Short Takes: The Primary Deliverable Is HDR

From the Color Tour Podcast S4 EP06: Thomas Urbye, Noho, UK, August 7, 2023

Thomas Urbye is the senior colorist and CEO of the Post House ‘The Look’, responsible for shows like Sex Education, Fleabag, Top Boy and Landscapers. They’ve done 20 HDR shows so far, every show they do is HDR, the vast majority being Dolby Vision.

“I think what’s interesting now is that three or four years ago, quite rightly, every director and DP came in here and said ‘Why are we doing the HDR version? No one’s going to see this.’ But of course, that’s not the case now. You can’t buy a TV that isn’t HDR. It’s unlikely that if you pop into John Lewis or Currys or Best Buy that you’re going to buy a TV that’s not HDR. Now I don’t know what flavor of HDR that might be. But to say that no one’s seeing it like that anymore, when obviously Netflix – unfortunately, you have to pay extra for it, which I think is a bit of a shame – but on the other platforms you don’t; iPlayer, you don’t. So I think it’s probably unfair to say that it’s an also-ran now, the HDR. I think actually the primary delivery is the HDR for people. And every 6 months that go on, that tilts even further. So I think now, it’s a big change… there will come a time when the SDR just isn’t needed.”