Challenges for HDR Cinema

Posted on Posted in 2018 QLED at Hollywood, abstracts and bios

Presenter: Michael Karagosian, President, MKPE Consulting

Abstract: HDR cinema must be thought of as a new format. DCI only specifies SDR cinema, leaving HDR cinema a blank slate on which to consider several important factors. These include a new EOTF (DCI specifies gamma 2.6), support for frame rates up to 120 fps, higher image codestream bit rate (DCI limits at 250 Mb/s), and the potential for metadata to manage a single distribution across a footprint having a wide variance in color volume. Inevitably, such decisions will have an impact on production workflow, and could drive a new HDR media block specification. A study is needed, requiring test content that goes well beyond the DCI StEM material. This talk will explore the challenges that lie ahead for HDR cinema.

Bio: Michael Karagosian is President of MKPE Consulting LLC, a consultancy in business development for entertainment technology.  He is known for his work during the transition to digital cinema, where his accomplishments include the negotiation of virtual print fee (VPF) subsidies with the major Hollywood studios and representation of the technology interests of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) for 11 years.  He was co-founder of CinemaAcoustics, a division of Peavey Electronics, and a member of the Board of Directors for pioneering 3D conversion company In-Three.  A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Mr. Karagosian is co-chair of the ASC Technology Subcommittee on Next Generation Cinema Display, a SMPTE Life Fellow, and a Life Member of the Audio Engineering Society.