To answer eight common questions about 8K, Samsung Newsroom reached out to Bill Mandel, President of the 8K Association and Vice President at Samsung Research America and Chris Chinnock, Executive Director of 8K Association. Read on to learn more about topics like the state of the 8K ecosystem, market prospects, leading industry players, 8K content production methods and what users can expect for the future of the technology.

Q: Who’s leading the creation of the 8K ecosystem?

In 2018, Samsung and a handful of other TV and panel makers planned the organization of a trade group focused on the evangelization and development of the 8K ecosystem. They approached Insight Media’s Chris Chinnock to discuss the future development of products and content. They also took concrete steps to establish the 8K Association (8KA) by developing the 8K Association Certified logo for 8K TVs and establishing consumer and industry-facing educational materials.

This was how the 8K Association was created in 2019 to benefit users, content creators and technology developers alike. Since then, the 8KA has put out a variety of materials to teach people about 8K technology, including a detailed “State of the 8K Ecosystem” report, educational seminars and webinars, and a weekly news service called The 8K Monitor. The Association also has a number of committees involved in developing new 8K TV specs and testing methods, along with encoding and decoding activities, content creation, marketing and promotion and more, with the goal of expanding the 8K ecosystem. Moreover, the 8KA continues to work with several standards development organizations to help create 8K specifications and support the technology’s certification.

Q: What kinds of companies have joined the 8KA?

When the 8K Association was created in 2019, it featured just five member companies. Having focused its efforts on expanding the 8K ecosystem over the last three years, the Association now features 30 members in all, which include not just TV brands but also panel makers, chip makers, content creators, streaming service providers and equipment providers, among others. Global companies like Google, IMAX, and Intel are some of the leading brands that have joined the 8K Association and are helping to bring consumers the best 8K experiences across as many devices as possible. (See the 8KA’s full list of partners.)

Q: What makes 8K-enabled devices different from others?

In addition to announcing Test Specifications at IFA 2019 and CES 2020, the 8K Association has established common industry standards, including an 8K certification program, to enable consumers to enjoy consistent, high-quality 8K experiences.

The certification program is enhanced each year through the addition of specific criteria, and strict evaluations are conducted based on various requirements. The program is composed of elements that provide users with more three-dimensional, highly immersive experiences. These include video decoding and multi-channel surround sound that supports a wide variety of 8K streaming content, as well as resolution, brightness, color and connectivity, which ensure high performance on large screens.

Q: How many 8K-enabled devices are currently on the market?

The number of 8KA Certified TV models is increasing each year. With the launch of its 2019 QLED 8K displays, Samsung became the first manufacturer in the industry to feature a complete lineup of 8KA Certified TVs. As of August 2021, 47 Samsung 8K TVs have received the 8KA Certified logo. Today, Samsung, Hisense and TCL have introduced more than 70 8KA Certified TVs to the market.

Q: How is 8K content typically produced and distributed?

A great deal of 8K content is captured using cinema-grade 8K HDR cameras. However, most of this content is finished in 4K or HDR resolution before being distributed to consumers.

That said, it is clear that the amount of 8K content available continues to expand. Content platforms YouTube and Vimeo also feature a great deal of short-form 8K content, which is mostly focused on nature and travel. This is quite similar to the way that 4K content was introduced to the market. The 8K Association is working to put the pieces in place to enable more 8K movies and shows to become available to consumers.

Q: Will 8K TV users be able to freely enjoy high-quality video even if native 8K content is not widely available yet?

8K devices’ AI-assisted upscaling technology allows users to overcome the issue of not having enough native 8K content. Samsung’s 8K TVs in particular are capable of improving resolution and picture quality using deep learning AI technology. The technology precisely analyzes various elements of every frame of content, including lines, details and noise levels, in order to upscale low-quality images to 8K.

Q: Will we be able to game in 8K?

Major gaming consoles are expected to support 8K playback through the HDMI 2.1 interface, and 8K gaming will also be possible with 8K TVs’ upscaling technology. On the PC gaming side, high-end graphics cards from manufacturers like Nvidia and AMD may include support for 8K output, even with features like ray tracing and upscaling enabled on the GPU. Although the 8KA has not yet introduced an 8K certification program for games, it is closely monitoring this area and exploring various options.

Q: What is the outlook for 8K’s adoption and expansion?

8K’s expansion is centered around users who long to test out and adopt the latest display technology. If this trend continues among these users who have historically led the widespread adoption and acceptance of new technologies, over time, this will lead to both reductions in cost and the establishment of a larger content experience ecosystem. This was the path for HD’s adoption, and 4K followed a similar route. We are seeing a similar pattern when it comes to 8K’s adoption, which has been aided by the work of organizations like the 8K Association.

For more information on the 8K Association, visit https://8kassociation.com/.

In the two years that have passed since its introduction, HDR10+ has not only been revolutionizing the home entertainment market but has also debuted on a variety of other devices, including smartphones.  Bill Mandel, Vice President of Samsung Research America’s Digital Media Solutions Lab, sat down with Samsung Newsroom to provide an update on how far HDR10+ has come since 2017.

Building a HDR10+ Ecosystem

The biggest innovation for HDR10+ since its introduction in 2017 has been the expansion of the types of devices that can support the revolutionary picture technology, as well as the number of partners that have adopted it.

Over the past year, the number of HDR10+ certification program adopters has tripled, including many TV makers and various ultra-high-definition (UHD) device and System on Chip (SoC) makers. As Mandel affirms, the technology has become crucial to providing the best possible big screen television experience. “The additional picture information that comes with HDR10+ enables the TV processor to best recreate the color tones, brightness and contrast details with the highest precision and respect for the creative intent,” he notes. “Every scene and frame of a viewer’s content is delivered to the highest possible quality on larger screens thanks to HDR10+ and QLED TV processors.”

Samsung’s US-based Digital Media Solutions Lab are constantly aware that, just as the number of HDR10+-certified devices is constantly growing, so is the amount of content available. “We develop technologies like HDR10+ to be stable over a long time so that we can ensure we offer consistency across all available picture qualities as well as synergy between content producers and the viewing ecosystem,” explains Mandel of their development process, “and we work to provide a roadmap to enable the industry to develop and grow with these and other new video tools and enhancements.”

Providing High Picture Quality Across the Board

Back in 2017, Samsung partnered with 20^th Century Fox and Panasonic to create a logo and certification program that allows displays to be certified for having HDR10+ implementation. Since then, many more displays and much more content have been developed to support HDR10+ by a wide range of partners and collaborators who see the benefits this picture technology has to offer viewing quality.

“Device adopters see the picture quality benefit to HDR with HDR10+, service providers are finding that they can easily update their existing HDR services, and content providers are finding they can achieve greater consistency of quality across a wider variety of televisions,” comments Mandel on the path HDR10+ has forged in the industry. “Recently, at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Jose, we showcased samples of HDR10+ across a variety of devices including mobile, tablets and TVs to many interested developers.”

Looking to the future, Mandel notes that HDR10+ is set to revolutionize not only TV viewing experiences for users, but potentially also cinematic experiences. “Starting with HDR10+ technologies, we are currently working to understand the needs of filmmakers, post-production facilities and studios in order to help post-production workflows and future generations of displays provide even more capabilities and options to consumers and the media industry.”

The Most Vivid Viewing Experience Yet

What sets HDR10+ apart is that it has been designed to reproduce images faithfully by taking advantage of the brightness, darkness and contrast elements of content paired with the performance range of a viewer’s television. Thanks to its advanced tone mapping technology, HDR10+ is able to better reproduce HDR content with the appearance as intended by the creator. “Not only can users enjoy this quality on HDR10+-certified devices, but HDR10+ technology can enable any TV, even with differing sets of performance characteristics, to provide an immersive HDR content experience that fully showcases the care creatives put into their HDR source masters,” explains Mandel.

Mandel recommends dimming the lights in your home when watching HDR10+ content to make the most of the experience. “HDR10+ works with all the picture modes available on Samsung TVs,” adds Mandel, “and our ‘Movie’ picture mode has been optimized by the picture quality engineering team to deliver colors and cinematic texture as envisaged by the original content creators.” Mandel encourages consumers to look for HDR10+ support when considering their next device, “so that they can be sure they are getting the best HDR viewing opportunity possible.”

HDR10+, along with 8K resolution, stands at the forefront of display technology innovation. “Samsung is committed to continuously expanding the capabilities offered by TV screens,” affirms Mandel. “Through industry collaboration with technology initiatives such as HDR10+ and partners throughout the media ecosystem, we are continuously striving to deliver the best possible viewing experience to consumers now as well as in the future.”

Samsung Newsroom sat down with the Vice President of Samsung Research America’s Digital Media Solutions Lab, Bill Mandel, to discuss the ins and outs of the open-source platform, as well as Samsung’s efforts to accelerate its adoption.

Q. In a nutshell, how does HDR10+ help Samsung’s QLED TVs create immersive viewing experiences?

HDR10+ processes images dynamically, allowing for scene by scene, and at times frame by frame picture enhancement. QLED TV’s advanced image technologies make the displays fully capable of portraying these optimized visuals.

This dynamic approach to image optimization results in rich, accurate colors and deeper contrasts. It means that when watching a show or film, characters’ expressions and the details of a scene appear crisp and nuanced, making the scene truly come to life.

Q. What sets HDR10+ apart from other video formats, such as HDR10?

HDR10+ is designed to reproduce images with utmost accuracy, even on displays which would otherwise have difficulty portraying HDR10 content. While HDR10 produces remarkable visuals on Ultra HD Premium^TM displays, HDR10+ allows consumers to enjoy HDR10’s image benefits on a wider variety of TVs.

Samsung UHD and QLED TVs’ HDR10+ integration allows them to fully utilize their native image technologies to provide the most lifelike visuals out there. Even premium TVs will benefit from the display-engine upgrades that come with HDR10+, as well as the incorporation of HDR10+ data in picture optimization.

Some competing platforms employ techniques with fewer control points, and are tuned on reference monitors rather than the consumers’ displays. It’s quite difficult for display manufacturers to take a reference monitor-defined process and adapt it to a range of products. HDR10+, on the other hand, was designed specifically for consumer sets, and engineered to reproduce content created with an HDR10 master in a manner that preserves the creators’ intent.

Q. What led Samsung to make HDR10+ open source and royalty-free?

Samsung strongly believes in making core technologies openly available to the industry to help build strong ecosystems. We’ve seen this before with platforms like Tizen.

It’s for this reason that Samsung made HDR10+ available to chip and TV manufacturers royalty-free. In January of 2018, we will begin licensing the HDR10+ platform and metadata for free to content companies, UHD Blu-ray player and set-top box manufacturers, as well as other vendors around the world. By making HDR10+ openly available, we provide a platform that will lead to the creation a variety of devices that depict video content in a manner that offers viewers the best possible expression of the creators’ intent.

Q. What are some of the actions that Samsung is taking to ensure a smooth transition to HDR10+?

Our goal is to see HDR10+ available to any manufacturer out there who would like to incorporate it into their displays. We’re offering engineering support to help these manufacturers achieve the best results, and we’re currently in discussions with various content creators and distributors as well.

Everyone we’ve met with at the industry level has been shown the platform’s benefits, as well as the simplicity with which it integrates into existing processes. We’re also working closely with vendors to make it easy for content creators and studios to generate HDR10+ content using existing HDR10 videos. We plan to announce further details on the platform’s adoption in the coming months.

Q. Could you elaborate on some of the advantages that HDR10+ offers our partners?

Through our partnership with 20^th Century Fox and Panasonic, we’ve introduced a logo and certification program that allows displays to be certified for quality HDR10+ implementation.

We are working to enable post production tool suppliers to incorporate HDR10+ so that content producers can integrate HDR10+ generation right in to their final post production. Additionally the function of these tools could be incorporated into transcoding operations so that even libraries could be upgraded to HDR10+ if so chosen by rights holders. We are aiming to provide the best ability available to generate and review HDR10+ data for their content.

Q. We’ve heard that HDR10+ was designed with the future in mind. Could you elaborate on this?

The SMPTE standard that we introduced at the end of 2015 was designed to be forward-thinking. It’s currently capable of blending in HDR10+ over parts of an image, but its versatility also makes it possible to incorporate support for new advancements in image optimization in the future without impacting performance.

Over the past year, we’ve been conducting demonstrations and working with HDR10+ in our labs to confirm with certainty the profile of HDR10+ that we are putting into practice.

Q. What can consumers expect to see next in terms of picture quality?

We’re currently witnessing intense development in this area across the industry. Now that we have a great image platform in HDR, as well as open delivery systems in HDR10 and HDR10+, there is a lot of room for innovation in content production, post-production, and displays – all of which will benefit the consumer. Over the coming years, this will lead to significant advancements in picture quality that empower creators and filmmakers to produce great content.

In addition, the proliferation of HDR10+ will allow cinematographers to create engaging three-dimensional content by taking depth and detail to entirely new levels.