SAN FRANCISCO—MovieLabs, the technology joint venture of the major Hollywood motion picture studios, has announced the formation of a new MovieLabs Industry Forum that will be focused on designing and developing the future of professional media creation.

“We’re excited to announce the MovieLabs Industry Forum and invite organizations of all sizes and across the global media creation landscape to join MovieLabs and other industry leaders in accelerating the work we are all doing to help the industry forge ahead in achieving a more secure, interoperable and efficient media creation ecosystem,” explained Richard Berger, CEO of MovieLabs.

MovieLabs said that applications for membership are now open for technology service providers, creative application and service providers, software development companies, systems integrators, and cloud providers.

Joining the Forum, MovieLabs explained, provides a way for organizations to participate with MovieLabs and its member studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Universal City Studios, LLC., The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. more deeply and directly.

More information about how to apply to the MovieLabs Industry Forum is available at www.movielabs.com/IndustryForum.

The initiative builds on the 2019 release of the pivotal MovieLabs whitepaper, “The Evolution of Media Creation: a 10 Year Vision for the Future of Media Production, Post and Creative Technologies”, aka “The MovieLabs 2030 Vision.”

Since then the 2030 Vision’s 10 Foundational Principles have increasingly become implementation touchpoints, engineering/technology areas of focus, and goals for media organizations worldwide, MovieLabs said.

MovieLabs noted that this global implementation momentum comes at a time when the industry is focused on the impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and a greater need for appropriate industry collaboration. Bringing the key stakeholders of the industry’s future together with MovieLabs member studios in the new MovieLabs Industry Forum will accelerate implementation and provide greater support, it said.

For companies that share the 2030 Vision as a North Star, the MovieLabs Industry Forum will enable industry implementors and adopters to play a deeper role in engaging with MovieLabs and their industry peers.

In terms of membership benefits, MovieLabs explained that members of the MovieLabs Industry Forum will participate with the major studios in a range of activities including:

• Participating in Implementor Working Groups focused on delivering specific areas of MovieLabs 2030 work – including Security, Ontology for Media Creation and Workflow Interoperability
• Working with industry peers in developing and testing interoperable software and service solutions in the 2030 Greenlight program
• Receiving early access to prerelease MovieLabs documents, specifications, best practices and recommendations
• Attending member-only events
• Using exclusive branding in their marketing and industry messaging to show their membership of the MovieLabs Industry Forum and their alignment with the 2030 Vision’s principles.
  
  

Applications for the MovieLabs Industry Forum are open now at www.movielabs.com/IndustryForum. Membership and activities will start in January 2025. Membership dues are established based on annual gross revenue to enable companies of all sizes from start-ups to multi-nationals to participate in the 2030 Forum.

A variety of tech leaders also applauded the initiative.

“The MovieLabs Industry Forum creates opportunities for specialist companies to get involved in media workflow design, creative tools and infrastructure – all things that will be redefined as we move the 2030 Vision into commonplace practice at industry scale,” said Eddie Drake, head of technology, Marvel Studios

"This Forum is a testament to our progress, underscoring our commitment to not just imagining but also realizing a future in which cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and improvements in security amplify human capabilities within production workflows," added Phil Wiser, executive vice president and CTO Paramount Global

“This is a worldwide initiative to realize the Movie Labs 2030 Vision together, and we see a large benefit for the media creation industry far beyond just Hollywood. This is our opportunity to hear and collaborate with diverse industry voices from the global media and entertainment industry that are creating all types of content for a wide range of audiences,” explained Yoshikazu Takashima, senior vice president of advanced technology at Sony Pictures Entertainment

“Empowering the creative community to tell compelling stories with seamless technologies is a primary goal of the MovieLabs 2030 Vision. We look to the MovieLabs Industry Forum as a place where we can all work together on interoperable solutions to empower storytellers with speed and efficiency not possible today,” said Michael Wise, senior vice president and CTO at Universal Pictures

“We’re looking for innovative companies that are driving change, whether they be small start-ups, or with the global breadth of multinationals that can deploy at enormous scale. Every organization has a role to play in this industry migration and should embrace the opportunities the 2030 Vision and the MovieLabs Industry Forum offers,” added Patty Hirsch, executive vice president consumer digital at Warner Bros. Discovery

SAN JOSE—The HDMI Forum has announced the availability of the Ultra High Speed HDMI cables, which enable the full 48Gb/s performance of HDMI 2.1.

“The HDMI Forum didn’t rest after releasing the 2.1 specification, and 2020 was one of its busiest years ever,” said David Glen of Advanced Micro Devices and president of the HDMI Forum.

“We launched the Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable Certification Program (UHS Program) and now these UHS Cables are available in the market…,” he said.

The UHS Program ensures Ultra High Speed HDMI cables reaching the market support 4K, 8K, HDR, VRR, eARC and all other HDMI 2.1 features. 

The HDMI Forum also released the Compliance Test Specification for Active Cables in 2020, he added. Shortly, consumers will be able to buy Active Optical Cables supporting installations requiring longer cable runs.

Shipments of Premium HDMI cables reflect growing demand for 4K content as both consumer and commercial sectors look to connect 4K cable, satellite and IPTV set-top boxes to their televisions.

Premium HDMI cables are specified globally for use by service providers for in-home installations, the forum said.

The forum also is promoting HDMI Cable Power, which enables active HDMI cables to be powered directly from the HDMI connector without attaching a separate power cable.

More information is available on the HDMI Forum website. 

SAN JOSE, CALIF.—The HDMI Forum has officially rolled out version 2.1 of the HDMI Specification, which is now available for all HDMI 2.0 adopters. The updated HDMI Specification can now support higher video resolutions and refresh rates including 8K60 and 4K120, and resolutions up to 10K. Other new features include support for dynamic HDR formats and a bandwidth capability of up to 48Gbps.

Key to supporting the new 48Gbps bandwidth is the Ultra High Speed HDMI cable. This new cable helps deliver high-bandwidth dependent features, including uncompressed 8K video with HDR. It offers low electro-magnetic interference, which reduces interference with nearby wireless devices. The cable is backward compatible and can be used with the existing installed base of HDMI devices.

Additional features of the new standard includes eARC, which is designed for simplified connectivity and supports advanced audio formats, ensuring compatibility between audio devices and upcoming HDMI 2.1 products. There are also enhanced refresh rates, which include Variable Refresh Rate, Quick Media Switching and Quick Frame Transport. Auto Low Latency Mode automatically sets the ideal latency setting for lag-free and uninterrupted viewing and interactivity.

The entirety of v2.1 HDMI Specification, developed by the HDMI Forum’s Technical Working Group, is backward compatible with earlier versions of the specification.

The HDMI 2.1 Compliance Test Specification will be published in stages through Q1-Q3 2018. HDMI adopters will be notified when it is available.