HDR & the Future of Content Creation Date:   Friday , June 05, 2015 Technicolor SA (TCH.PA) is a provider of services and products for the communication, media & entertainment industries. This Issy-les-Moulineaux, France headquartered company has a current market capitalization of €2.02 billion. Image quality is continually evolving and has a huge role to play in the future of content creation and delivery. The next big revolution in entertainment is High Dynamic Range (HDR) which will offer consumers TV’s and set-top boxes that provide much more vivid, colourful and lifelike entertainment experiences. While HDR is the acronym in the spotlight, it is actually part of a group of technologies that electronic companies will begin to support, whether through new codecs or capabilities in silicon. Better pixels - not just more pixels and brightness alone - are the key to unlocking the best viewing experiences. HDR gives extra contrast and perceived sharpness that reveals details in the darkest and lightest parts of an image that would not otherwise be seen. While increasing brightness plays a role in adding highlight detail, at Technicolor, we believe that enhancing dark shadow images is equally important. HDR technology allows us to both “raise the ceiling” on brightness and “drop the floor”, to the point where dark blacks and grey gradients reveal incredible detail that the consumer has never before been able to see. These improvements in dynamic range go hand-in-hand with other experience-enhancement technologies like Wide Colour Gamut (which expands the colour palette for creatives and TVs beyond those that are seen on TV today) and Higher Frame Rate (swapping the standard 24 frames per second for up to 60 frames per second which enables much smoother movement, which is especially useful for sports content). However, while this development continues to be exciting and full of opportunity, there is the risk of fragmentation where numerous players are involved in the creation and delivery of content into the home. Too many different visions and competing fiefdoms will not create an environment where products can be developed easily, can inter-operate together and are well understood by the consumers that buy them. The importance of industry standards Standards are imperative to help give consumers the confidence to buy into a new technology knowing that an entire ecosystem is supporting that new standard. The belief at Technicolor is that no one company can build the infrastructure for future storytelling experiences alone, and that true innovation is unleashed when companies can innovate on top and compete to improve on a given standard. Consequently, an open, collaborative framework is essential to harnessing the technological capacity of contributors, mobilizing innovation and promoting integration by the entire value chain. Companies can then create and build using standards with the confidence that their offerings will inter-operate seamlessly. Everyone involved across the value chain – CE manufacturers, Network Service Providers, Over-The-Top providers, device OEMs and more – must be able to innovate and invest in new technologies that work together in the same ecosystem. With that firmly in mind, we are advocating for open, scalable standards and actively participating in standard bodies to create a baseline for consistent product experiences that deliver HDR, Wide Colour Gamuts, High Frame Rates and combine those benefits with 4K UltraHD resolution. At Technicolor, we’ve developed our own milestones in HDR to break down the last remaining barriers for HDR to come to market and enable the viability of the ecosystem as a whole. These include HDR grading services (for both existing and new content) and software licensing that empowers content creators and broadcasters with next generation video capabilities. A set-top box is also in development for pay-TV operators that runs in Ultra High Definition and utilises High Frame Rate and High Dynamic Range. But it’s also important that we collaborate with our partners, and even our competitors, to push for these standards. The UHD Alliance is one such coalition of companies united in that goal that span the content, technology, distribution and display industries, and it sees Technicolor working alongside members including DIRECTV, LG, Netflix, Samsung, Sony, Disney, Fox and Warner Bros to establish standards in next generation video technology. Imaging quality is a priority, with 4K and higher resolutions, HDR, WCG and other features coming under consideration like 3D audio. Ultimately, the objective is to help consumers benefit from a seamless, integrated and high-quality next generation video ecosystem. Consumers require confidence that they will be able to watch the content they want on their devices, and companies in this space must provide a suitable migration path for them towards HDR-ready products. There are numerous examples of success stories fuelled by standards, without which consumers wouldn’t be able to do some of the things they take for granted. For example, MPEG enables us to get rid of old VHS tapes and replace them with an infinite library of digital HD videos, while surfing online from the sofa via wireless laptop is made possible by the interoperability work of the Wi-Fi IEEE standards and Wi-Fi Alliance, Likewise, GSM standards have made it commonplace to share photos with those back home – while still on holiday, and LTE standards will continue to make that a seamless experience. HEVC video and audio compression will also be on a huge number of TVs, PCs and mobile devices over the coming years to offer better delivery of content (either more content in less bandwidth, or better content in the same bandwidth). With standards in place to set a baseline in image fidelity, companies from all parts of the value chain will then innovate on top of those specifications. The implementation of standards not only improves the consumer experience and makes different technologies usable together, but also kick-starts the ecosystem in terms of innovation. As these technologies continue to evolve, we anticipate companies will strive for even higher levels of excellence that deliver a video experience that will surpass anything that consumers have seen before. Technicolor, with its 100 years of experience across content creation, special effects in movies, encoding and delivery, through to set top boxes and video streaming via the M-Go service, is uniquely placed to understand the need for standards and collaborate with others to make those a reality.