Leading the way with HDR

Leading the way with HDR The next big shift in our industry is towards HDR (High Dynamic Range). Enabled by higher contrast display technologies, HDR delivers a significant improvement to picture quality, with greater contrast between shadow areas and highlights, deeper color saturation and higher perceived sharpness.

Interest in HDR has been driven by television manufacturers and content providers, since higher resolution alone has not prompted consumers to buy new TV sets or pay a premium for content. Manufacturers are therefore releasing second-generation UHD TV sets that can display HDR, new laser projectors are being installed to show HDR images in cinemas, and broadband streaming services have started streaming content in HDR.

ALEXA: HDR SINCE 2010

Because of the brilliant design and large size of the individual photosites on ARRIs ALEV III sensor, the ALEXA, ALEXA Mini and AMIRA cameras have the widest exposure latitude on the market. Larger photosites get more light, which translates into higher dynamic range, increased base sensitivity and better signal-to-noise performance. Awareness of dynamic range as a crucial element of overall image quality has influenced ARRI product design since the ARRILASER and ARRISCAN, when the goal was to capture the beautiful, high contrast images of Kodak and Fuji film stocks. This focus on digitally replicating the dynamic range and colorimetry of film continued with the development of ALEXA, which was a key reason behind its success.

In truth, any image captured with ALEXA since its introduction in 2010 is technically HDR, and can easily be prepared for HDR delivery by undertaking an HDR color grade of the original ARRIRAW or Log C material. ALEXA, ALEXA Mini and AMIRA are therefore perfect for all productions looking to shoot images that will play well in the HDR future. The next step is HDR monitoring on set; ALEXA SXT cameras will support this with special ALF-2 look files, and future software update packages will implement HDR monitoring in an even more convenient form.

LINK:	http://www.arri.de/news/news/leading-the-way-with-hdr/...
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