Why content creators and producers
should create Dolby Vision masters

02-2018

Why content creators and producers
should create Dolby Vision masters

Why should I master my showfor Dolby Vision?
More creative storytelling options

Save time, money, and effort• Dolby Vision™ offers a wider color gamut than
traditional HD or UHD Rec. 709 TVs, matching theP3 color gamut available in the theatrical space. The
creative palette is increased, offering the option to
make your content more colorful (and with moreaccurate colors) and even get colors that weren’t
possible in Rec. 709, but that the eye can see.

• Grading your title for Dolby Vision provides all thedeliverables you need, in an efficient way (SDRRec. 709, generic HDR 10, and Dolby Vision). It
complies with the new Interoperable Master
Format (IMF) standards that studios have adopted
or are moving toward adopting.

• Compared to traditional HD or UHD standard dynamic
range TVs, Dolby Vision offers high dynamic range(HDR) image capability (or brighter/darker
pixels). This offers an opportunity for more contrast
and perceived sharpness and depth. It’s not justabout a brighter peak luminance — you can achieve
more detail in both the highlights and the shadows.
This results in a more lifelike image that will better
immerse your viewer in the story. However, if you
choose to grade only in SDR, the chances are highthat modern TVs will stretch your content anddistort the image to a pseudo HDR.
• Modern digital cinema and film cameras havebeen able to capture this extended dynamic
range and wider color gamut for years, but ourTVs have not been able to reproduce it until now.
Colorists have had to go to great lengths to scale andlimit this data for traditional SDR/Rec. 709 devices.
• Many colorists and creatives have stated publiclythat doing the Dolby Vision “hero” grade first ona larger canvas and an expanded palette offers
an easier job (with less power windows/keys) toget a great picture. They have also said that theDolby Content Mapping Unit software/process works
effectively to create a great-looking SDR master fromthe HDR hero grade, maintaining more detail in thehighlights and shadows than if the colorist had spenttime with power windows grading the SDR version
separately.

• Creating the Dolby Vision hero grade first saves
roughly 60% of resources compared to creatinga traditional SDR grade and then a costly
separate HDR grade. It requires approximately twoto three days to create a standard one-hour show
SDR color grade. A start-from-scratch HDR regrade
would likely take a similar amount of time. (It can belonger as the look was set on the SDR grade, andtrying to match that look is often challenging andlimiting.) But if you spend two to three days for aDolby Vision hero grade, it takes less than one
additional day to create the SDR metadata pass.
From that, you can derive all your deliverables. It’s
less than one additional day of grading to help future
proof your work.
• There is no license fee to the studio or the show
producers to create Dolby Vision content and allother deliverables. The Dolby Vision license fee
is for TV or set-top box manufacturers, and it’sroughly the price of a cup of coffee per unit.
Post houses do incur some nominal costs topurchase the equipment and software needed, which
is not outside the norm.
• Creating content in Dolby Vision helps ensure thatyour content will live on for longer and yourdistribution license agreements will more likely berenewed. For TV models on the market in 2017,40% are HDR capable. This number will continue
to grow. Content distributors and services such asNetflix®, Vudu®, and Amazon® offer premium Dolby
Vision services and have expressed their desire for
HDR content going forward.

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02-2018

Why content creators and producers
should create Dolby Vision masters

A proven workflow that is fast gaining adoption• Dolby has led the way with research, testing, anddevelopment on the best ways to implement HDR,
leading to SMPTE standards 2084 (PQ luminancecurve for HDR displays) and SMPTE 2094 (dynamicmetadata).

• The Dolby Vision Professional Tools and Workflow
have won two industry technology awards: theHollywood Professional Association 2017 Technology
Award and the Advanced Imaging Society 2018
Technology Award.

• Dolby Vision uses dynamic metadata to map on a
shot-by-shot/scene-by-scene basis to the specific
TV or playback device by using trim control andmetadata generated by the colorist to best
maintain artistic intent (set in the color suite) allthe way to the consumer. Dolby tests and certifies
each of these TVs, knows their capabilities, and knows
how to best tone map to each of them.

• Dolby offers post production facilities
commissioning and training, and fully certifies
their equipment and capabilities. Dolby verifies thatthese facilities are using the correct and calibrated
equipment, process, and workflow through semiannual
audits to maintain quality.

• Dolby Vision provides the best-quality HDR signaldelivered to the consumer TV or device: generic HDR(10 bit) and Dolby Vision (12 bit). It also will better scale
to future TVs and mobile devices and will not “stretch”
your content.
• Colorists can control how the content maps to theSDR version and specific HDR targets like a 600-nit
TV. Dolby works closely with the post community tocontinuously refine and improve the process.

• Five of the top six rated consumer televisions in 2017
were Dolby Vision displays:
https://www.cnet.com/topics/tvs/best-tvs/• There is great Dolby Vision momentum in themarketplace. There are 10 major TV OEMs, 7 Hollywoodstudios, and more than 250 titles, with 250 hours ofDolby Vision content available for the home.

What are the next steps?
• Schedule a private demonstration with your team,producers, show runners, or creatives at Dolby or atyour Dolby Vision Certified Facility. See how easy theprocess is and the quality you can achieve!
Contact tom.graham@dolby.com.
• If you can’t attend a demonstration, here’s a shortvideo you can watch to understand more about theprocess: https://vimeo.com/174552891.

• Don’t see your post house listed? No problem, havethem contact us to find out how to become certified.
Contact tom.graham@dolby.com.
• Tell your post house (on your work order) that you
want the Dolby Vision first process! This ensures you
are going to get the best results and most efficient/cost-effective color grade. Have them contact
tom.graham@dolby.com.

• Find a Dolby Vision Certified Facility near you:https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolbyvision/dolby-vision-for-creative-professionals.html#4

Dolby, Dolby Vision, and the double-D symbol are trademarks or registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. All other trademarks remain the property of theirrespective owners. © 2018 Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved.