
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 ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
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...
30/07/2026
CP Communications provided RF audio, RF video, communications, RF coordination, ...
30/07/2026
OpenDrives has been included in CRN's 2026 Storage 100 list in the Software-Defined Storage category. The annual list, selected by the CRN editorial team, r...
30/07/2026
LATAM Airlines has selected SES to provide multi-orbit inflight connectivity to its fleet of Airbus and Embraer aircraft. More than 60 aircraft - including Airb...
30/07/2026
Tagboard has launched the Producer API, an open interface that allows key commands in Tagboard's live production environment to be triggered from external d...
30/07/2026
FOX Sports and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) have announced a multi-year agreement with Del Mar Thoroughbred Club that will make FOX Sports the exclusi...
30/07/2026
ABC Commercial has launched four free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels on LG Smart TVs across North America, Great Britain, and select countrie...
30/07/2026
The Six Kings Slam exhibition tennis tournament will return to Riyadh on October 21, 22, and 24, streaming live on Netflix at no additional cost to subscribers....
30/07/2026
Central Christian Church in Mt. Vernon, Illinois has deployed Clear-Com's LQ...
30/07/2026
Blackmagic Design has released the UltraStudio Express 3G family, a pair of USB4 capture and playback devices compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux computers ...
30/07/2026
ESPN has reached a media rights agreement with the Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL), making ESPN the national streaming home of the league's 2026 seas...
30/07/2026
Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and the Professional Fighters League (PFL) have announced a merger that will operate under the MVP banner. PFL CEO John Martin wi...
30/07/2026
The Columbus Blue Jackets will simulcast all game broadcasts across television and radio beginning with the 2026-27 NHL season. Under the new format, the televi...
30/07/2026
TMRW Sports has selected Populous as architect for a purpose-built stadium for its professional flag football league, being developed in partnership with the NF...
30/07/2026
SiriusXM has announced SiriusXM Sports Pass, a new subscription plan launching September 1 that bundles the company's sports audio programming into a single...
30/07/2026
Leagues, broadcasters, and technologists gather to tackle cloud economics, distr...
30/07/2026
A major player in the cloud-based solutions, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has conti...
30/07/2026
The NBA will provide production for all local game broadcasts, including pregame and postgame coverage...
30/07/2026
Cosm will open its fourth immersive sports and entertainment venue in downtown Detroit on September 10. Located at 25 Cadillac Square, adjacent to Campus Martiu...
30/07/2026
NFL Network will be available on the ESPN App beginning July 30 for Unlimited plan subscribers. The addition brings NFL Network's live games, studio program...
30/07/2026
NEP Group has added Riedel's SimplyLive Production Suite to NEP Platform, giving customers access to the live production software through NEP's orchestr...
30/07/2026
LOS ANGELES, CA, July 30, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announce...
30/07/2026
A new take on classic algorithmic reverbs
Waves have just introduced a new flagship algorithmic reverb plug-in that offers the company's take on the ico...
30/07/2026
Save up to 30% on virtual instruments & plug-ins
Arturia have recently launched their annual Summer Sale, which sees discounts of up to 30% applied across a...
30/07/2026
ActiveAnalogue technology powers new flagship modular console
A year on from the launch of the Oracle, SSL have revealed a new flagship console which they s...
30/07/2026
Up to 22dBA of passive attenuation
The latest arrival to the beyerdynamic range introduces a new compact monitoring headphone that's been designed to ta...
30/07/2026
As part of its traditional graduation ceremony, SGL Carbon honored the achievements of a total of twelve young professionals who successfully completed their ap...
30/07/2026
Premiere date revealed for SBS Original drama The Airport Chaplain, starring Hug...
30/07/2026
TVNZ and Evergent are celebrating a major TVNZ milestone - the evolution from a free-to-view, ad-supported business into a hybrid model, offering premium sport...
30/07/2026
WebMiere Adds Native VP9/AV1 WebM/MKV Import to Adobe Premiere Pro
Brie Clayton July 29, 2026
0 Comments
Brought to you by KawaiiEngine, WebMiere is a...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
At IBC2026, GlobalM will showcase the latest evolution of its software-defined media platform, enabling broadcasters, telecom operators and media organisations ...
30/07/2026
At the 2026 TAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will highlight and demo the new DAS-Link AIR, an over-the-air common alert protocol (CAP) dissemination system for ...
30/07/2026
OpenDrives Named to the 2026 CRN Storage 100 List
Company Recognized Among the 50 Coolest Software-Defined Storage Vendors for Unlimited Capacity, S3 Hybrid M...
30/07/2026
New Scene Search capability in VIDA Content OS makes video content itself searchable, letting broadcasters and streamers find key moments across millions of ass...
30/07/2026
July 30th, 2026
TRIBECA FILMS ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2026 ACQUISITIONS INCLUDING L...
30/07/2026
Thursday 30 July 2026
Which WSL matches are Sky Sports showing on the 2026/27 opening weekend?
The season will kick off on Friday 4 September with Manchester ...
30/07/2026
Thursday 30 July 2026
Enjoy discounts on the iPhone Air, plus 5Gb speeds with U...
30/07/2026
Broadcaster John Creedon explores Ireland's rich musical heritage Sunday 2 A...
30/07/2026
Back to school means balancing assignments, deadlines and downtime. GeForce NOW makes it easy to have it all.
With cloud gaming, everyday laptops used for clas...
29/07/2026
In this series, Grass Valley explores the seven paradoxes shaping the next era o...
29/07/2026
Thats a wrap on Season 1 of SVG Students to Watch! Across the country, these stu...
29/07/2026
The agreement will move Gotham Sports App subscribers to DAZN during the 2026-27...
29/07/2026
Longtime digital-media leader expands role overseeing conference branding, video...
29/07/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...