Samsung Electronics announced today its HDR10+ ecosystem expansion to 45 industry partners and the construction of a new certification center in China. The new partnerships with companies, from online streaming and content services to semiconductor industry, will bring more true-to-life picture quality content to viewers and also expand the impact of HDR10+ technology across different market segments.

Last June, Samsung Electronics launched the HDR10+ certification and logo program in partnership with 20th Century Fox and Panasonic. HDR10+ is Samsung’s next-generation standard technology for picture processing, which optimizes brightness levels and contrast for each scene, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker to deliver a lifelike viewing experience.

Thanks to Samsung’s new partnerships with content providers, consumers can soon access more content in vivid and reality-like colors. Rakuten TV, a European online streaming service, will begin offering HDR10+ content in the first half of next year. One of the largest among CIS and Eastern Europe OTT/VOD services, MEGOGO is currently finishing its HDR10+ licensing process, making its adoption of HDR10+ official, and planning to release HDR10+ contents on its platform, viewable on all Samsung Smart TV devices. ARSPRO, based in Moscow, is another production studio that has implemented HDR10+ technology, including the use of dynamic metadata. It has successfully carried out the remastering of the first several series of programming in HDR10+. On December 3^rd of this year, the largest Russian OTT/VOD service ivi also presented five European series in HDR10+ to Samsung Smart TV users for the first time in Russia and CIS region.

“We continually work on improving the video quality for our users. And we are proud to be the first Russian OTT/VOD service to maximize the opportunities available through Samsung QLED TVs and give a chance to our subscribers to view the contents in this new better-quality format. We plan to expand our HDR10+ collection because our focus is on providing the highest quality content to the viewers, using all the features of Samsung TVs,” said Irina Grandel, Business Development Director at ivi.

In 2017, Samsung also launched its premium video streaming service with Amazon, making Prime Video the first streaming service to deliver all 4K (UHD) videos in HDR10+. In 2018, Amazon integrated HDR10+ support into the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, which launched in October. Another HDR10+ partner Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has created over seventy HDR10+ compatible titles so far and plans to have over 100 titles available for digital distribution in HDR10+ by early next year.

Samsung is also building partnerships with major smartphone chip manufacturers. Qualcomm, a U.S. semiconductor and telecommunications equipment maker and a member of the HDR10+ alliance, recently announced that HDR10+ will be supported on its new chipset, Snapdragon 855. Arm, U.K.’s innovation-leading company in mobile technology that has successfully collaborated with Samsung System LSI, will also join the HDR10+ network, further growing HDR10+’s influence in the mobile category.

In addition, Samsung plans to build a new HDR10+ center in China with TIRT, a national testing and inspection center for the Chinese consumer electronics, in December. The center is designed to help Chinese TV manufacturers, including Hisense, TCL and Konka to access the certification procedure and in turn accelerate the expansion of the HDR10+ ecosystem. The China center follows the opening of certification centers built in Korea, Japan and the U.S. earlier this year.

“With HDR emerging as one of the most important technologies for ultra-high picture quality, Samsung’s HDR10+ format is gaining recognition,” said Hyogun Lee, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “HDR10+ has already been well-received by major companies across a variety of industries. Samsung will continue to build on this, solidifying our HDR standard technology leadership and maintaining our presence in the global TV market.”

The HDR10+ platform will soon be made available to content companies, ultra-high definition TVs, Blu-ray disc players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC vendors, royalty-free with only a nominal administrative fee. Companies can view the new logo, learn about the license program including final specifications, adopter agreements and sign up to receive a notification when technical specifications for HDR10+ become available at http://www.hdr10plus.org. In addition, Ultra HD Blu-ray metadata generation tools have been developed with third parties and will soon be available for content creators enabling Ultra HD Blu-ray players to enter the market. Details on the content transfer and interface format for the content creation pipeline will also be released shortly.

HDR10+ will offer a genuinely premium HDR experience for viewers through a device certification program ensuring an accurate representation of the creative intent expressed in the content. Also, its workflow improvements for creators will encourage increased production of premium HDR content.

The HDR10+ license program will provide interested companies with the necessary technical and testing specifications to implement HDR10+ technology in a way that both maintains high picture quality and gives each manufacturer the ability to apply dynamic tone mapping innovatively. The accompanying certification program will ensure that HDR10+ compliant products meet good picture quality and deliver the creative intent of movie directors and cinematographers. A certified product will feature the HDR10+ logo, which signifies the product’s excellent picture quality.

Key aspects of the license program will include:

• Benefits for device manufacturers (e.g., TV, Ultra HD Blu-ray, OTT STB, etc.), content distribution services providers, SoC manufacturers, content publishers, and content creation tool providers.
• No per unit royalty.
• A nominal annual administration fee for device manufacturers, SoC manufacturers and content distribution service providers.
• Technical specification, test specification, HDR10+ logo/logo guide, patents from the three companies directly related to the technical specification and the test specification.
• Certification for devices will be performed by a third-party, authorized testing center.

Once the HDR10+ license program is open, the three founding companies will incorporate HDR10+ technologies in all future Ultra HD movie releases, selected TVs, Ultra HD Blu-ray player/recorders, and other products.

“It was important for us to create an open system that is flexible and offers a viewing experience much closer to the filmmaker’s creative intent for the film,” said Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President of 20^th Century Fox, and Managing Director of the Fox Innovation Lab. “Together with Samsung and Panasonic, we aim to standardize the licensing process making it easy for partners, including content creators, television and device manufacturers, to incorporate this technology and improve the viewing experience for all audiences.”

Support continues to grow for HDR10+ and companies are looking forward to applying the 3C specifications and certification program. More than 25 companies spanning many different industries have expressed strong interest in supporting the HDR10+ platform, further reinforcing its path to success.

Amazon Prime Video, the first streaming service provider to deliver HDR10+, has made the entire Prime Video HDR library available in HDR10+ globally. The Prime Video HDR10+ catalog includes hundreds of hours of content such as Prime Originals The Grand Tour, Golden Globe®-nominated The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, The Tick and The Man in the High Castle plus hundreds of licensed titles.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will support HDR10+ to enable a dynamic metadata solution for Warner Bros. content to Samsung, Panasonic and other HDR10+ capable 4K HDR TVs. “Warner Bros. has always strived to provide the best next gen home entertainment experience to consumers,” said Jim Wuthrich, President of the Americas and Global Strategy, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. “With HDR10+ dynamic metadata, WB can continue to more accurately bring the filmmakers’ vision of our 2018 releases and our vast catalog of over seventy-five 4K HDR titles to the home across a broad range of HDR10+ capable TV’s.”

The new HDR10+ technology optimizes picture quality for next generation displays by using dynamic tone mapping to reflect frame to frame or scene to scene variations in brightness, color saturation, and contrast, which makes for an enhanced viewing experience. HDR10+ technology optimizes the performance of many 4K ultra-high definition TVs, enabling playback on a wide range of next generation TVs bringing user experience much closer to the original creative intent for Hollywood films.

“By bringing together know-how and technology from the three founding companies, HDR10+ has the potential to deliver considerable picture quality benefits to both viewers and creators alike,” said Toshiharu Tsutsui, Director of Panasonic’s TV Business Division. “Accordingly, Panasonic anticipates wide support for HDR10+.”

“Samsung is committed to technological innovation across our TVs and HDR10+ represents an evolution in display quality for the best possible viewing experience,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We have also designed the HDR10+ platform to encourage future development in order to deliver further enhanced technology in the years to come.”

20^th Century Fox, Panasonic and Samsung will show technical demonstrations of HDR10+ technology at CES 2018. Accredited journalists or parties interested in the licensee program may email chris.bess@fox.com for more information. Accredited journalists can see Panasonic’s HDR10+ technical demo at its suite at the MGM Grand Conference Centre. A HDR10+ technology demo will be held at Samsung’s First Look event at Enclave Las Vegas on 7^th January.

To learn more about the HDR10+ license program, please contact the HDR10+ license administration office at info@hdr10plus.org.

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is the industry leading worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox produced, acquired and third-party partner film and television programming. Each year TCFHE expands its award-winning global product portfolio with the introduction of new entertainment content through established and emerging formats including DVD, Blu-ray, Digital and VOD. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is a subsidiary of 20^th Century Fox, a 20^th Century Fox Company.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B businesses. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2018, the company has expanded globally and now operates 495 subsidiaries and 91 associated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.343 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2017. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic: http://www.panasonic.com/global.

The Q8F is the flat screen counterpart to the previously launched curved screen lineup Q8C. Samsung is expanding its QLED TV line-up in Europe as it seeks to solidify its leading position in the global premium TV market. The new 43-inch version of The Frame combines both technology and art to provide consumers with design value that enables them to personalize and elevate smaller living spaces.

“We are proud to introduce a flat version of the Q8 in response to demand from European consumers seeking premium, flat and mid-size TVs,” said Sang-ho Cho, Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our extended QLED TV lineup as well as 43-inch version of The Frame ushers in new possibilities for televisions with their innovative technology and beautiful design, reflecting consumer lifestyles.”

Fortifying its Leading Position in the Premium TV Market

With the addition of the Q8F models, Samsung’s 2017 QLED TV lineup in Europe has been expanded to 14 models. Samsung’s offering, with the Q9, Q8, and Q7 QLED TV models, represents the most comprehensive line-up of premium TVs ranging from 49 to 88-inches in size and includes eight flat and six curved screen sets. The Q8F models, in particular, are the first flat screen models in Samsung’s QLED TV Q8 line-up.

Using metal quantum dot technology, Samsung QLED TVs produce the most accurate colors regardless of scene brightness level. This unique characteristic was verified with a “100 percent Color Volume” by VDE (Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker), the global standard certificate authority in Germany. The QLED TV’s Invisible Connection, a transparent optical cable that is only 1.8 mm in diameter, eliminates the tangled clutter of cables, and its No Gap Wall-mount allows the television to be mounted flush against a wall and fit seamlessly into various spaces.

The new 43-inch model of The Frame completes the lifestyle TV’s lineup, which currently consists of 55- and 65-inch models. Through its Art Mode function, The Frame, in addition to serving as a TV, doubles as a home décor element displaying both works of art as well as personal photographs. Through The Frame’s Art Store, users will soon be able to access about 1,000 prominent art pieces from world famous galleries and museums including the LUMAS, Saatchi Art, Sedition and Prado Museum.

The Q8F models will be immediately available following its introduction at IFA, and the 43-inch version of The Frame will be available in Europe starting in October, with the products to be introduced elsewhere on a phased basis. The new Q8F is available at a suggested retail price of EUR 2,599 (55-inch) and EUR 3,599 (65-inch), and the 43-inch The Frame at EUR 1,499.

Catching the Eyes of IFA Attendees with Enhanced HDR10+ Technologies

Samsung will demonstrate its QLED and HDR10+ TV technologies at the QLED and HDR10 Summit, which is being co-hosted by display market research publisher Insight Media. HDR10+ provides unprecedented picture quality for displays with brightness, color and contrast automatically optimized for each scene. The Summit will detail how with HDR10+ dynamic tone mapping, every scene is individually enhanced to bring-to-life vibrant visuals and colors that allow viewers to enjoy content just the way the filmmaker or director intended.

At the Summit, Samsung will also discuss its new partnership with 20th Century Fox and Panasonic Corporation to create an open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for HDR10+. The three companies will form a licensing entity in January 2018 and offer royalty-free metadata to content companies, UHD TV, Blu-ray players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC (System on Chip) vendors.

“Our goal is always to provide consumers with the best possible viewing experience through the latest technology and innovation,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “With our latest advanced HDR10+ technology and QLED TV, we hope to make enhanced picture quality with richer colors and deeper contrast easily accessible to users across a variety of content.”

20^th Century Fox, Panasonic Corporation and Samsung Electronics announced today a new partnership to create an open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for High Dynamic Range (HDR) through an associated certification and logo program, tentatively called HDR10+. Together, the three companies will form a licensing entity that will begin licensing the HDR10+ platform in January 2018. The entity will license the metadata broadly to content companies, ultra-high definition TVs, Blu-ray disc players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC vendors, royalty-free with only a nominal administrative fee.

“As leaders in home entertainment content and hardware, the three companies are ideal partners for bringing HDR10+ into the homes of consumers everywhere,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to making the latest technology available in our TVs and are confident that HDR10+ will deliver premium quality content and enhance the way you experience television programs and movies in the home.”

HDR10+ is a cutting-edge technology, building upon the benefits of HDR televisions, which offers the best possible viewing experience for next generation displays. HDR10+ provides unprecedented picture quality on all displays with brightness, color, and contrast automatically optimized for each scene. In previous iterations, static tone mapping applied a fixed enhancement across an entire piece of content. With HDR10+ dynamic tone mapping, every scene is individually enhanced to bring to life vibrant visuals and achieve unprecedented picture quality. This new enhanced visual experience will allow consumers to see pictures that match the intention of filmmakers.

“HDR10+ is a technological step forward that optimizes picture quality for next generation displays,” said Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President at 20th Century Fox and Managing Director of the Fox Innovation Lab. “HDR10+ provides dynamic metadata, which precisely describes every scene to deliver unprecedented picture quality. Working in partnership with Panasonic and Samsung through the Fox Innovation Lab, we are able to bring new platforms like HDR10+ to the market that more accurately realize the vision of our filmmakers beyond the theater.”

There are several key benefits for partners who wish to adopt the platform for their HDR10+ compliant products. HDR10+ offers system flexibility, allowing a variety of partners, including content creators, content distributors, TV manufacturers and device makers, to incorporate this platform and improve the viewing experience for audiences. The HDR10+ platform was designed to allow for future development and innovation in order to deliver a more powerful technology in the years to come.

“Panasonic has a long history of working with industry leaders to develop lasting technical formats. We are delighted to work together with 20th Century Fox and Samsung to develop a new HDR format, which will bring consumers so many benefits,” said Yuki Kusumi, Executive Officer at Panasonic. “By offering considerable HDR picture quality improvements across a wider range of TVs while accelerating the amount of premium HDR content available, we expect HDR10+ to quickly become the defacto HDR format.”

This year’s IFA attendees are encouraged to visit the Samsung Electronics and Panasonic booths to learn more about HDR10+ technology.

20^th Century Fox, Panasonic and Samsung will announce further details on the license program along with a demonstration of HDR10+ technology at CES 2018.

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film. TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions as well as all third party distribution partners on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, Digital HD, and VOD (video-on-demand). Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets and digital stores throughout the world.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B businesses. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2018, the company has expanded globally and now operates 495 subsidiaries and 91 associated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.343 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2017. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic: http://www.panasonic.com/global.

A new video released by the company highlights its longstanding partnership with industry leading film studio and underlines the importance of TV in today’s larger content ecosystem, featuring executives from both Samsung and Fox who share their collective vision for the future.

“Fox and Samsung have been working collaboratively for many years on new technologies,” said Danny Kaye, executive vice president, global research and technology strategy, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Over the years, we’ve formed a deep mutual respect and now we’re taking that collaboration to a whole new level.”

The partnership between Samsung and Fox began in 2013, when Samsung joined the Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA) — a consortium of companies in the entertainment and storage space that aim to provide consumers with new ways to access high-quality digital programming across devices — and did so with the backing of Fox. Samsung has since launched a UHD download service with Fox content, as well as an expanded service that includes High Dynamic Range (HDR) titles, which is available to consumers globally.

“Our goal is to offer the best consumer experience while preserving the filmmaker’s intent with no distortion, no compromises,” said Won Jin Lee, executive vice president, service business team, visual display at Samsung Electronics. “We are answering industry, market and user demand with this continued partnership.”

In 2014, Samsung launched its first ever branded “Video Pack” that provided users with five titles licensed by the studio. That same year, Samsung and Fox established the Fox Innovation Lab, with the first project integrating accessible content into Samsung’s Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs.

“We share a common goal of delivering the best user experience at home,” said Won Jin Lee. “Our complimentary skill sets have helped us continuously raise the bar for ourselves, as well as the industry.”

In 2015, Samsung and Fox, among other industry leaders, co-announced the UHD Alliance — a coalition of companies united to set the bar for next generation video entertainment by establishing standards to support innovation in video technologies. The Alliance is dedicated to furthering this commitment in 2016 and beyond.