Funai to Embed Technicolor HDR In 2019 Philips TVs ‘in Conjunction With’ ATSC 3.0 Launch

Funai, which is exclusively licensed to sell Philips TVs in North America, will build Technicolor’s high-dynamic-range technology into 2019-model sets for the U.S. market “in conjunction with” the anticipated late-2018 launch of ATSC 3.0, the company said in a Monday announcement. Funai representatives didn’t comment on whether Technicolor’s will be the exclusive HDR technology built into the sets. The reference to 3.0 is peculiar because ATSC announced a year ago that 3.0 would have dual support for hybrid log-gamma and perceptual quantization HDR transfer functions but is agnostic on specific HDR technology implementations (see 1701190059). The presence of Philips TVs embedded with Technicolor HDR “reflects the importance of delivering high quality HDR or SDR to any screen regardless of specific formats,” and “strengthens the link between two leading brands in video -- Technicolor and Philips,” said Frederic Guillanneuf, Philips head-HDR business development, in a statement. Philips and Technicolor announced an agreement at CES two years ago to merge their HDR technologies (see 1601040051). LG announced before CES it’s building the Technicolor HDR technology into its 2018 TVs “in anticipation of new content being released in that format in the coming year,” though it regards Dolby Vision as the “hallmark” of HDR formats (see 1801020031).