LAS VEGAS— Advanced HDR by Technicolor has announced that it will be highlighting new high dynamic range (HDR) formats and production models as well as new NextGen TV boxes during the 2026 NAB Show between April 18 and 22. .
While HDR continues to gain traction with consumers, Advanced HDR by Technicolor’s team believes that many of today’s “premium” video experiences still fail to produce a demonstrably visible or differentiated experience. That’s because, they say, the industry reliance on static look up tables (LUTs) and redundant standard dynamic range (SDR)and HDR pipelines is flattening image quality while introducing operational costs and complexity.
At NAB this year, the Advanced HDR by Technicolor team will showcase an evolution away from these constraints, presenting dynamic HDR workflows and single-stream delivery methodologies that are designed to preserve creative intent, and ensure the seamless transition from SDR and HDR while reducing infrastructure costs across broadcast and streaming operations.
“Production teams selecting the predictable and safe path of legacy SDR workflows and static LUTs HDR are limiting the viewing experience of consumers while undermining the business case for this technology. If HDR is to be considered a premium feature then it must be delivered as the ‘hero’ format rather than the compromise,” said Rick Dumont, head of business development for Advanced HDR by Technicolor.
Deployment of Advanced HDR by Technicolor is also expanding across NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) and into HDR streaming operations, the company noted. Implementations with partners such as Hisense combine Advanced HDR by Technicolor with NextGen TV capabilities to enhance the viewing experience of live sports. The solution is also supported by core video workflow providers across the ecosystem including Mainconcept, Cobalt, Ateme and Amagi.
During the show demonstrations will focus on a few key developments in how HDR is produced and distributed:
- Dynamic HDR conversion solution that replaces static LUTs processing while optimizing content frame by frame and maintaining contrast, brightness and color depth across varying types of content.
- Single-stream delivery of HDR and SDR which eliminates the need for parallel workflows and enables one signal to serve legacy SDR and HDR-enabled devices.
- HDR delivery within SDR bandwidth constraints using existing 8-bit AVC workflows, removing the requirements for 10-bit HEVC implementations.
- Content provided at UHD/HDR-like quality at less than 25% of the bandwidth usually associated with such formats.
- This approach challenges workflows that have prioritized SDR compatibility over HDR performance.
As broadcasters and streaming service providers compete in an increasingly saturated market, the inconsistent implementation of HDR has weakened the technology’s ability to capture consumer attention, lessening its impact as a driver of subscriptions or advertising dollars.
At the same time, the production teams that choose to maintain separate SDR and HDR workflows introduce added costs to production, storage and distribution. Those parallel workflows are going to be more difficult to sustain as content libraries continue to grow and live production demands become more complex.
By comparison, a single-stream approach reduces the requirements on infrastructure and bandwidth while simplifying operations. There is no longer a need for manual color adjustments and grading decisions which can deteriorate performance across devices, Advanced HDR by Technicolor argues.
Advanced HDR by Technicolor experts will be on hand during the show at Advanced HDR by Technicolor Meeting Room (Invitation Only) located at C3062MR in Central Hall and the ATSC booth located at C1655 in Central Hall
More information is available at https://advancedhdrbytechnicolor.com.
