The Power of Color: HDR and WCG @ Cable Tec 2016

Dr. Sean McCarthy, ARRIS Fellow

Video quality is easily recognizable to the trained eye, but equating a number with quality is often more problematic. Without consistent video-quality metrics, cable operators cannot make informed decisions when setting bitrate and video-quality performance targets, nor when choosing technology partners for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) services.

A recent scientific study with professional-quality Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) and HDR videos found that viewers prefer HDR over SDR by a large margin – largely due to the fact that it’s the closest thing to reality that’s available on TV. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. HDR and WCG are doing an excellent job of bringing TV picture quality in line with what we see through our own eyes. The experience, according to many consumers, is “like looking out of a window.” That’s because HDR and WCG create a more convincing and compelling sense of light than previously was possible.

At this year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2016, Dr. Sean McCarthy, ARRIS Fellow, will present new research and techniques designed to help answer the pressing questions facing cable providers when it comes to setting video quality and performance targets for HDR and WCG video services including:

• What happens to a viewer’s quality of experience when pristine, high-quality HDR content is compressed for distribution?
• What happens when HDR WCG content is converted to SDR content to support legacy displays and consumer set-tops?
• Do distortions and compression artifacts become more noticeable in HDR? Or does processed HDR lose some of its sparkle and become less discernible from ordinary SDR?

Dr. Sean McCarthy is an expert in content distribution, video compression, signal processing and the neurobiology of human vision. He currently leads advancements in state-of-the-art of video processing, compression and practical vision science at ARRIS.

Learn more about “The Power of Color” workshop on Thursday, September 29 from 12:45 – 1:45 p.m., which will be moderated by Bill Warga, VP Technology, Liberty Global.