If you’ve ever been jolted awake by the bright glare of HDR content on your phone while scrolling through Instagram or watching a video late at night, you’re not alone. The increasingly popular High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos and images can make displays look stunningly vibrant, but sometimes, especially in dark environments, they can feel a bit too much. Luckily, Samsung is stepping in with a simple solution that gives you more control over your screen’s brightness.
With its upcoming One UI 7 update (currently in beta), Samsung is introducing a feature that will allow Galaxy phone users to disable HDR content across all apps. This feature, dubbed the “Super HDR” toggle, will give you the option to keep your screen brightness in check, even when watching HDR videos or viewing photos with enhanced contrast and colour.
Why is this so useful? Well, HDR content, while impressive during the day, can be blinding at night when the display cranks up its brightness to show off vibrant highlights. If you’ve ever been startled by a sudden burst of brightness while browsing social media or watching a random HDR video on YouTube, you’ll appreciate the ability to turn this off.
What’s even better is that Samsung’s new toggle applies to every app on your phone, giving you a uniform experience no matter where you’re browsing. The update essentially ensures that HDR content won’t push your phone’s display into overdrive with extreme brightness, making it a much more comfortable experience, especially for those who like using their phones in low-light settings.
Currently, Apple doesn’t offer a similar feature. iPhone users can switch on low-power mode to limit HDR content, but this comes with a bunch of other system changes that might not be necessary. On the other hand, Samsung’s toggle allows you to selectively manage HDR content without impacting other features on your phone.
While Instagram offers a workaround for iPhone users, letting them disable HDR content directly in the app, Android users haven’t had this option – until now. Samsung’s One UI 7 update fills this gap and gives Android users the power to control HDR content across their entire device.
