[lbayes]

Both seem to work fine when I point my (aging) Pixel 5 at them rendered on my Asus laptop screen.

I'm assuming there's some problem with screen-rendered QR codes that this solves, but my quick google search mostly just resulted in listicle spam.

What's the problem this solves?

[paranoidrobot]

Probably people who have their screen brightness set to lower levels (automatic or not).

I notice some airline apps and Google Wallet set screen brightness to maximum when you view a boarding pass.

[lbayes]

Interesting.

When I look at the two codes side-by-side with normal (full) brightness, the HDR one looks quite a bit brighter. If I dim my screen brightness substantially, the HDR one also gets a lot dimmer. Not sure if this solves that problem, though it could be an issue with my particular screen?

[ryanschneider]

On my iPhone 11 at my standard brightness (around 25%) the HDR one is much brighter but if I turn my brightness to max then they both look the same.

If I dim my brightness completely the HDR does get dimmer but is still quite visible while the other is quite hard to see.

[motoxpro]

For me even at the lowest brightness on macbook it is still way brighter than the normal one. Looks about like "normal" white.

[mikepurvis]

The same on an iPhone 8.

[MBCook]

I’ve seen apps do that too.

I may make a difference with laser scanners or other more commodity hardware than smartphone cameras which are pretty amazingly good these days.

[Tempest1981]

Yep, had this problem recently -- outdoor event on a sunny afternoon, and the handheld scanner was struggling.

[aendruk]

Outcompeting glare.