Announcement

**Peter CINERAMAX** · 06-30-2015, 04:24 PM

Technicolor Demonstrates World’s First UHD HDR Set-Top Box
2-1Unveiled at CES 2015, Technicolor’s innovative Ultra HD 4K set-top box embeds High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. The combination of HDR with founding membership in the UHD Alliance Technicolor Becomes Founding Member of UHD demonstrates Technicolor’s commitment to provide the most immersive 4K experience, from content creation to home viewing.

The Technicolor HDR solution offers a best-in-class consumer experience, as well as more realistic images, richer colors, and higher contrasts

Technicolor topped its 2014 demonstrations of HDR technology on an HD set-top box with this year’s showing of decompression and decoding, in real time, of an Ultra HD and HDR stream in a set-top box.

Pay TV and OTT providers were impressed by the video quality of the set-top box, which implements Technicolor’s unique single layer HDR algorithms and leading compression technology. Many requested additional demonstrations at their premises as well an internal field trials for further evaluation.

Technicolor engineers are already developing the next generation of UHD HDR set-top boxes for optimized HDR solutions. With key customers and partners looking at HDR as a key differentiator, Technicolor targets first deployment of UHD HDR set-top boxes for the end of this year.

**Peter CINERAMAX** · 06-30-2015, 04:26 PM

Technicolor: HDR Adoption For 4K UHD Needs To Be Open
June 15th, 2015 · No Comments · 2160p, 4K Flat Panel, 4K LED LCD, HDR, News, UHDTV

Mark_Turner_Technicolor

The process of selecting standards and specifications for next-generation 4K Ultra HDTVs supporting picture quality advances, including wide color gamut (WCG) and high dynamic range (HDR), continues within multi-industry organizations including the Ultra HD Alliance and the Consumer Electronics Association.

For an update on how things are progressing and how quickly HDR content can be produced after decisions are reached, we caught up with Mark Turner, Technicolor business development VP.

Read more of our interview with Mark Turner of Technicolor after the jump:

Experts believe that HDR and WCG will deliver picture quality enhancements that will present a visible difference comparable to the transition from analog to high-definition television. Among other things, HDR will bring out details in areas of high brightness and dark blacks to make 4K Ultra HD images look more like the natural world, while WCG will increase color accuracy, particularly in shades of green, blue-green, yellow-green and reds.

Two of the biggest contributors to the HDR standards-setting process and the developers of various tools that will be used to encode HDR content are Dolby Labs and Technicolor, both members of the UHD Alliance. Dolby has announced plans for a system with the option of using dual layers of metadata to support both new HDR-enabled TVs and legacy sets that aren’t equipped to display it. Content owners would also have the option of using a single layer with HDR support alone.

Dolby is contributing to the next-generation standards for creating, encoding and displaying HDR data, and it is working individually with companies including Vizio and Warner Bros. to deliver its approach on its own.

Technicolor is looking for a more “open solution,” Turner said, adding that his company’s driving belief is that “no one company can build the infrastructure for future storytelling experiences alone.”

The following is our interview with Turner:

Q: Which HDR format(s) does Technicolor support for industry adoption through the UHD Alliance and elsewhere?

We support an open HDR standard that complies with the UHD Alliance specification and can be used on any display. This should include SMPTE 2086 metadata to allow the receiving device to understand and adjust the content according to the mastering display. We don’t believe our content-owning customers are best served by creating proprietary HDR grades that only work within certain closed ecosystems.

Q: We’ve heard that once an HDR format specification is selected for broad-based distribution, Technicolor will have tools available for postproduction, encoding etc. Can you explain what these tools are, how they will work and how quickly they can be brought up to speed to begin content production?

A: Technicolor offers solutions for every segment of the HDR content creation and delivery ecosystem, including HDR grading services, modems optimized for streaming complex content and HDR set-top boxes. This is a part of our ongoing commitment to enable HDR across all aspects of content creation and distribution.

In April we announced an expansion to Technicolor’s color grading service offering, which now includes native HDR grading for movies, TV shows and commercials. HDR color grading services are available at our Hollywood location (that is from RAW or ungraded assets) and we have already started delivering to studio and TV clients. We will be rolling out globally later this year.

We also announced an Intelligent Tone Management plugin for major color grading platforms for content that is not traditionally created at Technicolor facilities. This plugin is on track to be broadly available later this summer across multiple popular color grading platforms including Autodesk’s Lustre and an OpenFX version for Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve. The Intelligent Tone Management plugin speeds the work of colorists by automatically moving Standard Dynamic Range content into an HDR space and auto keying the image into highlights, mid tones and shadows to allow an unparalleled level of control to create an HDR ‘look’. The new Technicolor Intelligent Tone Management plugin will accelerate the creation of HDR content by giving broadcasters and content owners new options to efficiently produce HDR content in real time.

To make HDR content delivery a reality for network service providers, we are also developing the world’s first UHD, High-Frame-Rate (p60), HDR set-top box. Designed on an open standard that ensures the creative vision behind every piece of content is seamlessly delivered to the consumer as intended, the Technicolor 4Kp60 optimizes and simplifies the operator transition to UHD. The box decodes both HDR and Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) versions of the same content using Technicolor’s backwards-compatible, single-stream HEVC solution for HDR delivery and integrates seamlessly with content graded to the open standards of the UHD Alliance. With this solution, operators will be able to deploy a single set-top box that will accommodate both current SDR customers and continue to support them through the transition to next generation video technologies.

With the understanding that delivery of HDR content also requires increased bandwidth, we have developed the DOCSIS 3.1 MediaAccess TC4400 cable device. Currently in lab testing with major cable providers, the device is one of the first products to utilize DOCSIS 3.1 technology to enable downstream speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s and upstream speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s while conserving bandwidth and maintaining energy efficiency.

Q: Can you say how many different HDR encode tools (software/hardware) are out there now and will likely be used for HDR content production?

A: Many HDR production tools, such as editing and color-grading systems, can already be used to manipulate HDR images without modification. The challenges tend to be around the supply of HDR professional monitors that allow creatives to see the whole dynamic range that they’re working on. With regard to encoders for delivery, HEVC encoders must be able to support HDR EOTFs (Electro-Optical Tranfer Function, used to turn digital code into visible light), 10 bits, UHD resolution, a Rec. 2020 color space, and SMPTE 2086 metadata. We’re working with some of the largest encoding partners to optimize their products to be able to offer a better HDR signal and also integrate an SDR grade.

Q: Will these systems also work with wide color gamut material? How is that going to be added to the file?

Utilizing wide color gamut is mainly a case of using a display in production that allows a creative artist to see a broader range of color. Currently we’re grading HDR content in a DCI-P3 color space (with a D65 white point instead of cinema’s D55 white point) and that is contained within a Rec. 2020 container. As there are no production monitors that can effectively create all of the Rec. 2020 color space and we can’t grade to a percentage of a specification, we are using P3 for which we can be assured we’re getting 100 percent of the coverage on our pro-monitors.

Q: What’s Technicolor’s position on backward compatibility with standard dynamic range products and is a single-layer approach better than a dual-layer to accomplish this?

A: Direct backwards compatibility is a key feature for pay-TV operators, broadcasters and even OTT providers who want to use only one file that can deliver both HDR and SDR. The word direct is key because the SDR content must be viewable by currently deployed HEVC decoders without modification.

Technicolor successfully demonstrated a single-layer solution (which requires only one MPEG HEVC encoder and decoder on the device) with Sinclair broadcasting. That system was designed for the new ATSC 3.0 standard for U.S. and Korean broadcast systems and delivered 1080p HDR and SDR in a single stream (plus an enhancement layer that added in 4K resolution for those consumers/devices that could decode it). SDR devices receive the HD resolution content they receive today and HDR devices receive the HDR signal, all within one HEVC-compliant stream. Our Connected Home division is also testing a set-top box that offers the same functionality with pay-TV operators.

Q: How many HDR formats do you ultimately expect to be approved for broad-based use and with which delivery methods (streaming, UHD Blu-ray etc)?

A: We expect availability of UHD Blu-ray discs later this year as well as OTT services offering HDR content on streaming and download. M-GO, which is a joint venture between Technicolor and Dreamworks Animation, has already announced an HDR OTT (over-the-top) service will be coming in 2015. We expect the first pay-TV operators to deploy non-linear HDR services by the fall in various markets with a broader rollout and linear channels next year. In late 2016 and 2017 the broadcast systems should also start deploying HDR services, all of which will likely be based on MPEG HEVC 10-bit delivery.

Q: Will streaming or UHD Blu-ray make for better HDR delivery platforms?

A: We believe there’s room for all players. Blu-ray discs are designed to offer the highest bitrate and therefore quality and we expect UHD Blu-ray to be no different. Alternatively, OTT and pay-TV services have more bandwidth constraints but balance that with larger libraries of content and instant accessibility on multiple devices

Q: How many camera stops do you expect the final home-delivered HDR solutions to support? Are there any particular camera solutions Technicolor endorses for HDR capture?

A: We don’t endorse any particular camera system for HDR but we do recommend cinematographers capture 14 stops or more of dynamic range so that HDR grading for the home can be delivered in the region of 8-10 f stops (which is significantly better than the 5-6 f stops we’re seeing today).

**Peter CINERAMAX** · 06-30-2015, 04:36 PM

TECHNICOLOR PARTICIPATES IN VOLVO OCEAN BOAT RACE TEST OF HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE AND 3D AUDIO ULTRA HD
June 26, 2015
Technicolor and 6 other technology providers from the French region Brittany participated in the first television channel demonstration of High Dynamic Range (HDR) p50 and 3D audio Ultra HD coverage of the French stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race, mid of June, and successfully showcased these next generation technologies at the race village.

Technicolor, Envivio, Images & Réseaux, Orange, SeaEvents, TDF, and Thomson Video Networks brought their talent together to test a full end-to-end TV channel that takes into account the most advanced technologies including binaural sound to enable immersive 3D rendering High Dynamic Range for greater image brightness levels and High Frame Rate technology at 50 frames per second, adding fluidity to traveling camera movements and to slow motion scenes.
Installed in the Brittany region office for the duration of the Lorient stopover, the next-gen Ultra HD HDR demonstration included a comparison of the same footage, presented in 4K UHD. The demonstration received highly positive feedbacks from general public and professionals who were really impressed by the image quality perceived in HDR.
For the event, Technicolor provided the following support:
Disposal of F65 cameral and support for binaural sound capture for the film shooting
Calibration and HDR processing including backward compatibility with all screens,
Decoding and display in HDR via our Technicolor 4K Ultra HD HDR set-top boxes,
Support for the local demonstration in Lorient including materials (screens and 4K/HD set-top boxes) and human (demo installation/dismantling, demo presenter)
Taking part to this project enables Technicolor to further promote its involvement in next generation Ultra HD technologies and commitment to shape the future of entertainment.
For more information on the event, don’t hesitate to have a look at the following:
The photo below is from the demonstration at the race village:

The press coverage in French : http://www.lemag-numerique.com/2015/06/experimentation-ultra-haute-definition-a-loccasion-de-la-volvo-ocean-race-7491
Some articles about the Volvo Ocean Race Ultra HD HDR Test: http://www.digitaltveurope.net/385052/ultra-hd-high-dynamic-range-demo-staged-in-france/
http://www.envivio.com/press-releases/volvo-ocean-race/
The Volvo Ocean Race website:http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html

**Peter CINERAMAX** · 06-30-2015, 04:44 PM

UHD, HDR, WCG Offer New Options for Content Creators and Consumers

2DownloadSHARE:TwitterFacebookG+Linkedin
19 MAY 2015
Josh Limor
Josh Limor – Senior Director of Product Development for Industry Video Technology Licensing, Technicolor

Ultra high definition (UHD), Higher Dynamic Range (HDR), and Wider Color Gamut (WCG) are taking the video experience market by storm these days. But these video-enhancing technologies are much more than buzzwords. In fact, these new technologies will create new opportunities – particularly for content creators. So says Josh Limor, Senior Director of Product Development for Industry Video Technology Licensing, Technicolor. Limor sat down with Technicolor’s The Future Trust (TFT), to discuss the immediate impact that these technologies can have on the evolving relationship between content creators and consumers.
TFT: We have seen a lot of buzz around UHD, HDR, WCG and other technologies that are coming down the pike. What do you see as the key opportunities for the content-creation community?

Limor: Every new technology creates new opportunities for the creative community to use that palette to tell their story in new ways. Technologies like WCG or HDR further open up the palette that is available to the colorist, cinematographer or storyteller.

TFT: What value-adds do these technologies deliver to the industry?

Limor: For years, we have been limited by how much contrast we can put on the screen. HDR offers significantly more contrast available in your image. This is important when you consider that colorists and cinematographers paint with light. By giving them additional light – more stops, more contrast for them to paint with – they can create a more dynamic image. WCG is similar: if we increase the spectrum of colors that are available, then the creative talent can take better advantage of color. As they create a scene, they can come up with more realistic colors and more accurate representations of colors that we are used to seeing in real life.

TFT: How well developed are these technologies we’re talking about?

Limor: Right now, HDR is more focused on the home viewer. The opportunity for movie makers depends on how it is distributed to the home. Today, when you create content for the theater, you also expect that it will be distributed as home video content by cable networks, OTT and Pay TV companies. That being said, as we engage with any new technology, it’s important to be mindful of current technology in the market place.

As these new technologies enter the market place millions of people still have the current technology. It’s going to be very important for the creative community to ensure their stories and content is appropriately tailored for the millions of viewers that have traditional displays. This means that while we can create new types of content that take advantage of HDR, we always need to be aware of how this content is going to be consumed.

TFT: So we’re talking about multiple versions of the same content?

Limor: There will be a need for a traditional home video master for the foreseeable future, as well as HDR masters for those who can take advantage of it. These different mediums create new choices for content creators that offer opportunities to make different choices. When you create SDR, you make choices about what that image will look like to help tell the story; With HDR you may make different choices to tell the same story.

TFT: Is the creative community aware of the capabilities of HDR and WCG and how and where they should be used?

Limor: WCG and HDR technologies are very new, so it will take time for people to learn how to take advantage of them. But the creative community is very interested in the new tools that are available to them. As these become available, artists will start playing with the content to see what it can do for their story.

But there is also the other side of the coin. Once the consumer starts to see what a difference HDR and WCG can make to their viewing experience, we believe adoption will happen pretty quickly. This is because when an HDR/WCG experience is next to an SDR one the difference is very compelling. It is actually very similar to the difference we felt when High Definition experiences were first introduced and compared to Standard Definition. When you looked at a High Definition image, looking at a Standard Definition image didn’t look quite right anymore.

TFT: Speaking more generally, how will technologies like HDR and WCG remove limitations from the creative community and ensure that the consumer has a better experience?

Limor: WCG is a good example of how we can remove limitations from what the consumer at home has been able to see. To date,the color gamut for home video and television has been limited more than for cinema and to a standard defined by Rec. 709.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the International Telecommunications Union Recommendation BT.709 which set parameter values for the HDTV standards for production and international program exchange. It is important to note that theaters have had available to them a wider color gamut of P3. These different gamuts mean the content has to be shaped differently.]

With new WCG technologies and new displays coming into the marketplace, we’re going to open that up. By opening it up to P3, it means that different colors will now be available to the creative community than they had before.

TFT: As technologies have advanced over the years, new capabilities have sparked a desire to re-master content. How do HDR and WCG fit into these trends?

Limor: HDR and WCG are two examples of technology that make people want to take advantage of new capabilities with their content. We believe this will cause content owners to re-master their libraries, and for consumers to want the access to content they love in Higher Dynamic Range and/or a Wider Color Gamut. People who have experienced a movie in a certain way, now have the opportunity to experience it in a completely new realm. As we open up the dynamic range, we have more contrast available; or as we open up the color gamut, we have more colors available. The feeling of the movie experience can be expanded beyond its previous limits.

It is important to understand that many of the cameras that have existed for a while have been capable of capturing more dynamic range than you’ve seen on the screen. Now, with these new technologies, consumers will be able to take advantage of them. This is a great opportunity for content owners. They can now go back and re-master existing content, expanding the range of what is available on the screen.

TFT: What should the creative community do to prepare for HDR and WCG?

Limor: I think it’s important to be mindful of new technology as it enters the marketplace. It may have an effect on how you shoot your content.

Even if you’re not creating HDR or WCG content today, there’s an advantage to educate yourself about what that content means. With this understanding, you may want to shoot slightly differently; you might want to protect a little bit more of what has been captured by your camera, knowing that eventually you might want to make an HDR or WCG image out of it.

The most important part of the creative process is ensuring that the audience receives the story you want them to receive. As we create these new types of content with these new types of technology, we want to be mindful of what sort of devices these are going to be seen on, and how people are going to see it. We need to make sure what we want to convey is actually represented on the devices as they’re meant to be consumed.

**Peter CINERAMAX** · 06-30-2015, 04:46 PM

Impact of UHD, HDR, WCG Alters the Economics of Entertainment
– Timothy Dodd

Join the conversationDownloadSHARE:TwitterFacebookG+Linkedi n
23 SEPTEMBER 2014
A Conversation with Timothy Dodd, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Technicolor

Technologies that introduce the new generation of enhanced visual and audio entertainment experiences affect every player in the content value chain.

To get a sense of how content owners and creators will be affected by the introduction of 4K/Ultra-High Definition (UHD), High- Dynamic Range (HDR), Wide Color Gamut (WCG), High Frame Rate (HFR) and other technologies, we caught up with Tim Dodd, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Technicolor. Here is what he had to say:
Over the past few months, we have seen a significant amount of breaking news about technological developments that will define our entertainment experiences. Can you help us understand how content owners and developers – especially the studio community – is absorbing these new trends?

Tim: These new developments are setting up some very interesting decision points for executives in the studio community. As you know, making and distributing high-grade professional content has always, is now, and will probably forever be an expensive proposition. The fact that more casual content – those produced by consumers with increasingly capable technology that is increasingly affordable – only ups the ante on what people expect when they pay for content. So, to some extent, it goes without saying that studios are very interested in new technology developments in visual and audio quality and fidelity. Doubtlessly, they will be embraced.

The questions are when and how? And the answer to those questions revolves around the economics of entertainment creation and distribution. When we talk about technology, it is tempting to focus almost exclusively on the future, and how things will be created and distributed from this point onward. Studios, however, have to be just as cognizant about the past. They need to understand how they can integrate previous investments in content, and their existing library of assets with the way new titles are created and distributed. These are very subtle and complicated issues.

After all, moving to 4K/UHD, and embracing HDR, WCG and HFR have immense production implications. They not only introduce new investments that need to be made in very sophisticated technologies, they also affect the way content is created, stored, managed and distributed.

To offset the costs associated with investments that can be measured in many millions of dollars for creation and distribution of new content, the studios have to figure out how to monetize a large library of existing content that itself has been enhanced for many, many years in response to several generations of technology development.

Can you illustrate with an example?

Tim: Sure. A studio like Warner Brothers, for instance, has a 90-year-old heritage. This means that there are thousands and thousands of movies in its catalog that are still producing revenues. One of the big questions facing a studio like this is: How do you keep monetizing that content in the context of these new enhanced experiences?

A significant percentage of this content has already been converted from film to be optimized for video tapes, and later to DVD as well as Blu-Ray. These conversions have been expensive, but create a return on investment when the implementation of these conversions are tied to consumer expectations, and their willingness to pay for historical titles in new formats.

But now we are seeing the distribution channel itself undergoing through a serious and dramatic paradigm shift…especially when you consider that many of these titles are now available from over-the-top (OTT) providers. There are thousands of hours of television and film that are available over services like Netflix or broadcast TV stations and on a seemingly infinite variety of new platforms that are popping up on the market. The key question for studios is: How do you keep re-monetizing that content, and make it more attractive to consumers?

What impact will UHD, HDR, WCG and other similar technologies that enhance fidelity and output have on content production and operations?

Tim: From a content point of view on the operations side, these immersive media affect quite a few elements in the workflow. Taken to their fullest, these immersive media can, for example, affect the creative process behind a piece of content. Because new options are introduced, creative people have a greater canvas to work on.

It will very definitely alter the way that content is shot. The director of photography will now have the ability to exploit and display a lot more color and brightness, and a lot more detail. And with detail come lots of other things; everything from the acuity and accuracy of digital shots and visual effects, to the lighting and photography of physical scenes is altered by the introduction of these technologies. These create new decision points for creative people when setting scenes and telling stories using these new immersive media.

Another example – I believe you’ll also see a change in the way that colorists work. Their work will be greatly enhanced by these new technologies. As new technologies are deployed to truly deliver a ‘what you see is what you get’ across theatrical, home and mobile consumption experienced, it will have a huge impact on the editing world. The edit bay will be transformed. You’ll have a much broader dynamic range of color and content and brightness that you can show viewers.

Lastly, the whole content operations flow will change. Studios are already storing and transferring petabytes of data internally from edit bays to mastering studios and other operations that are critical to delivering the final experience. As a result, the whole notion of capture and control will need to be revisited; we are talking about moving huge amount of content around. How this affects the production process will be very interesting and more intensive. The computing cycles required to handle this kind of content will be increased, and files sizes will be increased. The studio will start to look a lot more like an MIT laboratory than in the past, when content was moved around by guys who drove in golf carts with tapes in the back. Now you’ll just have networks carrying vast amounts of data around to different facilities on the lot –and to places like Technicolor – for processing.

How are studios looking at the evolution of standards for these new technologies?

Tim: This question, to me, represents an area with a lot of risk. In the trade press, there are many who love the idea of a format war. It introduces controversy and uncertainty. But the inability to come together around standards for the next generation of enhanced experiences is not good for the industry…nor is it good for consumers. In the final analysis, consumer uptake is the determining driver that will generate the demand necessary to provide the whole value-chain with returns on their investments. So in my view, it’s pretty important to get this figured out – and do it in a way that provides the ultimate satisfaction and confidence of choice to consumers.

From our point of view at Technicolor, we are working with every key player in each stage of the value-chain to ensure that we can end up with a standards environment that fosters innovation, while preserving and protecting consumer investments in technology to deliver the best possible entertainment experience.

**Peter CINERAMAX** · 08-06-2015, 08:29 AM

Technicolor has begun the process of rolling out its high dynamic range (HDR) grading offering in the UK and France.

The company’s Los Angeles facility already offers an HDR grading service which uses the company’s Intelligent Tone Management plugin with Autodesk’s Lustre and Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve grading systems.

“This European tour is the start of the process for the overseas market,” said Technicolor VP of partner relations and business development Mark Turner.

“The reason we are doing that now is because we are starting to see customer requests for [HDR], so we have to get it done.”

A version of the plugin for use with Filmlight’s Baselight - the grading system used by Technicolor in the UK - is in development. With the plugin’s tools replicated across platforms, Technicolor’s UK colourists have begun their training using Resolve.

Technicolor will offer three levels of service when its HDR offering launches in the UK later this year.

The first is an automated pass through the plugin, while the second is an automated pass with the addition of colourist adjusting some scenes. Both are suited to the remastering of content, Turner said.

The top-level service is a fully manual process completed by a colourist, ideally working with raw, 16-bit footage. Technicolor says this process is most suited to new films and TV shows with a large enough budget for an SDR and HDR grade.

As well as training colourists, Technicolor is equipping its grading suites with Samsung JS9500 screens for client approval and a 30-inch Sony BVM X300 reference monitor. “[The Sony monitors] are available in limited supply; getting enough professional monitors is one of the biggest issues for the industry,” added Turner.

The plugin is also available for use by other post firms and broadcasters to create HDR content in their own facilities.

HDR content is characterised by greater contrast, with richer colours and more details in shadows and highlights.

Amazon Prime offers some of its original content in HDR, while Netflix is expected to stream HDR content later this year.

Announcement

Technicolor Magic Rolls out at MPEG I hate when engineers dumbdown new concepts.

Technicolor Magic Rolls out at MPEG I hate when engineers dumbdown new concepts.

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment