The number one resource for information about HDR technology, workflows, tutorials, news and opinion.
“Frames that have a wider variety of contrast and a higher contrast range from the source media work best in HDR and therefore look best.” Aidan Farrell, colorist, The Farm If the first inviolable rule of HDR is to not clip the signal, the second must surely be that scenes have adequate contrast. We just... Continue Reading →
During a podcast recorded five years ago, Shane Mario Ruggieri, Advanced Imaging Systems Creative Lead, Dolby Laboratories, was asked what kinds of cameras work best for HDR: What cameras do you normally come across when you're working in HDR? Is there any specific camera that's worked really well for you? Are there cameras that are... Continue Reading →
When toggling between reference mode HDR Video (P3-ST2084) and Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits) with brightness set midway on the MacBook Pro M1 Max (2021), we prefer the latter (Dolby Vision) with the few Apple TV+ shows we watched: Ted Lasso (2020-2023), Black Bird (2022) and Bad Sisters (2022-) - improved contrast, a touch brighter,... Continue Reading →
In this video, David Abrams, Sr. Product Manager, Portrait Displays, demonstrates how to use Calman’s new additivity feature using Sony’s A95L QD-OLED, an additive display technology, as an example. https://www.youtube.com/embed/xFDMJmS2F2g?wmode=opaque “Some displays exhibit specific characteristics that don’t follow traditional display color physics. This could be due to the manufacturing of the panel itself or processing... Continue Reading →
Resistance to HDR “For me, there’s OK HDR and even worse HDR. Personally I don’t like it,” Dariusz Wolski, ASC (Napoleon, 2023) The hostility toward HDR in the industry is well-documented. Steve Yedlin (Glass Onion, The Last Jedi) once wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “Seems that filmmakers usually put all their authorship... Continue Reading →
Warning: NSFW Walter Volpatto, Sr. Colorist, Picture Shop, argues that HDR causes discomfort because, unlike in real life where the scene before us occupies our entire field of view, we’re watching TV in a dark room where the picture occupies a much smaller field of view, forcing our pupils to open up, making the image... Continue Reading →
CineD begins its write up of the Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K like so: “While some camera manufacturers keep postponing 8K camera models due to the industry’s slower adoption of the very high resolution and the massive data rates that come with it, other companies are moving in the other direction.” Is that so? Let’s see…... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/AAeZKZ5feGA?si=awlpC8y0CmhCK-RP Shortly after colorist Darren Mostyn published his latest color management video, we pointed out that his explanation of scene-referred and display-referred grading was inaccurate. Not only did he double down on his blunder in his reply, but he’s since deleted our comment and pinned a long, muddled statement in the comments section which will... Continue Reading →
French director Julien Leclercq (Ganglands) will be making a new series for Netflix: GIGN. The GIGN is the elite police tactical unit of the National Gendarmerie of France. Among its missions are counterterrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, critical site protection (such as French embassies in war-torn countries), and targeting... Continue Reading →
Most of us are familiar with the Nyquist theorem, but have you ever heard of the Heynacher Integral? The following excerpts are from a paper by Dr. Hans Kiening that explains why a scientific approach is necessary to understand the perception of sharpness and not just counting megapixels. Resolution alone is not a predictor of... Continue Reading →
“Look setting can be an integral part of preproduction building monitoring LUTs or in camera look files. Or it can happen after production has wrapped but prior to the main grade starting or combination of those approaches.” Robbie Carman, Colorist, CEO, DC Color We’ve mentioned in the past how much we dislike LUTs and plug-ins... Continue Reading →
Imatest is all well and good, but we appreciate that in his reviews, Matthew Allard has been doing rough comparisons of the dynamic range of cameras by exposing a scene for middle gray and looking for highlight clipping using false color. RED cameras have a built-in False Color Exposure mode that we use all the... Continue Reading →
The cinematographer's job to do good HDR is don't clip the signal. That's it. - Juan L. Cabrera, Supervising Colorist, LightBender In HDR video, there is no artifact more repugnant than blown-out highlights. All that is required to avoid them is for the DP not to clip the signal, but many balk at upgrading their... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 