Cromorama's Pablo Garcia Sees Ennio as a Solution to HDR/SDR Complexity

Cromorama's Pablo Garcia Sees Ennio as a Solution to HDR/SDR Complexity The color-conversion tool manages switching between formats across multiple channels By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Tuesday, January 14, 2025 - 10:01 am

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The transition to HDR broadcasting has presented numerous challenges for the industry. The diversity of formats, the complexity of LUTs (lookup tables). and the need to cater to both SDR and HDR audiences from a single production have created a tangled web of workflows. To address these issues, Warsaw-based Cromorama has developed what founder Pablo Garcia says is a game-changing application: Ennio, a color-conversion-orchestration tool designed to streamline HDR and SDR workflows.

The Ennio user interface makes HDR/SDR conversions as simple as dragging and dropping formats.

With Ennio, says Garcia, Cromorama is redefining how broadcasters approach HDR and SDR workflows. By prioritizing user-friendly interfaces, powerful algorithms, and scalable solutions, it offers an accessible and efficient path to high-quality broadcasts that meet the demands of modern audiences. For broadcasters navigating the challenges of HDR adoption, Ennio promises to be a transformative tool.

The application, he explains, handles color conversion and HDR/SDR orchestration, integrating with leading hardware like Imagine Selenio Network Processor, AJA Colorbox and FS-HDR, Bridge Technologies VB440, and Cobalt 9904-UDX-4K and 9905-MPx.

Ennio is a powerful yet intuitive solution that brings simplicity to a complex process, he adds. By employing an innovative interface, users can manage HDR and SDR conversions across multiple channels with ease. Whether working in OB trucks, master-control environments, or remote-production facilities, the software enables seamless switching between formats for hundreds of channels, regardless of resolution.

Ennio's core strength lies in its intuitive interface, which allows users to assign conversion roles, adjust presets, and manage connected devices with a few simple clicks. The device-manager feature connects all involved hardware, consolidating control into a single application. Users no longer need to access each device's individual interface.

In an OB truck, for example, Ennio can reconfigure workflows within minutes, adds Garcia. A truck set up for one format can switch to another for a different client and return to the original configuration with minimal effort.

Ennio is designed to make HDR/SDR workflows simpler for users across the production chain.

For remote-production scenarios, Ennio's flexibility extends to adjusting exposure, contrast, and other visual parameters using Look modification tools. These tools enable balancing different sources, which is not possible with fixed conversion LUTs, ensuring visually consistent results.

Drag-and-drop functionality makes setting up channels and managing conversions straightforward, whether for individual feeds or global broadcasts. This is especially valuable, Garcia notes, for league or host broadcasters providing world feeds with a variety of deliverables for HDR and SDR.

The software is built on ORION-CONVERT technology, Cromorama's proprietary three-step HDR/SDR-conversion algorithm, which is also available as an Adobe plugin and a standalone SDK. This advanced algorithm ensures mathematically defined, invertible conversions, enabling seamless roundtrip processing from HDR to SDR and back. Presets - for example, NBC, British TV, and Japan's Mild-Live (HLG and SLog3) - eliminate the need for constant adjustment during live broadcasts.

Key to Ennio flexibility is the ability to integrate new devices, something Garcia says makes it adaptable for future workflows.

Additionally, Cromorama is opening a remote-production facility in Warsaw to provide HDR- and SDR-workflow management for events of all sizes. The facility uses the same equipment and experienced crew deployed at events like the Olympics, World Cups, and UEFA Euro.

Notes Garcia, Our remote-production facility allows us to manage projects at a fraction of the cost by eliminating logistical challenges like travel.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/01/14/cromoramas-pablo-sees-ennio-as-...
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