Samsung has announced the next step in the development of the HDR10+ standard, resulting in HDR10+ Adaptive.

The name might sound like a mouthful, but it's an expected step forward in high-dynamic range support for new televisions.

The new system is designed to adjust the HDR10+ effect to suit the conditions of the room that you're watching the latest movie or TV series in. It will take into account the ambient light and adjust itself, so you get the best results on your screen. It will use the light sensor on your TV to make those adjustments, ensuring that the colour fidelity is maintained, rather than getting skewed because you're watching it next to a bright window.

The system follows the changes brought to the rival Dolby Vision platform in 2020, when Dolby Vision IQ was announced. Importantly, this isn't just about supporting a new HDR10+ standard, it means that HDR10+ Adaptive TVs will also be able to support Filmmaker Mode.

Filmmaker Mode, announced in early 2020, is an attempt to get people to watch content on their TV "as the director intended". It's essentially an automatic mode that can swing in to show the content as it should be seen, so you get the best viewing experience, rather than with wild colours because you never managed to switch off the demo mode in your TV's settings.

The new HDR10+ Adaptive standard will be supported on forthcoming Samsung QLED televisions - we're expecting to see a refresh of those TVs in January 2021 - and we're expecting to see other manufacturers also offering support. Although not confirmed, it's likely to come from Panasonic, Toshiba, TCL and Hisense, among others.

Of course, having support isn't the same as having the content. Fortunately, Amazon Prime Video supports HDR10+ and Filmmaker Mode for Samsung TVs thanks to the new HDR10+ Adaptive version, so you should see the benefit when streaming that content on Samsung's new devices.

As with all parts of the TV picture quality equation, this is a small step and for many it might not be a huge step change in performance, but it's something to look out for if you are considering buying a new television in 2021.