Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Dolby Is Optimistic About HDR Growth as Fox Sports Preps for HDR Super Bowl Coverage

31/01/2023

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.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/01/31/dolbys-watanabe-optimistic-abou...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

27/03/2026

NAB Pans Netflix's Coverage of MLB Opening Day

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: Netgear

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI POV Cameras at NAB 2026

Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...

27/03/2026

Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Updates to Monitor & Control and Catalyst Tools

Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...

27/03/2026

GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance

GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance Brie Clayton March 27, 2026 0 Comments NAB marks global launch of servic...

27/03/2026

GatesAir Expands AirWatch365 Managed Service

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Dejero, Eutelsat, Others to Offer 'Field to Air' Demo at NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Global NextGen TV Takes Center Stage at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

USSI Global Opens Media Transport Solutions Lab

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Net Insight Elevates Nimbra Edge to Govern Live Media Sys...

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...

27/03/2026

Harmonic Delivers Winning Live Sports Streaming Innovatio...

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...

27/03/2026

Bitmovin s Player Web X Expands with Performance First Ad...

Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...

27/03/2026

CS live Builds Future Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet...

Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...

27/03/2026

MPTS 2026 Unveils First Wave of Speakers Featuring BBC Sk...

130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...

27/03/2026

Grass Valley and NVP Elevate LALIGA Broadcast Production...

Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...

27/03/2026

Appear Business Momentum Drives Leadership in Live Produc...

Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...

27/03/2026

Lightware MX2 delivers rock-solid 4K60 HDMI 10-bit signal...

San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...

27/03/2026

Clear-Coms EQUIP Wireless System Keeps Youth With A Missi...

Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...

27/03/2026

Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo

Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo Brie Clayton March 26, 2026 0 Comments Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...

27/03/2026

Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway

Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...

27/03/2026

RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April

RT Supporting the Arts RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...

27/03/2026

Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT2

Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2 Over one million streams on RT Player Highest number of streams for any single eve...

27/03/2026

Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center

March 27 2026, 01:30 (PDT) Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center A New Global Platform Showcasing Dolbys Innovatio...

27/03/2026

Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4

March 27 2026, 03:30 (PDT) Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4 Delivering greater fidelity, clarity and detail to Dol...

26/03/2026

Audio-Technica and Extron Announce Microsoft Teams-Certified Enterprise Solutions

Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...

26/03/2026

SPORTEL Asia Returns to Singapore with 370 Participants from 35 Countries

SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: LTN to Showcase Satellite-to-IP Migration Solutions

LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100). The C-Ban...

26/03/2026

Seattle Mariners Upgrade Center Field Video Display at T-Mobile Park with Daktronics

The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...

26/03/2026

Esports Nations Cup 2026 Names National Team Partners Across 100+ Countries

The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: Telestream Expands Vantage Integration with Adobe Premiere, Media Encoder, and Frame.io

Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: FOR-A Brings Nippon TV's viztrick AiDi AI Production Tool to Market with NVIDIA

FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...

26/03/2026

CBS Sports Reaches New Long-Term Multiplatform Rights Agreement with the WNBA

CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...

26/03/2026

Zac Brown Band to Perform Sunday Night Baseball Open on NBC and Peacock

Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...

26/03/2026

2026 MLB Season Opens With Full Slate of National Games

Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...

26/03/2026

DIRECTV Adds Nine MLB Team Channels for 2026 Season

DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...

26/03/2026

Nationals.TV Now Available on Charter, Comcast, Cox, DIRECTV, Verizon Fios and More

Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...

26/03/2026

MLB.TV Launches on the ESPN App Starting Opening Day

Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...

26/03/2026

What's Next for Spotify and NAVER in Korea After a Stockholm Summit

Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...

26/03/2026

EastWest DrumX: Early access

Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...

26/03/2026

Dynamic Range Day 2026

Friday 27 March Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...

26/03/2026

ASMR Choir from SRM Sounds

Includes four separate instruments Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...

26/03/2026

IMPORTANT FEEDBACK: PESP 6

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...

26/03/2026

Why YEP Changed My Career (And Why It Might Change Yours)

By Matt Klein Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...

26/03/2026

CBS Sports Inks New WNBA Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

Apogee Insight Acquires PMA Research

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...