technology – Advanced HDR By Technicolor

Arte New 4K HDR Trial in September

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 16:43:18 +0000

Arte New 4K HDR Trial in September

August 20, 2018—Following previous experimentations featuring ballet (in 2016) and opera (in 2017), Arte has announced the launch of a new 4K/HDR technical trial period from September 12th to 22nd.

The Franco-German channel has partnered with Amazon CloudFront, AWS Elemental, Anyware Vidéo, ATEME, Cobalt, Globecast, Molotov, Philips, SES, TDF and Technicolor to produce a 4K HDR10 homogeneous version from 1080i original programme Arte Live, by using native UHD-HDR content when available or by upgrading Arte Live HD images into an UHD-HDR version.

The show will then be broadcast on various platforms, such as the DTT network in Paris, Toulouse and Nantes, Astra DTH platform, HbbTV connected TVs and OTT service Molotov.

This trial will help the partners study and compare the quality of images across the broadcast systems and the various transmission standards chosen (HDR10,HLG, SL-HDR, HD, UHD).

The video feeds of the experimentation will also be available at the IBC Show next month.

From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Technicolor’s Frank Debo: Network Service Providers in EMEA Turn up the Heat on HDR Adoption

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 02:01:49 +0000

Technicolor’s Frank Debo: Network Service Providers in EMEA Turn up the Heat on HDR Adoption

AMSTERDAM – Sept. 15, 2017—IBC 2017—Network service providers (NSPs) across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are actively testing and making plans for the deployment of High Dynamic Range (HDR) content over their infrastructures, according to Frank Debo, Vice President for Business Development in the EMEA region for Technicolor’s Connected Home division, in a podcast interview for journalists.

The technology, he says, promises a dramatic, positive impact on the consumer viewing experience with more vivid colors, richer contrasts, deeper shadows, and brighter highlights. But there are challenges. NSPs need standard solutions that reduce the complexities of content creation, distribution, and consumption, and there’s still a shortage of HDR-capable TV sets.

“HDR is really seen as an opportunity, a game-changer,” says Debo. “It’s not only going to help the service providers bring great content to mobile devices—smartphones and tablets—it’s helping also to get superb HDR quality to the TVs in people’s homes. HDR will rapidly become much more widely adopted and, in fact, will become the de facto standard for video distribution.”

Key players in the region, including large service providers like British Telecom, Orange, Liberty Global, Vodafone, and Sky Europe are already engaged in HDR trials. Many, says Debo, are even announcing plans to launch HDR-capable channels in the near future.

“They’re starting field trials to get more familiar with the technology and see how they can also start to deploy it more widely into their footprints. What we also see is that many operators—when they ask for their next-generation solutions through requests for proposals (RFPs)—are seeking support for HDR. That’s an indication that HDR is well on its way to becoming more widely adopted by the service provider community in this region,” explains Debo.

Frank Debo – Technicolor

An effective HDR strategy is also emerging as an important aspect of how NSPs address the rise of over-the-top (OTT) services that are gaining popularity in EMEA.

“I think it’s going to be an absolute must for the NSP. For example, look at Netflix, which is already deploying HDR content on its platform. We are having multiple types of conversations and engagements with service providers about how HDR should be integrated into their OTT response strategies. We are exploring how Technicolor can help to get HDR deployed to mass markets; what needs to happen to address a hybrid environment because all TVs are not HDR-capable yet; and how NSPs can move forward in an effective and cost-efficient manner,” says Debo.

To listen in on the entire podcast interview with Frank Debo, visit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ea3dw0d50e4dxe/6_30_2017_Frank…
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/12664812/1

Technicolor’s Kirk Barker Discusses How Operators in APAC Region Can Harness HDR to Enhance TV Viewing Experiences

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 01:46:31 +0000

Technicolor’s Kirk Barker Discusses How Operators in APAC Region Can Harness HDR to Enhance TV Viewing Experiences

SINGAPORE – May 25, 2017—CMMA 2017—The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has its sights on High Dynamic Range (HDR), an imaging technology that manages luminescence to provide richer contrasts, deeper shadows, and brighter highlights. And although standards are still evolving, it’s time to go live with HDR productions, according to Kirk Barker—Senior Vice President of Engineering And Product Management, Technicolorin —a recent podcast for journalists.

“At this point, we’ve been doing a lot of trials, a lot of testing, and we think we have the workflows worked out. It’s time to make this thing real and to really get it out into consumers’ hands. There are no major blockers,” says Barker. “We now have TVs that are in the marketplace that can do in excess of 1,000 nits. We’ve got distribution technologies that are cost-efficient and are able to be done in a way that can support existing infrastructures. And we have production tools and the capabilities to do live productions—in addition to offline workflows. We have everything we need to make it real today.”

Technicolor has been working with a number of partners in the APAC region to roll out HDR technologies.

“What’s exciting is that with some of our solutions we can roll out an upconverted HDR version of either a movie or episodic content at a very small incremental increase to the overall cost of production. So, unlike some of the other technologies —where you have to throw out everything that is currently in place, causing huge capital improvement investments—here’s a technology that has demonstrable value to customers and can be provided at a reasonable cost. It can really put network service providers (NSPs) who deploy HDR in a position to make a difference,” explains Barker.

The other advantage for Asia Pacific is that many countries have relatively high internet speeds. This allows them to deploy HDR technology very quickly without changing out the broadcast infrastructure, utilizing internet protocol (IP) and over-the-top (OTT) services to provide an HDR version of content with even a greater speed to market.

Kirk Barker —Technicolor

Beyond the service provider community, Technicolor is also working with big players in the consumer electronics arena.

“We believe it’s very important to create the best possible displays. That’s why we’ve teamed with partners like LG. The distribution can be done in a way that provides both high-quality SDR signals and high-quality HDR signals, in a compression-efficient manner that is distributed in a way that can be supported from an operational perspective. And that’s why we’re working with partners like SK Broadband,” says Barker.

“Finally, on the production side, it is fine that you can display great content and can distribute great content, but you actually have to create great content. And that’s where we’re working with our partners on the production trucks and on the grading of content to make sure that we really get that part right as well. If we’re not able to produce a really stunning sports game in HDR, then it won’t matter that you have these great TVs.”

To listen to the podcast or read the full Q&A with Kirk Barker 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 +1 323 817 7547 Lane.cooper@technicolor.com
Andre Rodriguez +1 323 817 6716 andre.rodriguez@technicolor.com
Photo: https://www.prlog.org/12642244/1

MEDIA ADVISORY – Zixi’s Eric Bolten: Delivering Broadcast Quality HDR Video Services Over IP

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 00:41:24 +0000

MEDIA ADVISORY – Zixi’s Eric Bolten: Delivering Broadcast Quality HDR Video Services Over IP

New Opportunities to Create Critical Technological and Economic Scale for Service Providers

AMSTERDAM – Sept. 12, 2016—Video software platform company, Zixi, has been delivering video traffic for broadcasters over the Internet for almost ten years and is now meeting the increased demands of HDR video. Its Vice President of Business Development, Eric Bolten, says Internet technologies will be essential because traditional technologies will not be sufficiently flexible and cost-effective. Zixi has been working with Technicolor to demonstrate how High Dynamic Range content can be delivered as part of comprehensive commercial broadcast offerings.

“Delivering true broadcast level contribution with the flexibility and cost structure of the Internet without giving up anything in terms of stability, reliability, security, and latency will be critical across live events, live linear and cloud delivery,” Bolten says.

Technicolor recently worked with Zixi to deliver a 20Mbps HDR signal from Denver to Los Angeles for Time Warner Communications to show a live Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game.

Zixi uses a series of advanced transmission protocols with error correction, error protection, and congestion avoidance routines to enable transmission of broadcast-quality video, but, Bolten explains, HDR presents a new set of challenges.

“By using a series of error correction routines—while being content and network-aware—Zixi is able to effectively turn the unmanaged open Internet into a video network that can deliver the highest quality of services that allows for perfect video signal with the super stability that is required by broadcasters. This is very important with HDR because any disruption of the compressed stream is going to have a greater impact on the quality of the signal than with other technologies,” says Bolten.

He says IP technologies will be essential to meet future demands of broadcasters as consumers’ appetite for video grows.

Technicolor will be demonstrating a wide array of technologies addressed by Bolten during the IBC 2016 conference in Amsterdam September 9 – September 14, 2016.

For access to the full Q&A and to learn about emerging views on the entertainment technology marketplace, click here: http://thefuturetrust.technicolor.com/article/the-future-of-storytelling/hdr-over-ip-delivering-broadcast-quality-hdr-video-services-over-the-internet-creates-critical-technological-and-economic-scale/
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 +1 323 817 7547 Lane.cooper@technicolorpr.com