SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023)
[ACTIVE]
HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources
Metadata
- Publisher
- SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
- Doc Type
- Journal Article
- Content Type
- Original Research
- Abbreviated Title
- SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
- Volume
- 132, No. 6, pp. 31–44
- Abstract
- The limited contrast and colors in standard dynamic range (SDR) have historically compelled content producers to make hard choices, whereas high dynamic range (HDR) offers them the possibility to show more—meaning telling stories with greater freedom and flexibility. Even so, HDR content presents a challenge of its own. The wide variation in capabilities among HDR displays conflicts with the desire to have any HDR or SDR production play optimally on any display, regardless of whether it is HDR or SDR. Tone mapping is the generic term for the operation that addresses this issue, whether tone compression, which maps from HDR to a lower-luminance HDR or SDR, or tone expansion, which maps from SDR or HDR to a higher-luminance HDR. Though the trend is to produce the highest quality content in HDR, legacy content is ever present, and lots of new content is still produced in SDR. Mixing feeds in production requires tone expansion for SDR content to match the HDR. Distribution paths can then require tone compression back to SDR without degradation. In this context, a perfect SDR–HDR–SDR roundtrip conversion is required to preserve artistic intent for all content. Furthermore, in a live context, such tools need to be automatic and low latency. This article discusses various tone-mapping techniques, including static solutions such as lookup tables (LUTs) and dynamic solutions based on metadata. The relative advantages are considered, and the performance of each is analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the roundtrip performance, which is important to content producers mastering both SDR and HDR sources, yet wanting to exploit the full range of storytelling capabilities an HDR stream can offer. Test results using a proposed solution that has been introduced in practice, “Advanced HDR by TechnicolorⓇ,” are described.
- Publication Date
- 2023-07-01
- DOI
10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092- ISSN
- Print:
1545-0279| Electronic:2160-2492 - Link
- https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
- Author(s)
- David Touze
bio
David Touze works as a system architect at Interdigital, Wilmington, DE. He has a background in hardware design, system architecture, and image/video processing. He and his team are researching new video formats with a major focus on HDR and WCG techniques adapted to live video production and distribution workflows.Frederic Plissonneaubio
Frederic Plissonneaugraduated from INSA, Rennes, France, in 1988 and has worked in the video compression domain as an engineer/team leader and project leader in the field of ASIC technologies. He is currently focused on HDR within R&I Video Lab, Rennes.Bill Redmannbio
Bill Redmann is the director of Standards for Immersive Media Technologies at Interdigital, Wilmington, DE. He contributes to Next-Gen Media standards in several standards organizations. A SMPTE Fellow, he holds 84 U.S. patents, plus an MS degree in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, CA.Robin Le Naourbio
Robin Le Naour is a senior engineer at Interdigital, Wilmington, DE. He has a background in real time software development, system architecture and image/video processing. He currently works on HDR at the R&I Video Lab, Rennes, France.Patrick Lopezbio
Patrick Lopez is a researcher at Interdigital, Wilmington, DE. He is skilled in signal processing and developed algorithms for digital modulation and then video compression. He is currently involved in the HDR development team, focused on algorithmic development in tone mapping.Patrick Morvanbio
Patrick Morvan is a senior research and development engineer at Interdigital, Wilmington, DE. He joined Thomson Research Labs, Rennes, France, in 1990. He has been involved in several innovative projects aimed at developing new video formats. Over the past 15 years, he has developed an expertise in color science for cinema and broadcast applications. His current research is focused on color management and perception for high dynamic range workflows.Laurent Cauvinbio
Laurent Cauvin is a senior engineer at Interdigital, Wilmington, DE. He has been working on image and video processing since 1985. He is now involved in HDR imaging, mainly in the inverse tone mapping domain (algorithms, system architecture, and hardware and software porting).Nick Mitchellbio
Nick Mitchell is an accomplished entertainment technology professional with two decades of experience. As CTO and senior technology consultant at WildAcre Company, his technology and creative services firm, he plays a pivotal role in developing and delivering innovative technologies, strategies, and services for a diverse range of organizations.Alan Steinbio
Alan Stein leads InterDigital’s Visual Standards team of technical experts participating in video standards and industry forums. He is a board member and marketing chair of MC-IF and long-time chair of ATSC’s TG3/S41 group, the video group for ATSC 3.0. He received ATSC’s Bernard Lechner Award in 2021. He holds 17 patents in the realm of digital video. - Keyword(s)
- 3D-lookup Table (LUT), Diffuse White, HDR, HDR Live Production, ITM, Inverse Tone Mapping, Round Trip, Standard Dynamic Range, TM, Tone Compression, Tone Expansion, Tone Mapping
- Copyright
- © 2023 SMPTE
Bibliographic Reference(s)
- ETSI.TS-103-433-1 — European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) TS 103 433-1 V1.4.1, “High-Performance Single Layer High Dynamic Range (HDR) System for Use in Consumer Electronics Devices; Part 1: Directly Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) Compatible HDR System (SL-HDR1),” Aug. 23, 2021. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/103400_103499/10343301/01.04.01_60/ts_10343301v01 0401p.pdf EXTERNAL
- ETSI.TS-103-433-2 — European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) TS 103 433-2 V1.3.1, “High-Performance Single Layer High Dynamic Range (HDR) System for Use in Consumer Electronics devices; Part 2: Enhancements for Perceptual Quantization (PQ) Transfer Function Based High Dynamic Range (HDR) Systems (SL-HDR2),” Aug. 23, 2021. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/103400_103499/10343302/01.03.01_60/ts_10343302v01 0301p.pdf EXTERNAL
- ETSI.TS-103-433-3 — European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) TS 103 433-3 V1.2.1, “High-Performance Single Layer High Dynamic Range (HDR) System for Use in Consumer Electronics Devices; Part 3: Enhancements for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) Transfer Function Based High Dynamic Range (HDR) Systems (SL-HDR3),” Aug. 23, 2021. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/103400_103499/10343303/01.02.01_60/ts_10343303v01 0201p.pdf EXTERNAL
- T. K. Tan et al., “Video Quality Evaluation Methodology and Verification Testing of HEVC Compression Performance,” IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., 26(1):76–90, Jan. 2016. EXTERNAL
- ASC StEM2, “The Mission.” Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://theasc.com/asc/stem2 EXTERNAL
- International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) Recommendation Report BT.2408-6, “Guidance for Operational Practices in HDR Television Production,” Mar. 2023. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-BT.2408-6-2023-PDF-E.pdf EXTERNAL
- B. Redmann, D. Touze, F. Plissonneau, A. Stein, and G. Ducos, “HDR Challenges and Solutions,” 2022 NAB Broadcast Eng. and Inf. Technol. (BEIT) Conf., Apr. 2022. EXTERNAL
- SMPTE ST 2108-1 [Active]
- T-REC-BT.709-6 — International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) Recommendation BT.709-6, “Parameter Values for the HDTV Standards for Production and International Programme Exchange,” Jun. 2015. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.709-6-201506-I!!PDF-E.pdf EXTERNAL
- T-REC-BT.2100 — International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) Recommendation BT.2100, “Image Parameter Values for High Dynamic Range Television for Use in Production and International Programme Exchange,” Jul. 2018. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.2100-2-201807-I!!PDF-E.pdfConclusionHDR live production is in its early stages and represents a big challenge as we switch from SDR production that has matured over the last several decades to HDR production. There will be a transition period during which both HDR content and SDR content are encountered in production and delivered to the end user. As such, tone mapping, either for expansion or compression, is a key feature to deliver both HDR and SDR content. Optimal results require the tone-mapping solutions that are: ■■ dynamic, to be adaptive to each individual image; ■■ tunable, so that video engineers and colorists retain control of the esthetic choices to be made in conversion; and ■■ provide an unnoticeable SDR–HDR–SDR roundtrip, to guarantee the artistic intent of the SDR source content. The roundtrip performances of a system handling all these features, the Advanced HDR by Technicolor suite, are analyzed in this article. Using three different HDR gradings, the roundtrip feature exhibits results that are objectively imperceptible on both challenging test patterns and real video content. These results demonstrate a “no compromise” roundtrip property applicable to live-TV and EXTERNAL
- T-REC-BT.2124-0 — International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) Recommendation BT.2124-0, “Objective Metric for the Assessment of the Potential Visibility of Colour Differences in Television,” Jan. 2019. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.2124-0-201901-I!!PDF-E.pdf EXTERNAL
- T-REC-J.340 — International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) Recommendation J340, “Reference Algorithm for Computing Peak Signal to Noise Ratio of a Processed Video Sequence With Compensation for Constant Spatial Shifts, Constant Temporal Shift, and Constant Luminance Gain and Offset,” Jun. 2010. Accessed: Jun. 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/rec/dologin_pub.asp?lang=e&id=T-REC-J.340-201006-I!!PDF- E&type=items EXTERNAL
Source Data (JSON)
Full registry record with provenance metadata. Open directly: /api/doc/10.5594-JMI.2023.3277092.json
Reference Tree
Explore all references and references to this document, as a navigable tree.
Open Reference TreeReference this Doc
Plain text (ISO 690 compliant)
Preview:
David Touze, Frederic Plissonneau, Bill Redmann, Robin Le Naour, Patrick Lopez, Patrick Morvan, Laurent Cauvin, Nick Mitchell, and Alan Stein; HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023); SMPTE, 2023. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
Snippet:
David Touze, Frederic Plissonneau, Bill Redmann, Robin Le Naour, Patrick Lopez, Patrick Morvan, Laurent Cauvin, Nick Mitchell, and Alan Stein; HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023); SMPTE, 2023. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
HTML (ISO 690 compliant)
Preview:
David Touze, Frederic Plissonneau, Bill Redmann, Robin Le Naour, Patrick Lopez, Patrick Morvan, Laurent Cauvin, Nick Mitchell, and Alan Stein; HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023); SMPTE, 2023. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
Snippet:
<span class="citation">David Touze, Frederic Plissonneau, Bill Redmann, Robin Le Naour, Patrick Lopez, Patrick Morvan, Laurent Cauvin, Nick Mitchell, and Alan Stein; <cite>HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023); SMPTE, 2023. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092</a></span>
SMPTE's HTML Pub
Preview:
David Touze, Frederic Plissonneau, Bill Redmann, Robin Le Naour, Patrick Lopez, Patrick Morvan, Laurent Cauvin, Nick Mitchell, and Alan Stein; HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023); SMPTE, 2023
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092
Snippet:
<li> David Touze, Frederic Plissonneau, Bill Redmann, Robin Le Naour, Patrick Lopez, Patrick Morvan, Laurent Cauvin, Nick Mitchell, and Alan Stein; <cite id="bib-10-5594-jmi-2023-3277092">HDR Production—Tone Mapping Techniques and Roundtrip Conversion Performance for Mastering With SDR and HDR Sources</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 6, July 2023); SMPTE, 2023 <span class="doi">10.5594/JMI.2023.3277092</span> </li>