HDR10+ initiativet har nu 45 medlemmer, der spænder tv-producenter, indholdsleverandører, Hollywood-studier og andre typer selskaber. Bl.a. TCL, Hisense og ARM har meldt sig på banen. IMAX var med i første udsendelse, men logoet blev senere fjernet.
HDR10+ økosystemet
Forud for CES 2019 har Samsung annonceret, at HDR10+ økosystemet nu tæller 45 branchemedlemmer. HDR10+ er et licensfrit HDR-videoformat og er blevet promoveret som et direkte alternativ til Dolby Vision.
- “With HDR emerging as one of the most important technologies for ultra-high picture quality, Samsung’s HDR10+ format is gaining recognition,” sagde Hyogun Lee, EVP, Samsung Visual Display Business. “HDR10+ has already been well-received by major companies across a variety of industries. Samsung will continue to build on this, solidifying our HDR standard technology leadership and maintaining our presence in the global TV market.”
20th Century Fox og Warner Bros har begge bebudet, at de agter at frigive indhold i HDR10+. Der er stadig intet nyt fra Fox, men ”Warner Bros. Home Entertainment har skabt over 70 HDR10+ kompatible titler indtil videre og planlægger at have over 100 titler klar til digital distribution i HDR10+ i starten af det nye år”, lyder det.
TCL og Hisense har også sluttet sig til HDR10+ initiativet, men det lader til at være begrænset til det kinesiske marked – i hvert fald indtil videre. Samsung åbner det første HDR10+ certificeringscenter i Kina og de to kinesiske tv-producenter vil benytte centret til at få certificeret produkter. TCL og Hisense har begge særskilte modelprogrammer for USA og Europa og det står ikke klart fra pressemeddelelsen, hvorvidt disse modeller også får HDR10+. Begge selskaber støtter allerede op om Dolby Vision.
IMAX-logoet blev fjernet
IMAX var inkluderet i den første udsendelse af pressemeddelelsen, som det kan ses på billedet herover. Selskabets logo er senere blevet fjernet. IMAX har sammen med DTS skabt ’IMAX Enhanced’ programmet og de første UHD Blu-ray-skiver, som er udgivet i IMAX Enhanced er også de første skiver i HDR10+.
Indholdstudier og udbydere såsom Rakuten, Megogo, Arspro og viv har allerede frigivet eller frigiver snart indhold i HDR10+.
Afslutningsvis bekræftes det, at ARM har sluttet sig til initiativet samt at Snapdragon 855 bliver Qualcomms første chip med HDR10+.
HDR10+ gør brug af dynamiske metadata til at optimere videokvalitet scene-for-scene, på samme måde som Dolby Vision fungerer. HDR10+ genererer automatisk disse dynamiske metadata i forbindelse med, at indholdet skabes. Det er samtidig LG og Sonys primære argument for ikke at støtte op om HDR10+. De påpeger, at samme effekt kan opnåes ved at bruge såkaldt dynamisk tone-mapping i selve tv-skærmen, når denne modtager normal HDR10-video.
HDR10+ formatet er skabt af Samsung og senere lagt over i et separat selskab kaldet HDR10+ Technologies, der står for at administrere certificering og licensering. Samsung har vedhæftet baggrundsinformation om HDR10+, som er inkluderet i uredigeret format i tabellen herunder.
Samsung: Historien bag HDR10+
How It All Started
It all started with a proprietary tone-mapping technology that was developed by the Digital Media Solutions Lab back in 2016.
The tone-mapping algorithm was unique as it was the first in the industry to automatically optimize colors in each scene on displays with limited dynamic range. While the team had originally planned to use the technology as a picture quality differentiator for future products, later that year, when the idea of dynamic tone mapping being the next big thing for HDR10 was the subject of intense debate within the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), the team decided to utilize the technology to develop a new industry standard. A standard that would accommodate device manufacturers, studios and chipmakers, and offer each the freedom they need to innovate.
- “We didn’t set out to build an industry standard from the beginning,” Kim explained. “It was the result of having the right technology in our hands at a time when it was most needed. We knew that by opening it up to the industry, we could accelerate the adoption of a ground-breaking innovation that would truly do justice to creators and their content.”
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The Challenges
Despite the team’s optimism, creating a new standard was a challenge at first. Even with headquarters and managements’ support at the time, some within the company were skeptical as to whether Samsung would be able to create a viable industry standard that could be adopted by studios, chipmakers and device manufacturers.
- “It was a tough call, but we all understood the significance of creating a new standard,” said Kim. “There was a lot of debate, but everyone came around when they realized that by creating a new standard, we’d also be keeping our promise to our consumers. If the industry relied on just one standard, it would be difficult to update previous HDR10 products.”
The biggest technological challenges laid in creating a mathematical curve that could be used as a base for tone mapping each scene, and figuring out a way to parameterize it into a set of data that could serve as a universal descriptor to represent the tone mapping behavior for a given scene. The mathematical curve not only needed to be optimized for every possible scene, it also needed to be flexible enough to do so. It was therefore important that the team find a curve that would cater to the way studios tend to map their tones: fragmented.
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Creating a New Standard
After months of research and multiple simulations, the team, led by Dr. Li Tao, finally landed on a mathematical curve that was flexible enough to do the job.
The idea was to mimic the way that studios edit scenes. The Bézier curve turned out to be the perfect choice for replicating fragmentation, which meant that it would represent creators’ intentions more precisely. However, before they could utilize the curve as a base for creating dynamic metadata through mathematical optimization, the team would have to modify it first. It was at this point that they had the innovative idea to enhance its flexibility by transforming the two-dimensional curve to a one-dimensional data set.
With this increased flexibility came the ability to create optimized tone-mapping curves for each scene. By combining this with an algorithm that automatically transforms each curve into metadata, the team created a powerful tool that would allow Samsung’s TVs to offer consumers truly immersive viewing experiences.
Using the analogy of a master chef sharing a prized recipe, Kim explained the technology’s potential to change the way consumers experience content.
- “Imagine a chef’s culinary masterpiece, turned into a recipe for the ordinary household kitchen,” said Kim. “Imagine that the recipe is so precise that anyone can use it to create a near-perfect dish. Now, imagine a tool that writes this recipe automatically – instead of the chef – and for all types of cuisines. Finally, imagine that, once they buy the ingredients, the recipe becomes available to anyone.
- “Samsung has not only created the standard for writing the ‘recipe,’ but the tool as well,” Kim continued. “But in order for this to happen, we need the ‘chefs’ (the studios), the ‘groceries’ (content providers) and the ‘cooks’ at home (device and chip manufacturers) to all work together.” |
