'Consistency,' 'Flexibility' Guided Adoption of Both Mandatory, Optional HDR in Next-Gen Blu-ray, BDA Says

Ultra HD Blu-ray will support one open and mandatory high-dynamic-range standard in SMPTE ST 2084, but also the proprietary Dolby and Philips HDR systems as options, Victor Matsuda, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association’s global promotions committee, texted Thursday in the Q&A portion of a BDA “virtual roundtable” held to summarize features of the next-gen format. BDA went to one mandatory and two proprietary HDR standards because, “much like we've done in the past, the format specification is meant to establish consistency for the consumer as well as serve as a toolbox for hardware manufacturers and content creators,” Matsuda said. “The BDA determined that the open HDR technology mandated in the format would provide a fantastic consumer experience but we also wanted to give manufacturers the flexibility to use other proprietary HDR technologies.” BDA thinks Ultra HD Blu-ray “provides a consistent, repeatable experience that is not subject to bandwidth constraints or other external factors that can impact picture quality,” Matsuda said in response to a question about what sets the new format apart from other forms of Ultra HD content delivery. “The bitrates and data throughput that can be achieved with disc surpass those currently available to other delivery platforms,” he said. Ultra HD Blu-ray will have a “digital bridge” function that will be the subject of BDA webinars later this year, Matsuda said. “There are two digital bridge features, copy and export,” he said. “Copy permits a bit for bit copy to be stored on an authorized attached media drive. Export allows files to be transferred to an authorized mobile device. It is up to individual manufacturers to determine how broadly they wish to deploy digital bridge in their products.”