-to guides cover the settings that change between One UI and Tizen builds.
Frequently Asked Questions About HDR10+ Advanced on Prime Video
Q: When does HDR10+ Advanced launch on Prime Video?
A: Samsung confirmed an August 2026 start on supported titles globally. The company announced it on August 4, 2026 and gave no specific in-month date. Availability applies worldwide rather than rolling out region by region.
Q: Which TVs support HDR10+ Advanced?
A: Samsung's 2026 TV lineup supports it at launch, including the QN990H 8K, Micro RGB models, and 2026 QD-OLED sets. Samsung plans support for future products. No 2025 or earlier Samsung TV has confirmed support.
Q: Does HDR10+ Advanced cost extra on Prime Video?
A: No. HDR10+ Technologies, LLC states that HDR10+ Advanced content and compatible displays carry no royalty fees. Amazon has announced no new subscription tier tied to the format.
Q: What is the difference between HDR10+ and HDR10+ Advanced?
A: Standard HDR10+ uses dynamic metadata to optimize brightness and color scene by scene. HDR10+ Advanced adds extended statistical metadata for higher brightness, plus scene-level motion metadata. The specification also covers local tone mapping, genre-based optimization, and advanced color control.
Q: Does HDR10+ Advanced work with Filmmaker Mode?
A: No. Samsung confirms in its announcement footnote that HDR10+ Advanced is unavailable when Filmmaker Mode is enabled. You will need to switch picture modes to see the format in action.
What to Watch as the Rollout Expands
Open Prime Video on your 2026 Samsung TV this month and check the format badge during playback on a recent original. That badge is the fastest confirmation that HDR10+ Advanced reached your device.
Two signals will tell you where this goes next. The first is a second streaming partner announcement, given the Roku and MediaTek support already on record. The second is any Samsung statement about the four spec features absent from this launch.
If you are still setting up a new Galaxy device alongside the TV, our walkthrough on turning on Secret mode in Samsung Browser covers another feature Samsung ships without explaining well.
Which 2026 Samsung model are you running, and does the HDR10+ Advanced badge show up on your Prime Video titles? Drop your model number in the comments and tell us whether you notice the brightness difference.
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