HDR specifically enables a broader range of colors and brightness offering new ways to control the viewing experience much more succinctly on screen. This means the contrast between the darkest darks and the brightest whites delivers a more lifelike, vibrant image. The greater nuance in bright and dark shades helps preserve detail, so the experience is far more immersive, engaging and life-like for consumers.
 

“For consumers, HDR absolutely provides a point of differentiation. When it comes to HDR, seeing really is believing. Once consumers experience HDR, it is very difficult for them to go back to standard dynamic range. Today, more and more consumers are hungry for premium in-home entertainment experiences, and HDR is increasingly seen by consumers as integral to meeting their growing expectations,” said Mitchell.

A Technically Elegant and Cost-Effective Path to HDR

The key question on the minds of the entertainment technology ecosystem — across the spectrum of content production, distribution and consumption — is how to manage the transition from today’s complex environment to an all-HDR future in a creatively faithful, technically viable and economically rational manner.

“It is important to understand the available content and the devices content providers and developers want to target. For studios with large libraries of material, ensuring that an HDR grade is available on all of the content in their portfolios can be incredibly costly and time-consuming if it is not approached in a strategic manner,” explained Mitchell. 

Another critical factor to consider while conducting these conversions is the ability to preserve the creative intent of the content. This is always important when dealing with content libraries. But it is also critical as the business models for digital entertainment distribution evolve. 

“For instance, if the conversions from SDR to HDR are being performed in the context of advertising supported delivery environments, it is critical to take into account the intent of brands or advertisers who may play a role in the financing or the budgeting of that content,” he cautioned. 

Putting Advanced HDR by Technicolor into Context

Advanced HDR by Technicolor, which features a unique intelligent tone management (ITM) toolset, enables high quality, dynamic, and real-time expansion of standard dynamic range to high dynamic range that preserves that creative and brand intent. 

“Known as the SL-HDR format in the technical and standards-setting communities, Advanced HDR by Technicolor provides broadcasters and distributors with a single inventory distribution format to serve both SDR and HDR devices without any creative compromises. It saves infrastructure and delivery costs along the way,” said Mitchell. 

The single stream production and distribution features of Advanced HDR by Technicolor make it a cost-effective solution for ensuring that the highest quality productions maintain their integrity across today’s heterogeneous SDR/HDR environment. 

“During HPA we are planning to have conversations with streamers, advertisers — really anybody that is using streaming technology — to help people understand where Advanced HDR by Technicolor can be put into place to enhance the services they offer and the value they deliver to consumers around the world. It’s really important for leaders in the creative community to understand that HDR is an entertainment technology that will elevate value delivered to consumers in a cost-effective manner,” concluded Mitchell. 

Here is what he had to say:

Q:  What role are emerging technologies like HDR playing in delivering enhanced experiences in the image and picture quality in live broadcasts, theatrical releases, episodic content…and even video games? 

Nick Mitchell: High dynamic range — and many of the immersive formats we’re seeing emerge in the industry — amplify the creative palette. This ultimately results in a more immersive and impactful experience. 

HDR specifically enables a broader range of colors and brightness offering new ways to control the viewing experience much more succinctly on screen. This means the contrast between the darkest darks and the brightest whites delivers a more lifelike, vibrant image. The greater nuance in bright and dark shades helps preserve detail, so the experience is far more immersive, engaging and life-like for consumers. 

Q: Does the introduction of high dynamic range provide any points of differentiation for content owners and consumers? 

Mitchell: For consumers, it absolutely provides a point of differentiation. When it comes to HDR, seeing really is believing. Once consumers have experienced HDR, it is very difficult for them to go back to standard dynamic range. Today, more and more consumers are hungry for premium in-home entertainment experiences, and HDR is increasingly seen by consumers as integral to meeting their growing expectations.

This is now recognized by most content owners, which is why it is imperative that we give consumers as many opportunities to see high dynamic range and really understand its value within the premium entertainment space.

Q: What do streaming service providers and other content distributors need to consider as they explore their options in deploying HDR in either the streaming or even the broadcast entertainment environment? 

Mitchell: It is important to understand the available content and the devices content providers and developers want to target. For studios with large libraries of material, ensuring that an HDR grade is available on all of the content in their portfolios can be incredibly costly and time-consuming if it is not approached in a strategic manner. 

Another critical factor to consider while conducting these conversions is the ability to preserve the creative intent of the content. If the conversions from SDR to HDR are being performed in the context of advertising supported delivery environments, it is also critical to take into account the intent of any brands or advertisers who may play a role in the financing or the budgeting of that content. 

In other words, an advertiser may not be thrilled with the unintentional impression a standard dynamic range ad makes when placed within an HDR offering because the contrast is pretty dramatic. Not many brands and advertisers are making HDR ads, so this is a valid concern. 

Q:  Nick, you’re associated with Advanced HDR by Technicolor – a solution that has received quite a bit of interest of late. How can Advanced HDR by Technicolor provide content owners and production teams, including playback distributors, with an efficient path to success when delivering high dynamic range to the viewing public?

Mitchell: Advanced HDR by Technicolor, which features a unique intelligent tone management (ITM) toolset, enables incredibly high quality, dynamic, and real-time expansion of standard dynamic range to high dynamic range that preserves that creative and brand intent. 

Known as the SL-HDR format in the technical and standards-setting communities, Advanced HDR by Technicolor provides broadcasters and distributors with a single inventory distribution format to serve both SDR and HDR devices without compromises, saving infrastructure and delivery costs along the way. By using the dynamic meta-data capabilities that are included in the solution, a single stream can deliver both SDR and HDR without compromising the artistic intent of the content creators or producers.

This makes Advanced HDR by Technicolor a key part of a strategic approach to ensuring that the highest quality productions maintain their integrity across today’s heterogeneous environment — which consists of SDR and HDR TVs and other devices in the market.

I think it’s really important for leaders in the creative community to understand that HDR is one of those elements of entertainment technology that will help the industry drive an increase in higher-value impression customers. 

Q: As the creative and technology community gathers at the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) conference in Palm Springs, What is your message to them? 

Mitchell: Over the past few years we have seen the broadcast segment of the entertainment industry make tremendous progress in enhancing the content that is experienced by consumers. A lot of work has been done globally by groups such as the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) to integrate SL-HDR formats into next-generation protocols that will enhance the viewing experience of broadcast content. 

Now we’re focusing on the streaming and app delivery side of things. During HPA we are planning to have conversations with streamers, advertisers — really anybody that is using streaming technology — to help people understand where Advanced HDR by Technicolor can be put into place to enhance the services they offer and the value they deliver to consumers around the world. 

In the white paper, he asserts that artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and tone mapping technologies have reached a state of maturity that allows complex ecosystems to support the most stringent “live-production” requirements for simultaneously managing HDR and SDR content while meeting the business and performance needs of all stakeholders in the community. This includes advertisers and brand managers who are extremely sensitive to the fidelity of their commercial messages and marks.

The Case for Single-Workflow Round-trip SDR-HDR-SDR

Continued progress toward the deployment and consumer adoption of HDR devices — including large-screen TVs, tablets and mobile phones — is putting mounting market pressure on the industry to produce, convert and deliver content that provides enhanced visual experiences to capable devices.

As often happens when new technologies — and elevated standards of performance — are introduced, the industry is caught between two worlds. Consequently, complex ecosystems made up of content creators, distributors and consumer electronics distributors are struggling with how to support the large, established presence of SDR during the transition to HDR.

One option to support the transition is to launch separate content development, distribution and consumption workflows. This, however, is not an attractive path forward, given the costs and technical complexities associated with maintaining multiple operations. It is a challenge that grows exponentially as different links in the value chain participate in the process.

Touzé argues that a better alternative is to develop a single production process that dynamically integrates and automates HDR and SDR workflows by applying machine learning and tone mapping technologies.

While single-stream strategies for HDR-SDR management have been discussed in the industry for years, concerns have been expressed about the ability to ensure the fidelity and integrity of SDR streams that are converted to HDR and then brought back to SDR.

“One of the things really needed in production environments that support SDR and HDR is a high-quality and high-performance round-trip feature,” says Touzé.

For various reasons, he explains, live production teams increasingly need the flexibility to work with HDR and SDR source content. This is because there can be a mix of HDR and SDR cameras capturing live feeds.

“The same is true for commercial advertisements, which must be integrated into live feeds. Given the sensitivity of these communities to the appearance of their content, it is critical that the SDR feed at distribution looks exactly the same as the source SDR content. You want to preserve the artistic intent of the original content. This white paper demonstrates how currently available dynamic solutions can effectively convert SDR to HDR and back to SDR — also known as round-trip — without compromising the integrity of the original SDR content.”

These capabilities, he concludes, are all currently available in the Advanced HDR by Technicolor suite of solutions for the single-stream management of HDR and SDR workflows in live-and post-production environments.

Advanced HDR by Technicolor incorporates tone mapping tools that are dynamic, AI/ML-driven and tunable to provide perfect round-trip performance that can be objectively proven.

“It is a ‘no compromise’ outcome that should remove any concerns or objections to adopting workflows that integrate and optimize all HDR-SDR content creation and conversion activities,” concludes Touzé.