• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

mkpeReport

top analysis covering digital cinema, 3-D, HFR, and laser illumination

  • Reports
  • About
  • mkpe.com
  • cinepedia.com

Another Way to Achieve HDR in Cinema

August 2015 by Michael Karagosian

High Dynamic Range (HDR) display is coming to the home. The question in many people’s minds is how will it eventually come to the cinema. Last month the impressive developments taking place in direct view LED displays were reviewed. This report looks more closely at the challenges faced by projector technologies in HDR.

The HDR achieves an impressive visual effect through the display of brighter highlights. Standard dynamic range cinema can display peak luminance of 48 nits (14 ft-L). Human eyes perceive light in a logarithmic manner, which indicates that it would require approximately 500 nits to achieve a doubling of brightness in highlights. Without further justification, let’s simply assume that a peak luminance of 500 nits makes for effective HDR in cinema. Further, let’s say we want to achieve HDR on a 24m (~80ft) premium large format (PLF) screen. Doing the math, with a unity gain screen and assuming operation of the light source at 80% of full power, one would need approximately 600,000 lumens of light. This is the stunning equivalent of 10 laser-illuminated projector heads. Of course, a screen gain of 2.0 would reduce this to a mere 5 laser-illuminated projector heads. If you’re shaking your head, then you understand the reason people ponder how HDR can truly come to cinema.

Cinema requires both light and sound. Projectors alone offer the ability to project light onto perforated screens, allowing traditional sound systems to be situated behind the screen. But the downside of projectors is their low degree of efficiency. Projectors are naturally inefficient. They accept as input a steady stream of light, from which light is subtracted to achieve the image shown on screen. The subtracted light is simply lost.

One company, MIT Innovation, a Canadian company founded by former employees of Brightside (acquired by Dolby), has been studying the degree to which projectors are inefficient, determining that, on average, less than 20% of the available peak luminance of standard dynamic range projectors is presented on screen. In other words, more than 80% of light in standard dynamic range projectors is thrown away. The company’s focus has been to find ways to better utilize the available steady stream of light that is input to the projector.

A fully efficient projector could accept substantially less light at its input. For example, an ordinary projector having 60,000 lumens of light is needed to light a 24m PLF screen with the peak luminance required for standard dynamic range. If only 20% of the available peak luminance was actually needed, an efficient projector having 12,000 lumens of light could be used to light the same screen. The benefit would be a substantial savings in both purchase price and operational cost.

For HDR, the inefficiency factor would grow substantially. The amount of light needed at the input to an HDR projector would be around 10x that of a standard dynamic range type, with a much smaller percentage of available peak luminance presented with HDR images on screen. If an efficient HDR projector can be realized, then such projectors could become practical in cinemas.

MIT Innovation says they’re confident of producing light management technology that will achieve high efficiency in projectors. Whether or not it is MIT that succeeds, or an unknown company yet to be announced, it is efforts such as theirs that underscores the recognition of the HDR problem in cinema, and the attempts underway to solve it. They serve as another pointer to the fact that the future of cinema technology will be quite different from what it is today.

Filed Under: High Dynamic Range Tagged With: HDR, MIT Innovation

Primary Sidebar

Search

Topics

  • 3-D
  • Accessibility
  • Alt Content & Advertising
  • Anti-Piracy
  • Color
  • Communications
  • Deployment Entities
  • Distributors
  • Exhibitors
  • Fulfillment
  • High Dynamic Range
  • Higher Frame Rates
  • Installations
  • Patents
  • Projectors
  • Servers and IMBs
  • Sound
  • Technical Bodies
  • Theatre Management Systems
  • Trade Organizations and Shows

Full Archives

a publication of
MKPE Consulting LLC

Footer

Important Stuff

  • About
  • Privacy Policy

Archives

  • Category & Monthly Archives
Archives date back to 2008.

MKPE

mkpeReport is a publication of MKPE, a world-class consultancy building business at the crossroads of cinema and technology.
Learn more about MKPE.

copyright © 2008 - 2023 mkpe consulting llc

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of all cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo