Google Photos just received a significant update that dramatically improves how it handles Ultra HDR pictures. Now, you get expanded editing capabilities, greater control over HDR intensity and the ability to enhance standard photos into Ultra HDR.

Ultra HDR pictures unlock your display’s full range of brightness and color, creating more vibrant images compared to standard (SDR) photos. However, while almost all photo apps can open and edit Ultra HDR files, the HDR effect will then be lost unless the app is specifically coded to handle Ultra HDR.

Ultra HDR images can really pop on social media, so you’ll want to retain the HDR effect wherever possible. Thanks to this Google Photos update, you can now edit and save Ultra HDR pictures using its most powerful AI-based features, such as Photo Unblur, Magic Eraser and Portrait Light. While these tools did work before, using them would cause Ultra HDR pictures to revert to SDR. Simple adjustments such as cropping and rotating worked, but more complex adjustments and filters would strip out the HDR information, resulting in a significant loss of quality.

Now you can utilize advanced tools to create Ultra HD pictures that were previously impossible.

To provide greater control over HDR output, Google has added a new “Ultra HDR” editing tool, represented by a simple slider that allows you to adjust the intensity of the HDR effect from 0 (completely off) to 100 (maximum strength). Previously, the Ultra HDR effect was either on or off, with no way to adjust it.

A notable feature of this tool is that it can also add Ultra HDR effects to SDR images. The effect won’t be as good as if you were working on an Ultra HDR original, as the app has to “guess” any brightness information that wasn’t present in the original file and won’t always be able to reproduce highlight details effectively. However, the results can also be quite convincing.

If you’re new to Ultra HDR, the new slider is a great way to learn how the effect works. Try it on a contrasty image, such as a sunset, and you should see the results immediately.

Most Raw files, and some SDR files saved in advanced 16-bit or 32-bit formats, contain valid information for creating true Ultra HDR images, however, Google Photos doesn’t yet support such conversions. To unlock the potential of these files in Google Photos, you’ll need to first edit them in an external app that supports HDR, such as Adobe Lightroom, and save them as HDR JPEGs before opening them in Google Photos.

I wrote more about the new HDR conversion tool in a previous article after its initial discovery two months ago.

The genius of Ultra HDR lies in its compatibility. Because it’s based on the standard JPEG format, you can display and edit Ultra HDR files in basic SDR mode without any special software. The flip side to that coin is that developers can decide that SDR mode is “good enough” rather than committing resources to adding Ultra HDR support.

In expanding Ultra HDR support in Google Photos, Google is now leading by example, which should help raise user expectations and encourage wider support of the format from other developers. Crucially, giving users complete control over the HDR effect, including the ability to reduce it to zero, will prevent situations where unpleasantly bright images prompt users to turn off Ultra HDR entirely.

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