The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has published a study group report on the high dynamic range imaging ecosystem, now available for download on the SMPTE site. The report provides a detailed summary regarding “the implementation of HDR in professional media workflows and addresses key questions that will arise for industry members as they move forward in taking advantage of HDR technology.” In addition, it provides recommendations for standardization efforts. According to SMPTE, the report reflects the efforts of 170 international experts.

“HDR is a rapidly emerging and much-debated technology with the capacity to make a greater impact on viewer experience than can higher-resolution formats,” said Alan Lambshead, vice president of standards for SMPTE.

“Recognizing the remarkable potential of HDR and the media industry’s growing interest in this technology, SMPTE created an HDR ecosystem study group and — within just 12 months — delivered a valuable consensus report on implementation of HDR and the creation of efficient HDR workflows,” he added.

According to the press release, the SMPTE report “acknowledges that although HDR technologies, both proprietary and standardized, are available today and already can be implemented for non-real-time workflows, challenges remain in live or real-time applications.”

The report also details HDR technologies, live and non-live HDR workflows, and HDR metadata. Additionally, it emphasizes the need to standardize new technologies and update current standards for enabling HDR.

“The report is being released at a time when there is growing interest in HDR, which greatly improves image quality by offering much more vibrant colors and truer blacks,” reports Broadcasting & Cable.

“Those visual improvements are so striking that a number of experts have argued they will have greater impact on viewers than improvements of resolution from HD to UHD or 4K.”

SMPTE is presently working on the recommendations in the report and encourages industry participation.

To access the PDF version of “Study Group Report: High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) Imaging Ecosystem,” visit the SMPTE Committee Reports site.