GlossaryRec. 2020

Rec. 2020

Rec. 2020 (ITU-R BT.2020) is the international standard that defines a wide color space and picture settings for ultra HD video, including 4K and 8K. Rec. 2020 covers far more colors than Rec. 709, especially deep greens and reds. HDR formats such as HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision use Rec. 2020 colors. Few displays can show the full range yet.

Why it matters

Rec. 2020 is the color foundation for 4K HDR, which premium OTT services use to justify higher-tier plans. Handling it wrongly leads to dull or oversaturated pictures. Since recent phones record in Rec. 2020 HDR, user-upload platforms meet it too.

How it works

  1. Rec. 2020 defines wider red, green and blue primaries than Rec. 709.
  2. It allows 10-bit or 12-bit values so the wider range does not show banding.
  3. HDR formats pair Rec. 2020 colors with HDR brightness curves such as PQ or HLG.
  4. Players on standard screens convert Rec. 2020 down to Rec. 709 so colors still look natural.

Can any TV display the full Rec. 2020 color range?

Very few consumer displays reach the full Rec. 2020 range today. Most HDR TVs cover a large part of a smaller range called DCI-P3, which sits inside Rec. 2020. Content is still tagged as Rec. 2020, and each screen maps the colors it cannot show to the nearest it can.

Is Rec. 2020 the same as HDR?

No. Rec. 2020 describes the range of colors, while HDR describes the range of brightness. HDR formats like HDR10 and HLG use Rec. 2020 colors, but a video can be Rec. 2020 without being HDR. In practice, most Rec. 2020 streaming content is HDR.

Where it's used

OTT services delivering 4K and HDR titles use Rec. 2020 so compatible TVs show richer color. Video platforms and short video apps must keep it intact and convert it for standard screens.

By the numbers

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