Clarification: The high-dynamic-range (HDR) functionality in LG’s new EF9500 series of 55- and 65-inch flat OLED 4K TVs (see 1508250042) will be compliant with open HDR specs SMPTE-2084 and SMPTE-2086 from the Society of Motion Picture and TV Engineers, LG said.

Netflix stands by statements it will deliver high dynamic range content later this year when the first "certified" UHD Alliance and Dolby Vision sets come to market, spokesman Cliff Edwards emailed us Thursday in response to Amazon's announcement a day earlier that it had become the first video service to deliver HDR to its Amazon Prime customers (see 1506240038 or 1506240043). Amazon representatives haven't responded to our questions seeking specifics about its HDR offering, including which HDR technology it's using -- UHD Alliance or Dolby Vision -- and how much extra bandwidth its HDR layer will consume. Netflix is a founding member of the UHD Alliance; Amazon doesn't belong. The UHD Alliance's efforts to devise a product logo and certification program for HDR, among other Ultra HD attributes, should bear fruit this year, we were told at this month’s Display Week conference (see 1506030045). Sources familiar with UHD Alliance activities said it's possible the first Ultra HD TVs could begin landing HDR certifications by late summer.

Technicolor released a “single-layer solution” for coding and delivering high dynamic range content in a single stream “to accurately display the content regardless of the display type,” including standard dynamic range TVs, the HDR proponent said in a Wednesday announcement. Designed for broadcasters, pay-TV operators and over-the-top streaming services looking to migrate to HDR video, “it allows for the storage and delivery of one video file, which plays back on legacy SDR TVs and new HDR TVs coming to market,” Technicolor said. “Today the option to view HDR content is an either-or scenario depending on screen display, which creates duplicity and inefficiencies in delivering content to the consumer,” said Mark Turner, Technicolor vice president- partnership relations and business development, in a statement. “Our single-layer technology looks to address such challenges, dramatically reducing storage and bandwidth costs by eliminating the need for two delivery systems, which will mean more consumers will enjoy the benefits of HDR sooner and on more screens.” Technicolor has submitted the solution for standardization to the Motion Picture Experts Group, where testing is already underway with suppliers of H.265 video decoders, including Marvell Technology, MStar Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics, Technicolor said.

LG Electronics, the world’s strongest OLED TV advocate, defended the viability of OLED technology for high dynamic range applications, against statements by a Dolby Labs researcher that driving higher peak brightness on an OLED display for HDR can seriously reduce the display’s life expectancy. Timo Kunkel, senior color and imaging researcher at Dolby Labs, told a Society of Motion Picture and TV Engineers webinar Thursday that driving higher peak brightness on an OLED display “has been a problem and I think still is” for the display’s lifespan, though he conceded he’s “not really an expert on OLED technologies” (see 1506180042). But an LG spokeswoman emailed us Friday to say OLED technology “is perfectly suited for HDR content.” OLED TVs are alone in their ability to deliver “perfect, absolute black,” the spokeswoman said. “By starting from perfect black, OLED is able to produce the required light ranges at a lower peak brightness, resulting in an exceptional -- and comfortable -- HDR viewing experience,” she said. Since LED-backlit LCD TVs “start at a higher brightness (not perfect black), they have to produce exceedingly bright images to achieve HDR, which could cause significant eye discomfort and strain,” she said. “LG OLED TV will be able to deliver an exceptional HDR experience at a lower peak brightness that will not affect the lifespan of the panel.”

Samsung is using the SES Industry Days event in Luxembourg through Thursday to demonstrate the first DVB transmission of high-dynamic-range Ultra HD TV, using content transmitted via an SES satellite directly to a Samsung set using “hybrid gamma” HDR technology, the TV maker said Wednesday. The demo is a “major milestone for the Ultra HD broadcast chain,” Samsung said. It shows for the first time how industry can launch new HDR services over DVB, “which can fully exploit the capabilities of the next generation of consumer displays,” it said.

It’s “good news” for Dolby Labs that high dynamic range is “clearly on everybody's agenda,” Dolby CEO Kevin Yeaman said on a Tuesday earnings call. Dolby was “very early to recognize that,” and “we've been in the game” with Dolby Vision “for five, seven years really,” Yeaman said. “And so as a result, we have the most complete and highest-quality solution available for the playback of consumer HDR content. And like most of our areas of focus that requires great content, it requires playback and on the content side, we're well on our way to broad adoption on the creative and distribution side.” Dolby is “really excited” about its first Dolby Vision TV design win through Vizio (see 1504130022), Yeaman said. The Vizio sets with Dolby Vision are “the most sophisticated and technologically advanced” TVs that Vizio has ever produced, he said. He described Dolby Vision as “our end-to-end imaging solution, which gives creative teams the freedom to use the full gamut of colors, brightness and contrast resulting in an enhanced entertainment experience.” Dolby Atmos for the home “continues to gain momentum,” with AV receiver and home theater-in-a-box product launches from Denon, Integra, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha and speakers from Atlantic Technology, Definitive Technology, KEF, Onkyo and Triad, Yeaman said. “We expect more product launches throughout the year,” he said. Dolby Atmos also “continues to be adopted in mobile devices to create immersive audio experiences on the go,” Yeaman said. “Our solution creates a richer and more compelling experience over headphones or speakers.” There are about 25 Blu-ray movies released or announced with Dolby Atmos, he said. Dolby Cinema, which theatrically combines Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos “to deliver the ultimate moviegoing experience,” will be installed in four AMC “sites” by May and up to 10 by the end of the summer, Yeaman said. Dolby plans to deploy Dolby Cinema at 100 sites “over time,” he said. AMC and Dolby announced Dolby Cinema on April 9, the same day DTS unveiled its long-awaited DTS:X object-based audio platform for cinema and home theater (see 1504090020).

At the last CES, several TV makers featured prototype high-dynamic-range (HDR) TVs, “meaning commercial launches will follow shortly,” says a UHD Guidebook just published by the research firm The Diffusion Group, with sponsorship from Dolby Labs and Harmonic. “In fact, the next two years will see a number of screen manufacturers implementing HDR, with luminance performance on consumer screens expected to achieve 1500 nits based on technology viable within the tight cost constraints and stringent power consumption regulations that define the consumer display market,” the guidebook says. The first Dolby Vision TVs introduced last week by Vizio with no pricing or availability details have peak brightness roughly half that level (see 1504130022). The industry needs “a single production workflow” for both standard-dynamic-range and HDR content “so the transition to UHD supports legacy HD televisions and HD network infrastructure,” the guidebook says. “The solution must be compatible with existing file-based and real-time infrastructures to support not only cinematic content, but also live broadcast content.” New HDR TVs “must be capable of mapping the transmitted HDR images to the TV display’s native color volume (defined by the display’s black level, peak white level, color temperature, and color primaries), thereby remaining as true as possible to the original creative intent within the confines of the display’s capabilities,” the guidebook says. HDR content needs to be “delivered consistently,” and so it needs the support of “leading standards organizations,” such as the Blu-ray Disc Association and the Secure Content Storage Association, it says. Both BDA (see 1409170023) and SCSA (see 1501120023) have said they plan to back open HDR standards. The “capabilities” of Ultra HD TVs “will evolve over time as new technologies such as quantum dots allow wider color primaries and brighter displays,” it says. “Systems should thus combine a television’s inherent display characteristics and the HDR solution as metadata to allow any form of display to adapt optimally to incoming HDR images in order to match the display’s characteristics.”

Dolby and Walt Disney Studios said Disney's Tomorrowland, due in theaters May 22, and Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out, in theaters June 19, will be the first Dolby Vision titles to be shown at Dolby Cinema locations worldwide. Disney's The Jungle Book, due out April 15, 2016, also will be presented in Dolby Vision, with more titles to be announced, the companies said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Dolby posted an infographic on its website promoting the advantages Dolby Vision TVs will have over conventional TVs, which it said include “vastly improved contrast, with much brighter highlights and profound darks that still show details, combined with a far wider color gamut.” As content creators start to produce content in Dolby Vision, movies and TV shows will have a dynamic range and depth of detail and color that reflect “what you see in real life," Dolby said. "To see that content as the filmmaker intended, you’ll need a Dolby Vision enabled TV,” it said. Vizio was the first to announce TVs with Dolby Vision this week (see 1504130022). Dolby also said Vudu will distribute 4K, Ultra HD Dolby Vision titles from Warner including Edge of Tomorrow, The Lego Movie and Into the Storm.

It took longer than expected, but Vizio finally took the wraps off its first Dolby Vision high dynamic range TVs Monday, announcing plans to introduce 65- and 120-inch sets under its Reference Series. One surprising element of the Vizio announcement was its mention that the Dolby Vision sets will have full-array LED backlights with 800 nits of peak brightness. At last year’s IFA show, Dolby talked about expectations that the first Dolby Vision HDR sets would feature higher levels of peak brightness (see 1409040067). Dating back to last summer, Dolby executives by process of elimination predicted that Vizio would market the industry’s first Dolby Vision TVs in the U.S. in time for the 2014 holiday selling season (see 1408070021), a forecast that didn’t come to pass. Pricing and availability of the Vizio Dolby Vision TVs weren't disclosed. The Vizio 65-inch TV is being showcased at the Dolby Labs booth on the upper floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall. Also on display at the booth is the range of Dolby Vision streamed content options to be available from Warner and Vudu. Vizio also unveiled seven new models in its soundbar lineup starting with 2.0 systems priced at $79 and $99 measuring 29- and 38 inches wide. A 38-inch 2.1 model adds a subwoofer ($179), and 5.1 soundbars with surround sound are available in 38- and 40-inch widths ($249, $349). Vizio also is adding two sound stands for smaller spaces: a 2.0 channel ($149) and a 2.1 version ($249), it said. The 40-inch flagship system ($349) has HDMI connectivity, Bluetooth with aptX, Dolby Digital surround, DTS Digital Surround and DTS TruVolume, said Vizio. The models are rolling out this month to retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale, Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Target, Vizio.com and Walmart.