Multiple HDR technologies are available to broadcasters adopting ATSC 3.0 service, and Gray Media has taken an important initial step to support multiple high dynamic range alternatives in advance of the NFC Championship Game (Jan. 26) and the Super Bowl (Feb. 9).
The station group has tested and is deploying transmission of HDR10+ and Dolby Vision high dynamic range in multiple markets, including Atlanta; Las Vegas; Davenport, Iowa; Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida; Birmingham, Alabama; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Portland, Oregon, Robert Folliard, senior vice president of government relations and distribution at Gray Media, said.
“We’ve been working hard to get it out there,” Folliard said. “We know it works because it’s been in the works for several weeks in many of our markets.”
Different consumer NextGen TVs are equipped to decode different types of HDR, whether it’s HDR 10+, Dolby Vision, Advanced HDR by Technicolor or others. What Gray has tested is inserting the metadata required to drive both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ high dynamic range in the same ATSC 3.0 transmission.
“NextGen TV viewers can now pick the flavor of HDR they like and automatically display it,” he said, adding the station group is “HDR format-agnostic” and will support other types of HDR as well, including Advanced HDR by Technicolor single-layer high dynamic range (SL-HDR).
“You may note that the Super Bowl is on Fox in New Orleans, so we’re getting it out and focusing now on our Fox affiliates because they’ve got the game coming up in two and a half weeks,” he said. “We want to make sure that if you’re watching NextGen TV for the Super Bowl, you’re going to see it in HDR if you’re in one of our markets.”
In May 2024, Gray presented the Kentucky Derby and the festivities leading up to the horse race in Dolby Vision on WAVE-TV Louisville. It also carried the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in Dolby Vision on some of its NBC affiliates.
“We just want to make sure viewers receive the best viewing experience possible,” he said.
