FilmLight collaborates with Dolby to offer new creative potential to the post industry
At 2014 NAB Show®, FilmLight will present high dynamic range (HDR) mastering and grading, featuring the new Dolby® Vision™ technology on Baselight’s high-performance colour grading system. Visitors to the Dolby Laboratories booth (SU1702) will see demos showing how Baselight can take advantage of Dolby Vision’s true-to-life brightness, colours and contrast to open up remarkable new creative opportunities.
Even though most TV shows and movies are recorded using camera technology that captures the colours and brightness of real life, much of that richness is lost by the time viewers get to watch. This is because current TV and cinema colour grading standards are based on the limitations of old technologies and require that the original video content be altered—dramatically reducing the range of colours, brightness and contrast—before it can be reproduced for transmission and playback.
“Our goal was to give creative teams the freedom to use the full gamut of colours, peak brightness and local contrast, with the confidence that those will be reproduced faithfully on televisions that feature Dolby Vision,” said Roland Vlaicu, Senior Director, Broadcast Imaging, Dolby Laboratories. “That’s why we designed it as an end-to-end solution, from content creation to distribution and playback.”
As a result, Baselight colourists can now create outstanding grades, confident that they will be carried faithfully all the way to the viewer. FilmLight is a critical piece of the Dolby Vision ecosystem puzzle, which is already receiving support from A-list Hollywood directors and executives at major studios, TV manufacturers and operators worldwide.
“We have worked very closely with the Dolby engineers on the integration of their technology with Baselight,” said Wolfgang Lempp, CEO and co-founder of FilmLight. “Everyone who has seen it recognizes that this is an exciting opportunity, and I know that the highly creative professionals who rely on Baselight day in, day out will make the most of it.
“Baselight is a highly flexible system, and the comprehensive support for colour transforms and different color representation at every step has helped the integration of Dolby Vision, pushing the quality and performance even further,” he added. “I am looking forward to the NAB display where Baselight will be in its element, creating remarkable and pristine images in a perfect environment.”
The HDR grading presentation will take place on the Dolby booth at NAB Show, SU1702. Baselight can also be seen in collaborative presentations with The Foundry (SL6329), Codex (C6048), and Sony (C11001) at NAB.
About Dolby Vision
Dolby Vision augments the video fidelity of Ultra HD and HD video signals used in OTT online streaming, broadcast, and gaming applications by maintaining and reproducing the dynamic range and color gamut of the original signal as captured. It liberates the creative community from the constraints of legacy CRT technology and enables content creators and television manufacturers to deliver true-to-life brightness, colors, and contrast to TVs. The net result is a richer and more realistic viewing experience that makes it easier for viewers to discern details that might previously have gone unnoticed in an image, regardless of screen size or viewing distance.
