CEA Defines ‘HDR’ as it Applies to UHD Sets

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced the industry definition for high dynamic range (HDR) compatible video displays. HDR is a new capability that promises to deliver an expansive range of brightness and shadow detail, further enhancing the viewing experience. “HDR provides a significant step-up in delivering an incredible viewing experience for the consumer,” says Brian Markwalter, senior vice president, research and standards,CEA. “We encourage manufacturers and our industry partners to use this voluntary compatibility guideline to provide greater consistency and clarity while ensuring compatibility and interoperability across the full content development to display ecosystem.”

CEA’s definition of HDR will go a long way to clarifying how UHD sets are marketed.

Paving the way for the introduction of HDR-Compatible Displays, the new CEA designation is designed to assist retailers and consumers in identifying display products that incorporate the interface and processing technology needed to display the new content properly. CEA and its display manufacturer members collaborated with leading content providers and distributors  as well as other technology companies to establish the new display characteristics for HDR interoperability.

Many 4K Ultra High-Definition televisions (4K Ultra HD) will include early implementations of various next-gen technologies, including HDR, wider color gamut and higher frame rates, which provide a more realistic and immersive viewing experience.

CEA’s Video Division Board approved the following definition:

A TV, monitor or projector may be referred to as a HDR Compatible Display if it meets the following minimum attributes:

-Includes at least one interface that supports HDR signaling as defined in CEA-861-F, as extended by CEA-861.3.
-Receives and processes static HDR metadata compliant with CEA-861.3 for uncompressed video.
-Receives and processes HDR10 Media Profile* from IP, HDMI or other video delivery sources. Additionally, other media profiles may be supported.
-Applies an appropriate Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF), before rendering the image.

“CEA’s leading role in defining HDR compatible displays complements the work of other organizations such as the UHD Alliance that are reportedly developing HDR-related performance parameters and guidance for the video content, distribution and hardware ecosystem,” Markwalter explains.

The new HDR interoperability guidelines build upon CEA’s extensive work in supporting and promoting 4K UHD technology. Previously, CEA collaborated with its member companies to develop characteristics and accompanying logos to designate 4K UHD TVs, monitors and projectors, as well as 4K UHD cameras and camcorders. CEA also has implemented a variety of promotional efforts to help educate consumers and retailers about the new display technology.

* Note: HDR10 Media Profile is defined as:

• EOTF: SMPTE ST 2084
• Color Sub-sampling: 4:2:0 (for compressed video sources)
• Bit Depth: 10 bit
• Color Primaries:  ITU-R BT.2020
• Metadata: SMPTE ST 2086, MaxFALL, MaxCLL