NAB 2023: New "Diffuse White" Feature from Advanced HDR by Technicolor Enables Effective and Dynamic Graphics Management for Live Sports

LAS VEGAS - April 15, 2023 - PRLog -- - NAB 2023 – A new "diffuse white" feature in the Advanced HDR by Technicolor that enhances the ability to dynamically manage graphics inserted into live sports broadcasts that include standard dynamic range (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) formats will be showcased during the NAB 2023 conference at Cobalt Digital's booth #C2108.

As broadcasters explore the opportunities offered by HDR, production workflows must adapt to the growing complexities associated with supporting the delivery of content in today's hybrid market of HDR and SDR TVs used in homes, restaurants and sports bars across the world, according to InterDigital's David Touzé, System Architect for Research and Engineering, and Valérie Allié, Group Director of Video Solutions, in a podcast interview for journalists.

"Graphics insertion has presented constraints for broadcasters seeking to adopt a single master workflow that integrates HDR and SDR content. As graphics are inserted in the HDR single master, graphics must be properly managed and remain stable when converted to the SDR output stream," explained Touzé.

"Dynamic down-mapping, enabled by the new Advanced HDR by Technicolor feature, addresses this challenge, ensuring graphics remain stable in down-converted SDR streams and still maintain the creative intent of the HDR content," he added.

Dynamic Single Workflow from Advanced HDR by Technicolor

The new Advanced HDR by Technicolor feature enhances broadcasters' ability to effectively -- and dynamically -- manage luminance levels to deliver the best image quality across HDR and SDR content. It will help broadcasters and content creators better manage conversions between SDR and HDR by carefully managing luminance levels," said Touzé.

"With the new feature, all the HDR content below that HDR diffuse-white-setting is dynamically down-converted to SDR, up to the SDR diffuse white setting. This ensures the most appropriate conversion and allows content creators and broadcasters to adjust the content's brightness, saturation, and contrast. All the specular HDR content above HDR diffuse-white-settings are converted to SDR above the SDR diffuse white setting, allowing the preservation of highlights," he explained.

The new feature represents a significant development in how the broadcast industry manages the rapid transition from SDR to HDR content.

Live sports are an area where HDR has become mainstream. However, even when the production is in HDR, there is still a need for delivery in both HDR and SDR. This means the constraint to produce HDR and SDR simultaneously on complex workflows is still part of the overall production and broadcast equation.

"Companies like Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) are moving forward rapidly to enable dozens of their affiliate stations in the United States to broadcast 24 hours a day in ATSC 3.0 and HDR, including live sporting events from SBG's sports properties such as the Tennis Channel," said Allié.

As more content is captured in HDR, a growing requirement exists to create streamlined workflows in which a single master production for HDR content can be seamlessly down-converted to SDR.

"This is very important because there are still a lot of SDR devices in the market. But we have to ensure the complete coverage of end-user devices in a technically-effective and cost-efficient manner. A single workflow for producing HDR and SDR is critical for this to happen," she concluded.

About Advanced HDR by Technicolor

Advanced HDR by Technicolor® is a suite of High Dynamic Range (HDR) production, distribution and display solutions that leverages machine learning (ML) technology to maximize image quality and enhance the consumer viewing experience. There are two major components to Advanced HDR by Technicolor:

• The Intelligent Tone Management (ITM) tool 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.
• The Single Layer HDR (SL-HDR) is 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 starting from any mix of input content (such as live, movies, news) across a wide range of HDR formats (HDR10, HLG, S-LOG3). SL-HDR1 transforms HDR input streams into SDR-plus-metadata streams. SL-HDR compatible receivers provide consumers with high-quality HDR images that can be adapted to optimize the display capabilities of their devices. Thanks to the unique backward compatibility feature of SL-HDR1, consumers who do not have HDR devices can enjoy the highest quality SDR experience.