
Dolby Is Optimistic About HDR Growth as Fox Sports Preps for HDR Super Bowl Coverage Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos help improve next-gen productions for high-profile events By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 - 10:43 am
Print This Story
One of the companies at the center of the HDR revolution is Dolby Laboratories: both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are designed to deliver improved next-generation experiences to consumers. And, with Fox delivering NFL Playoff games and Super Bowl LVII in HDR, such high-exposure events are making a difference.
HDR is really taking off, says Carlos Watanabe, director, pay TV and streaming, Dolby. Fox also delivered all the FIFA World Cup games and selected college basketball, college football, and MLB games in HDR. Hopefully, that will stimulate other broadcasters and a lot of producers to deliver more content in HDR. We know that is happening, because we have been talking to some of them and they are all studying it and getting their workflow ready.
Dolby Vision encoding is designed to expand the HDR viewing experience with more-dynamic images.
HDR discussions can typically devolve into an alphabet soup of production and distribution formats. Dolby Vision sits in the latter camp, adding metadata on top of the HDR signal to maximize picture quality.
Dolby Vision is agnostic to the production format and resolution, Watanabe explains. We insert the frame-by-frame metadata that describes the video on the transmission encoder. Comcast, say, would receive an HDR source and convert it into PQ HDR10 with the Dolby Vision metadata. That is what goes out to the consumer. It's just another step to the encoder; they don't have to add another external box.
He notes that the process is fairly straightforward: The Dolby Vision Live Distribution Processing analyzes every frame and generates metadata describing that particular frame. When the signal reaches a Dolby Vision-enabled display, it will use the image metadata to map the signal to the capability of that particular display, optimizing the experience for the consumer. With static metadata, you just send specific mapping information for a generic display type. With dynamic metadata (i.e., Dolby Vision), the display dynamically creates its own customized mappings. It doesn't matter if the panel costs $400 or $2,000; Dolby Vision will deliver a consistent and best image for that particular display.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, Watanabe is optimistic that, by the time the next NFL regular season starts, there will be at least two broadcasters delivering HDR.
One big question regarding HDR is its delivery via over-the-air TV stations. According to the FCC, ATSC 3.0 is available in 68 markets and reaches half of all homes. There is still work to be done in terms of ATSC 3.0 deployment, but its ability to deliver 4K and HDR content along with immersive audio over-the-air is something to keep an eye out for in the coming year.
Just as important as the content is the availability of HDR in lower-cost 4K sets. It's coming down to mainstream TVs, says Watanabe. One can find Dolby Vision TVs for as low as $299, and there are plenty of choices in the $400-$700 range. Consumers need to be educated about it.
Efforts like the NFL Playoffs in HDR are the kind of content expansion necessary to give the education process a reason to begin in earnest. We're bullish on HDR, he says. We're very confident that we're going to be seeing much more content in Dolby Vision, in both live sports and VOD.
And then there is the continuing revolution around spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. With plenty of TVs, sound bars, and mobile devices capable of delivering an experience beyond 5.1, the improved images are being matched with an improved sonic landscape.
Beyond the traditional living-room devices, notes Watanabe, the Apple iPhone and Samsung smartphones have Dolby Atmos, and it is great they are promoting spatial-audio music services.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
09/07/2026
With 50+ cameras, three trucks, 60+ EVS channels, RFID hole-card workflows, and ...
09/07/2026
A recent graduate from Westchester, NY, this experienced technician has already started her first gig in the industry, as a REMI A2 Comms Specialist at ESPN
In...
09/07/2026
Live sports production is a fast-paced industry with no signs of slowing down. W...
09/07/2026
From a rooftop studio in Manhattan, multiple Germany-based companies share respo...
09/07/2026
Overtime has announced a content partnership with FOX One to produce Race to Glo...
09/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced that Ross Production Services (RPS) has standardized on ...
09/07/2026
The NFL has announced that NetApp will return as Presenting Partner of the NFL Madrid Game, featuring the Atlanta Falcons against the Cincinnati Bengals at the ...
09/07/2026
The R&A and Cisco have announced a multi-year partnership making Cisco the Official Network Supplier of The R&A and its Championships. Cisco will deploy AI-read...
09/07/2026
Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach (XR), and LTN have announced the completi...
09/07/2026
Kiswe has announced a partnership with Wynn Records to launch the Wynn Records Network streaming platform, debuting Saturday, July 11 with a Salita Promotions b...
09/07/2026
NEP Europe has announced a new multi-year agreement with Wimbledon Broadcast Ser...
09/07/2026
Thropic Games, a company offering casual mobile games tied to fan fundraising for sports programs, has announced a pre-seed funding round led by The Famous Grou...
09/07/2026
Game Creek Video has reached an agreement with Grass Valley to purchase 10 K-Frame production switchers as part of a two-year fleet expansion. Two systems have ...
09/07/2026
Gravity Media is delivering a three-hub remote production workflow for ITV's...
09/07/2026
A new report from Quickplay and Caretta Research, The Broadcaster Revolution Wi...
09/07/2026
DAZN, the world's leading sports entertainment platform, has announced a long-term strategic partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation to serve as t...
09/07/2026
The regional sports network is staying busy this summer with broadcasts of the N...
09/07/2026
Latest analogue-emulation plug-ins revealed
Universal Audio have just added two new analogue-emulation plug-ins to their DSP-powered UAD line-up. Developed ...
09/07/2026
Limited-edition mic celebrates rock icon
Neumann have partnered with the Bon Scott Estate to create a limited-edition version of the U 47 FET that honours b...
09/07/2026
Handles organisation, updates, troubleshooting & more
Created by pro-audio software developer Julian Worden, Plugin Station from Julian Michael Technologies...
09/07/2026
Introduces new $1 million advance programme
LANDR have just announced the next phase of their Fair Trade AI programme, a pioneering opt-in music-licensing p...
09/07/2026
Four new titles now available
Spitfire Audio have just introduced four new titles in their Originals range, bringing the total count of libraries in the low...
09/07/2026
SBS statement Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion
9 July, 2026
Media releases
SBS acknowledges the gravity of the matters before the Roy...
09/07/2026
08 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
09/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Express 3G
Brie Clayton July 9, 2026
0 Comments
New extremely portable capture and playback models with 3G...
09/07/2026
Miri Introduces Self-Service Cellular Data and SIM Card Management Platform for ...
09/07/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), one of Asia's most prestigious horse racing organizations, has significantly up...
09/07/2026
Leading North American mobile production facility provider standardizes on Grass Valley's fully IP-native K-Frame production switchers for its fleet of next...
09/07/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. is rolling out a new online portal that provides customers and resellers with self-serve management tools and usage analytics for the com...
09/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/07/2026
Cinematographer Aakash Subramaniam, WICA faced a conceptual challenge: how could he make a film about dying that doesn't feel like one? The film, Our Weird...
09/07/2026
Years in the making, this intimate documentary draws on rare access to Leah Crouchers family to tell the story behind one of Britains most high-profile missing ...
09/07/2026
Thursday 9 July 2026
Enjoy Gigafast speeds and Ultimate TV pack for less
The latest deals have dropped from Sky TV and Sky Broadband, the award-winning provid...
09/07/2026
Hands up who would like to dress up as a giant crisp packet?
The call that went out across the agency as our anti-litter campaign, Wish you weren't here fo...
09/07/2026
This GFN Thursday brings more games, more power and more ways to play on GeForce NOW.
The cloud gaming service is expanding with a new GeForce RTX 5080-powere...
08/07/2026
The end of the Big A' marks the demise of one more iconic sports venue and its signature sound
After 132 years as one of the preeminent horse-racing track...
08/07/2026
Memphis Athletics and Learfield have signed a long-term renewal to their 25-year relationship, which sees Learfield's Tiger Sports Properties continue repre...
08/07/2026
MLB All-Star Week returns to Philadelphia for the first time in 30 years as Amer...
08/07/2026
Former Wall Street Video event expanded to include all Enterprise sectors
SVG Enterprise has announced the inaugural Enterprise Video Summit, taking place Oct....
08/07/2026
An offseason project enhanced eight video displays around the venue in time for ...
08/07/2026
Kaseya Center has a ton of new features that weren't available to the indust...
08/07/2026
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and the Sundance Film Festival are pleased to announce the establishment of a FIPRESCI jury beginning wi...
08/07/2026
Latest analogue-emulation plug-ins revealed
Universal Audio have just added two new analogue-emulation plug-ins to their DSP-powered UAD line-up. Developed ...
08/07/2026
Turn any audio loop into a playable kit
Pitch Innovations have recently introduced an interesting new tool that's capable of creating playable kits from...
08/07/2026
Adds new keyboard-split function
MonkeyC have recently launched an update that overhauls their powerful software sampler. Described as the sampler that mad...
08/07/2026
Four new delay algorithms & dual-engine functionality
Strymon have just announced that the much-anticipated MX version of their hugely popular delay pedal i...
08/07/2026
Well over half of Australia have tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup on SBS
7 July, 2026
Media releases
Australia's Round of 32 match against Egypt a...