Here is what he had to say.

Q: With demand for video entertainment content projected to remain strong — even in an uncertain economic 2023 — how will HDR support consumer engagement with broadcast TV and streaming services providers? 

Rick Dumont: We tend to assume that everyone knows what HDR is, but the reality is that many consumers need to understand the differences between high definition and high dynamic range. This is one of the biggest challenges that the market faces today. 

With the exception of the excellent progress made by the Sinclair Broadcast Group in the United States, there is limited high dynamic range content available on broadcast stations today. This is unfortunate because once people experience HDR, they immediately appreciate how a brighter image can deliver much more detail on the screen, resulting in a superior viewing experience. 

As a result, it will be necessary for the entire industry to work together to streamline the integration of HDR technologies into their production and distribution processes. The whole ecosystem must also work together to ensure a consistent and persistent message to consumers explaining the unique value proposition of HDR.

We are reaching a critical mass of consumers with high-definition TVs equipped with HDR capabilities. The next step is ensuring that HDR content is made available and that consumers are aware of the significant progress the entire industry is making to enhance the viewing experience. That will drive the second and third waves of consumer adoption.

Leaders in the industry must also work together to enhance the availability of HDR programming by upconverting content developed in standard dynamic range (SDR). TV manufacturers are already doing their utmost to convert the content they receive in SDR to HDR. This exposes consumers to an even broader spectrum of HDR experiences.

The challenge on this front is to ensure that two critical factors are addressed: 1) that viewers receive consistent, high-quality experiences; and 2) that the creative intent of content producers is respected and transmitted to HDR devices. 

The good news is that the industry is making excellent progress on this front. The work done by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC 3.0) is helping to resolve this challenge by integrating HDR — and specifically Advanced HDR by Technicolor — into their standard.

This helps to ensure that the original artistic vision is delivered and displayed in a consistently high-quality manner across all devices. True scalable success, however, requires effective — and automated — collaboration across the content creation, content capture, streaming distribution and broadcast communities.

Q: What is the role of component players — such as chipset manufacturers — in ensuring HDR-capable TVs are available across different regional markets?

Dumont:  The system on chip (SoC) community is critical in providing the primary processing capabilities needed to make TVs HDR capable. Chipset manufacturers are in the vanguard position of ensuring HDR components are integrated into today’s televisions. 

The capabilities of TV screens are also critical. Regarding HDR, screen performance is defined in units of brightness known as Nits. Most TV screens sold on 4K HDR TVs support nit levels of over one thousand nits. This is a massive improvement over standard dynamic range TVs, which only have a capacity for a few hundred nits. 

MediaTek and Realtek are among the SoC manufacturers embedding HDR capabilities into the next generation of TVs, while companies like Amlogic are integrating similar SoCs into set-top boxes, bridging the gap between TVs with and without ATSC 3.0 capabilities. These streaming boxes support chipsets that can process HDR by having consumers switch on the functionality.  

Q: Can you tell us about your involvement with Advanced HDR by Technicolor? 

Dumont:  Advanced HDR by Technicolor is a collaboration between Philips, InterDigital and Technicolor. It is a suite of high dynamic range production, distribution and display solutions that leverages machine learning to maximize the image quality of any HDR format. It was designed to protect — and enhance — investments in infrastructure and devices made by industry and consumers.

Advanced HDR by Technicolor, from the very onset, prioritized providing HDR content across the board. No matter what type of screen and whether your original content is SDR, HDR or another format. 

The technologies included in the suite enable content creators and broadcasters to conserve resources and reduce costs thanks to a highly automated conversion process between legacy standard dynamic range and HDR. At the same time, these solutions offer easy-to-use, full-tuning capabilities to match any video quality requirement.

Regardless of the type of content — episodic, feature film, live sporting events, legacy content and even advertisement — Advanced HDR by Technicolor delivers consistent, high-quality images and brightness that is fully compatible with today’s TV and mobile device screens. This is important because viewing experiences can be disrupted when the show you’re viewing is in HDR and an advertisement is presented in SDR. 

It’s imperative to have a consistent viewing experience across the board. 

Advanced HDR by Technicolor has worked very hard to get infrastructure and tools in place to ensure that all content is converted and delivered to end users cost-effectively while preserving the creative intent. 

Q: How is Advanced HDR by Technicolor being received in the market, and what key milestones can we expect to see in 2023?

Dumont: The solution is gaining rapid traction across the industry. For instance, Advanced HDR by Technicolor has already partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group to deliver HDR content all day, every day of the year, to more than 30 U.S. markets through its affiliate TV stations.

We have also partnered with Hisense to bring Advanced HDR by Technicolor to their customers. 

We are working with several streaming content providers to ensure episodic and feature film offerings are delivered in the best quality possible on any screen. We are also working with broadcasters, streaming providers and content producers to convert any type of content — regardless of the type of file and format — to HDR on any screen.   

Given the current momentum, we expect HDR to be fully available on 50% of screens worldwide within two years.

To listen to the full interview with Rick Dumont, please visit: 
https://bit.ly/43GwPH8