Filmbox: More “HDR-ish” Images In Future Update?

We purchased a subscription to Video Village’s Filmbox back in February but were disappointed that highlights roll off at just a couple hundred nits, which is why we are no longer able to recommend the plugin for HDR. When we mentioned this peculiar behavior over at the liftgammagain colorist forum, Greg Cotten, the developer of the film emulation plugin, hinted that a future update might give colorists more creative control over highlight roll off, writing,

“We are considering adding additional “unrolling” to get a less film-like and more HDR-like image, and may roll (no pun intended) that feature out soon.”

Which is a good thing, as most of us prefer to determine our own intent, not have software dictate it to us.

And from the user guide:

“When ST2084 is selected the contact print is directly mapped into PQ at around 200 nits peak white. This is analogous to projecting the print with a bright bulb. By default it should look the same as an SDR output viewed at 200 nits.”

“An “Unroll Highlights” slider is presented for HDR display spaces which allows for the characteristic highlight rolloff of the contact print to be “un-rolled” somewhat to allow highlights to extend above 200 nits towards a more photometrically proportional representation of the scene.”

“”Unroll Highlights” is not analogous to a photochemical process but it’s built to keep things looking filmic while achieving a more dynamic image. The max unroll value results in a peak white around 400 nits.“