Spectrum SportsNet – Advanced HDR By Technicolor

Technicolor’s David Touzé Describes How Single-Layer Technology Helps Broadcasters Manage Complexity of Delivering HDR and SDR Content

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 02:18:49 +0000

Technicolor's David Touzé Describes How Single-Layer Technology Helps Broadcasters Manage Complexity of Delivering HDR and SDR Content

DENVER – Oct. 17, 2017—CABLE-TEC EXPO 2017—Although high dynamic range (HDR) technology is on track for substantial growth in the next few years, there are still challenges in supporting all the non-HDR screens on TVs, smartphones, and tablets that still represent the majority of devices currently present in the homes of consumers all around the world, says David Touzé, Senior Research Engineer, Technicolor, in a podcast interview for journalists during the SCTE 2017 conference being held in Denver, Colorado this week.

EDITOR’S NOTE: David Touzé will be participating in a panel discussion on this subject at 3 PM on Wednesday, October 18th, 2017 at the Colorado Convention Center Room 201/203.

“It is for this reason that broadcasters need to be able to distribute both HDR and standard dynamic range—or SDR—content as seamlessly, effectively, and efficiently as possible. The broadcast industry, however, has faced challenges in achieving this objective because several formats of HDR have been introduced by different players across the ecosystem,” explains Touzé. This has created the need for a universal distribution solution that can not only accommodate the complexity associated with different HDR formats but also addresses the need to deliver content to devices that can only accept SDR signals.

“To address this requirement, Technicolor has developed a single-layer solution, known as Technicolor HDR (ETSI standard SL-HDR1), which ensures backward compatibility with all non-HDR screens and non-HDR equipment. Broadcasters just need to produce a single feed, and the technology allows content to be converted into a format for both legacy screens and HDR screens,” says Touzé.

Touzé stresses that the Technicolor approach to HDR is agnostic in nature. The technology accepts any of the HDR formats as inputs and normalizes and delivers content on any SDR or HDR screen.

The single-layer approach makes it possible for broadcasters to more efficiently use network and production resources. It eliminates the need for costly infrastructure upgrades or duplicate processes. SL-HDR1 also ensures that content is properly distributed and accurately displayed simultaneously on both HDR and SDR displays for consistent end-user viewing quality on every device type.

Technicolor HDR has successfully passed through a series of field trials and tests over the past two years.

“Most recently, at the end of July 2017, Technicolor worked with Spectrum SportsNet in Los Angeles to broadcast two Major League Baseball games (between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants), using SL-HDR1 to convert the HDR production to SDR with meta-data for distribution across the United States and the United Kingdom. Devices capable of receiving the HDR signal used the metadata to display the HDR content. Non-HDR devices simply ignored the metadata and displayed the content in SDR.”

To listen in on the entire interview with David Touzé, visit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rzopw0im6tbbs49/09_27_2017_Davi…

Journalists and analysts are free to pull quotes from this Q&A feature with attribution in media and market reports. For more details and context, contact: Lane Cooper 323 817 7547 Lane.cooper@technicolor.com
Photo: https://www.prlog.org/12671238/1

Technicolor’s Alan Stein Explains How Acceptance of Technicolor HDR as an ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard Offers More Options for Broadcasters

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 01:53:51 +0000

Technicolor’s Alan Stein Explains How Acceptance of Technicolor HDR as an ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard Offers More Options for Broadcasters

AMSTERDAM – Sept. 13, 2017—PRE-IBC 2017—During the IBC 2017 conference in Amsterdam this weekend, executives from Technicolor and its partners will be on hand to discuss the latest developments in high dynamic range (HDR) technology. In a podcast interview for journalists, Alan Stein, Technicolor’s Vice President of Technology and Standards, reports that another step toward advancing the use of HDR in broadcasting has been taken with the recent approval of SL-HDR1 (also known as Technicolor HDR) as a Candidate Standard Amendment to A/341, the ATSC 3.0 video specification.

“Advanced HDR by Technicolor is a technology solution that consists of Technicolor HDR (SL-HDR1) and Technicolor Intelligent Tone Management (ITM). Technicolor HDR takes in any SDR or HDR format and distributes it to any device and appropriately presents the correct image for SDR-capable devices or HDR-capable devices. Technicolor ITM offers the ability to up-convert SDR content to HDR-capable devices during the distribution process,” he says.

SL-HDR1 is a unique solution in that it takes HDR video and converts it into a format that can be viewed on legacy HD televisions. However, the content can be converted back to HDR for newer devices, so that one can address both the legacy market and the new television market within a single stream. SL-HDR1 can convert HDR to SDR – a process known as tone mapping.

“This is very interesting for broadcasters who are starting to do live productions in HDR but deliver on their legacy networks in SDR. It is critically important for broadcasters because they want to send one stream (not simulcast.) While over-the-top (OTT) providers can easily send multiple streams to consumers (SDR to SDR devices and HDR to HDR devices), broadcasters and—to some extent—cable providers, would be burdened quite significantly if they had to simulcast multiple streams,” Stein says.

Alan Stein, Technicolor

Technicolor has successfully tested this capability several times over the past two years. Most recently, at the end of July, Technicolor worked with Spectrum SportsNet in Los Angeles to broadcast two Los Angeles Dodgers – San Francisco Giants games, using SL-HDR1’s tone mapping to convert the HDR production to SDR for nationwide distribution.

Looking ahead, Stein says U.S. broadcasters plan to have large-scale trials in 2017 and early 2018 with commercial services possible later in 2018 and early 2019.

“The decision to add Technicolor HDR into the ATSC 3.0 toolkit encourages the technology’s implementation into the next generation of television sets and other consumer electronics products,” concludes Stein.

To listen to the podcast or read the full Q&A, visit: https://soundcloud.com/technicolorco/how-approval-of-technicolor-hdr-as-an-atsc-30-candidate-std-offers-more-options-for-broadcasters
Journalists and analysts are free to pull quotes from this Q&A feature with attribution in media and market reports. For more details and context, contact: Lane Cooper 323 817 7547 Lane.cooper@technicolor.com
Photo: https://www.prlog.org/12664304/

Technicolor’s Kirk Barker Explains how HDR Sports Broadcasts can be Implemented without Disrupting Existing Workflows

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 01:07:55 +0000

Technicolor’s Kirk Barker Explains how HDR Sports Broadcasts can be Implemented without Disrupting Existing Workflows

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – March 29, 2017—High dynamic range (HDR) video promises a much-improved live sports viewing experience that can be offered by broadcasters. However, doing so does present some technical challenges that need to be addressed, explains Kirk Barker, Senior Vice President of Emerging Products with Technicolor in a podcast interview for journalists.

Technicolor recently worked with Spectrum SportsNet to broadcast a Lakers game from Los Angeles in both standard dynamic range (SDR) and HDR. While Technicolor supplied the SDR to HDR conversion units for use in the broadcast trucks, Barker points out that a great deal of the value is delivered by technology that is embedded into TVs, set-top boxes, and other devices that need to handle content in both SDR and the multiple versions of HDR to ensure an optimal viewing experience.

“We believe the solution implemented in the end device, the TV or the set-top box, has to be able to accept a variety of different formats and that will be one of the selling points of Advanced HDR by Technicolor,” Barker says.

Two of the big challenges Barker sees are: ensuring that all the different formats are displayed at their correct light level—or luminance—and that the technology is sufficiently future-proof to handle developments down the track.

“The system must be able to translate between different electro-optical transfer functions. It must be able to convert SDR up to HDR and convert HDR down to different luminance. And the set-top box has to be aware of the graphics, like the overlays for the scores. All that has to be managed to a consistent luminance. The solutions we are developing with our set-top box partners have all of those components.”

“Technicolor,” he says, “is future-proofing its universal HDR distribution technology.”

“Any system must be able to adapt and transition. With our system you could start today with HLG, transition to HDR10 in the future, and then maybe beyond HDR10 to HDR10 with enhancements,” he explains.

Despite the challenges and the complexity, Barker is confident HDR technology will be successful. He says the Lakers HDR broadcast proves that it is viable today. “The future of HDR is very bright.”

To listen to the entire podcast, or read the full Q&A, visit: http://thefuturetrust.technicolor.com/article/the-future-…
Journalists and analysts are free to pull quotes from this Q&A feature with attribution in media and market reports. For more details and context, contact: Lane Cooper 323 817 7547 lane.cooper@technicolor.com
Andre Rodriguez 323 817 6716 andre.rodriguez@technicolor.com
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Technicolor’s Josh Limor on Lessons Learned from Spectrum SportsNet HDR Broadcast of NBA Game Between LA Lakers and Denver Nuggets

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 01:00:32 +0000

Technicolor’s Josh Limor on Lessons Learned from Spectrum SportsNet HDR Broadcast of NBA Game Between LA Lakers and Denver Nuggets

HOLLYWOOD, California- March 14, 2017 —As broadcasters look for ways to deliver better video experiences to consumers who invest in the latest generation of television sets, the industry has set its sights on High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. Broadcasters are testing the ability to bring major sporting events to consumers who can receive HDR signals…without leaving SDR audiences behind.

In a podcast interview for journalists, Josh Limor, VP of Technology and Ecosystem Development at Technicolor, discusses the latest demonstration of HDR in action during the first live end-to-end HDR broadcast of a Spectrum SportsNet NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets (including commercials, other interstitials, and graphics).

“To date,” explains Limor, “there have been a lot of tests to broadcast different elements of HDR. Our goal with this broadcast was to take it to the next step.”

Technicolor had already been involved in demonstrating how a standard dynamic range (SDR) production of a live sporting event could be up-converted to HDR and distributed to people’s homes through Technicolor’s HDR distribution platform.

“This time, the production involved a mixture of HDR and SDR elements; some of the cameras were shooting native HDR, and some cameras were standard dynamic range. We were able to show how to create a high dynamic range broadcast that can be distributed in standard dynamic range and high dynamic range to people’s homes,” he says.

The SDR cameras were up-converted to HDR using Technicolor’s Intelligent Tone Management (ITM) technology, and all of the content was cut together and produced in SLOG3, Sony’s proprietary HDR log curve.

“A unique feature of Technicolor’s distribution platform is that it doesn’t care what HDR curve you’re using, it’s compatible with all of them – PQ, HLG, SLOG3, or anything else that anyone comes up with next. Our distribution takes that into account to distribute it appropriately to each and every home,” says Limor.

HDR devices are still relatively new in consumers’ homes. While prices for HDR sets are already beginning to drop year over year to drive demand for HDR technology, the market is still in its early stages.

“In the meantime, we have shown that we can link the SDR and HDR worlds in a single stream broadcast. This allows broadcasters to move confidently forward and advance their HDR production strategy,” Limor says.

To listen to the podcast or read the entire Q&A with Limor visit: http://thefuturetrust.technicolor.com/article/the-future-…
Journalists and analysts are free to pull quotes from this Q&A feature with attribution in media and market reports. For more details and context, contact: Lane Cooper 323 817 7547 lane.cooper@technicolor.com