July 18, 2021—For mass adoption of high dynamic range (HDR) to take place, all key stakeholders across the ecosystem — consumer electronics, content creation, production and broadcasting — will have to be aligned and in sync to deliver the rich experiences today’s consumers are demanding. Among the most critical players in this value chain are the system-on-chip (SoC) manufacturers. This community provides the underlying components upon which rich, immersive experiences can be delivered to consumer devices as the industry makes the transition from a current installed base of standard dynamic range (SDR) to a future that is dominated by HDR. 

 

“HDR has become an essential feature for TV manufacturers today that want to bring impactful innovations to consumers and households around the world. That is why the top-performing — and often the most expensive — TVs today are HDR TVs,” says Alfred Chan, vice president of TV BU, Smart Home Business Group at MediaTek. MediaTek currently sells TV SoCs to 95% of all retail TV brands — those sold at stores like Best Buy and Costco, as well as major retailers all around the world. 

 

“It has been encouraging to see how the rest of the industry is rising to the challenge of making HDR content available for these next-generation TV sets. Broadcasters — like Sinclair Broadcast Group in the United States — are bringing over-the-air content, especially live sports, to consumers in HDR. MediaTek is committed to ensuring that HDR is presented correctly on TV sets that support this immersive viewing experience,” he says.

 

HDR Momentum Is Building in the Broadcast Community

 

The past year and a half has seen a tremendous amount of progress take place as broadcasters seeking to compete more effectively with streaming providers embraced — and deployed — the ATSC 3.0 standards that support HDR. In fact, in April of 2021, the first affiliate NBC station to broadcast in HDR — a Sinclair Broadcast Group affiliate in Las Vegas — went live. Based on its success, Sinclair has already expanded HDR broadcasts to 28 stations across the U.S., with plans to double the number of HDR-capable stations by the end of 2022. 

 

“They are moving forward in response to consumer demand,” says Tony Bozzini, head of business development for Advanced HDR by Technicolor, a suite of HDR production, distribution and display solutions that is supported in the ATSC 3.0 standard. The solutions leverage machine learning (ML) technology to maximize image quality and enhance the HDR consumer viewing experience. A collaboration between Philips, InterDigital and Technicolor, Advanced HDR by Technicolor is composed of two key elements:

 

• The Intelligent Tone Management (ITM) tool, which provides a dynamic, tunable, real-time solution to up-convert SDR content to HDR with full freedom and flexibility to manage contrast, brightness and color saturation, and

• Single-layer HDR (SL-HDR), a dynamic and tunable real-time tool that implements the ETSI SL-HDR standards to generate and deliver a single, consistent, high-quality broadcast stream. SL-HDR1 transforms HDR input streams into SDR-plus-metadata streams.

“Consumers who buy new TV sets that contain the embedded technologies provided by companies like MediaTek are very much aware of the elevated viewing experience offered by HDR. They get frustrated when they don’t have the content to support this experience. Thanks to the work of broadcasters like Sinclair, the demand for HDR content is beginning to be met,” explains Bozzini. 

 

On the other hand, broadcasters must still meet the needs of the large installed base of TVs that only support SDR. The backward compatibility features of Advanced HDR by Technicolor make it possible for consumers who do not have HDR devices to enjoy the highest-quality SDR experience. 

 

“Sinclair is one of the most active and assertive players to bring Advanced HDR by Technicolor to market. By embracing Advanced HDR by Technicolor, Sinclair is implementing a strategy across the country that provides a path to an HDR future while supporting the current embedded presence of SDR-only capable TVs that are still in the market,” says Bozzini. 

 

HDR and Live Sporting Events Are a Match Made in Heaven 

 

Live outdoor sporting events — an area that still is mostly dominated by the broadcast community — represent an excellent opportunity for HDR application. 

 

“Sinclair recently announced that Bally Sports Network and the Tennis Channel will be broadcast live in Advanced HDR by Technicolor,” says Bozzini. 

 

There are practical reasons for this decision. One of the most frustrating aspects of broadcasting live outdoor events is that lighting shifts over the course of the day, casting shadows that create challenges for conventional SDR technology to clearly capture the action on the field. 

 

Adaptive solutions embedded in Advanced HDR by Technicolor optimize images in real time. It automatically adjusts and corrects large shifts in lighting over the course of outdoor broadcasts. The adaptive features also remove limitations imposed by static converters that restrict the creative options available to video engineers. 

 

Sinclair has incorporated Advanced HDR by Technicolor into production-truck equipment offered by companies like Cobalt Digital, which leverages ML to automatically sense light quality changes to then deliver a single seamless and consistent stream of SDR and HDR images. 

 

“We expect these types of consumer viewing experiences to drive sales of HDR TVs,” says Bozzini. 

 

MediaTek’s Chan concurs. 

 

“It is an exciting time because SoC manufacturers are in a critical position to bridge the gap between broadcasters and device manufacturers in ensuring that viewers receive the experience intended by the production teams,” says Chan. 

 

“MediaTek is working to ensure that the Advanced HDR by Technicolor solution is properly incorporated into our chipsets so that images are properly displayed on TVs. This requires a huge amount of coordination. The good news is that the ecosystem is working very closely together, and these efforts are paying off. We are bringing HDR to market at an increasingly rapid pace.”  

 

Click to read the full Q&A

 

July 15, 2021—Halted production of new content, along with a dramatic increase of consumer demand for video entertainment throughout the COVID-19 crisis, has placed unprecedented demands on the content libraries of broadcasters and streaming providers. As content owners mine their inventory of episodic series and movies produced decades ago, they are exploring how to up-convert content to meet the elevated viewing standards of today’s consumers. So say Ernie Sanchez, co-founder of Cinnafilm, and Tony Bozzini, head of business development for Advanced HDR by Technicolor, in a recent joint interview for journalists.

The problem with legacy content, however, is that it was produced to address the aesthetic demands of the 1990s and 2000s based on the technological limitations—2K high definition (HD) and standard dynamic range (SDR)—of the era. These production values not only fall far short of the visual experiences that audiences expect today, but also are susceptible to unanticipated distortions as they are played on modern TVs and devices if they are not properly converted and managed.

Consequently demand for solutions that enhance video and image processing is creating new opportunities for Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Cinnafilm—a solution provider for post production houses and broadcasters that offers file-based image processing technology services that optimizes television and classic films for modern delivery requirements.

Advanced HDR by Technicolor is a suite of HDR production, distribution and display solutions that leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to maximize the image quality of any SDR or HDR format. Advanced HDR by Technicolor was designed to protect—and enhance— investments in legacy infrastructure and devices made by industry and consumers.

“The major disruption of content production during the pandemic has created an opportunity to re-introduce—and monetize— decades-old TV shows and movies to a new generation of viewers,” says Ernie Sanchez, co-founder of Cinnafilm.

As 2021 continues to unfold, there are strong indications that the market will see increased re-deployment of legacy content. The reason is simple: it is available and ready to go.

“That is why Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Cinnafilm are collaborating to address the need for simple and scalable solutions that enable content owners to upgrade content libraries from SDR to HDR in a cost effective manner,” says Tony Bozzini, head of business development for Advanced HDR by Technicolor.

Challenges to Upgrading Content to HDR

Upgrading and reformatting legacy content to HDR does present some challenges within the industry. It also has rekindled an ongoing industry debate around what it means to update content for a new generation of viewers.

“There are two very strong camps in this content community today,” explains Sanchez. “One side feels strongly against altering assets and firmly believes content should be broadcast the same way it was filmed. This is a purist approach that advocates for the original intent and is interested in avoiding any alterations to images as they were conceived when originally produced.”

From a practical perspective, however, this method places content providers at the mercy of the broadcast pipeline. For instance, if assets remain SDR and high definition (HD) in a world that has embraced HDR and UHD viewing environments, there’s no way to predict how the consumer will set up their home televisions. It raises critical questions.

“Is the content going to fit to screen? Will a consumer’s TV settings crop out some of the image? It’s an important reminder for purist situations, consumer devices may go ahead and alter the look and feel of the show in a myriad of ways,” says Sanchez

Beyond creative concerns, the size and scope of legacy content libraries introduces concerns surrounding the labor and costs associated with HDR conversion and distribution.

Cinnafilm and Advanced HDR by Technicolor have collaborated to integrate their capabilities into the PixelStrings Software-as-a-Service platform. This enables content owners to convert massive legacy content libraries to HDR in a rapid and cost-effective manner.

“After creatives develop and convert content, they have to address the fact that there are many distribution channels available in different markets throughout the world. These distribution channels vary in capability for content delivery,” says Bozzini.

As a result, creatives need the ability to offer content in multiple flavors—whether it is HD or UHD and SDR or HDR—to match the capabilities of a particular distribution channel and generate revenue.

“Advanced HDR by Technicolor enables engineers to distribute content in both SDR and HDR within a single stream. It leverages the metadata to determine whether a consumer device is capable of supporting SDR or HDR. That is a point of differentiation in a highly competitive marketplace.”

Sept. 29, 2021— Cobalt® Digital, designer and manufacturer of award-winning edge devices for live video production and master control, and a founding partner in the openGear® initiative, has announced that Groupe M6, utilized its 9904-UDX-4K openGear card including Advanced HDR by Technicolor solutions to convert UHD HLG signals to UHD SDR during the UEFA European Football Championship.

Groupe M6, one of the key broadcasters for the UEFA Football Championship in France, offered all retransmitted games on a dedicated UHD SDR channel on top of the traditional HD SDR terrestrial broadcast. This additional UHD transmission presented a technical challenge for M6 who received a UHD HLG signal which needed to be delivered in a UHD SDR format. Working with Cobalt’s French reseller, OBV.TV, M6 configured, tested, and implemented a workflow using the Cobalt 9904-UDX-4K card with AI embedded Advanced HDR by Technicolor solutions to analyze each image for optimal conversion. The flawless performance was achieved using the default settings on the Cobalt 9904-UDX-4K card which also allowed for effortless deployment.

Suzana Brady, Cobalt Digital’s senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, says, “Aside from all the high technical specifications, the beauty of our extremely versatile 9904-UDX-4K card is that it’s truly plug-and-play and doesn’t require any customization. Colors converted by the card from the original channel to the UHD SDR channel were virtually identical. We were delighted to play such a critical role in M6’s coverage of these popular games, and proud to work alongside Technicolor to achieve such successful transmission.”

different markets throughout the world. These distribution channels vary in capability for content delivery,” says Bozzini.

As a result, creatives need the ability to offer content in multiple flavors — whether it is HD or UHD and SDR or HDR — to match the capabilities of a particular distribution channel and generate revenue.

“Advanced HDR by Technicolor enables engineers to distribute content in both SDR and HDR within a single stream. It leverages the metadata to determine whether a consumer device is capable of supporting SDR or HDR. That is a point of differentiation in a highly competitive marketplace.”

The award-winning Cobalt Digital 9904-UDX-4K advanced scaler/frame synchronizer is a 12G/6G/3G/HD/SD UHD Up/Down/Cross Converter/Frame Sync/Embed/De-Embed Audio Processor. The card, referred to as the company’s Swiss Army Knife for its unparalleled capability range, offers numerous options, including SDR-to-HDR conversion and color correction.