While there is no standard yet for what HDR means in a cinema environment, a French company, Ymagis Group’ exhibitor service arm CinmaNext, is not waiting. They are rolling out their own solution called EclairColor which they say is cinema HDR. Using Sony projectors, they claim to already have 52 screens capable of HDR in Europe. Now, they want to expand to the US with the goal of reaching 100 screens by this summer.
To be clear, this solution is not just about the projector – the Sony SRD projectors have 8000:1 sequential contrast – it is a full ecosystem approach. So far, 25 films have been mastered using the éclair mastering package. According to the company, this mastering package consist of color grading, color mastering and DCP creation modules. An EclairColor master can be created from a DSM, a DCDM or DCP package. They can also start with a 1000 cd/m² master. Their workflow takes incoming content to an ACES color space for the remastering process.
In our meeting, we asked for some more details about this process. Apparently, they keep diffuse white the same as conventional cinema at 14 FL, but allow highlights to reach up to 30 FL, which is the same as Dolby Vision. This keeps the APL about the same as conventional cinema, but with highlight headroom. They have also developed a special EOTF for cinema which is not PQ, but close to a 12-bit Gamma 2.8 curve, we were told.
On the exhibition side, they require projectors with a sequential contrast of 5000:1 to qualify for their HDR certification. That means new high contrast RGB laser projectors from Christie and Barco will now qualify in addition to the Sony lamp-based projectors. But because of the higher luminance levels, content must be displays at a minimum of 48 fps to avoid judder, the perception of which increases with luminance.
The Eclair Exhibitor package also includes a certified screen, porthole window glass and an automatic picture monitoring system.
The company wants to see this technology expand beyond DCI-class cinemas into art houses, museums and more. They think this is a scalable solution that simply needs more projectors for larger screens.
At CinemaCon, the company showed a demo reel with examples of SDR and HDR content which clearly showed the expected increase in detail rendition and brighter colors. The solution was shown in Hollywood last October as well.
They also introduced the “Sphera” concept which encompasses the EclairColor components with theater design requiring 4K resolution projectors, 3D projection, wall-to-wall screens and specified audio solutions based on Dolby Atmos. It also specifies luxury seating, light absorbing wall treatments and even includes the ability to fill the theater with 360º images for advertising and other effects. The concept extends to the lobby as well to include a bar. – CC
