Researchers at Warwick University (Warwick, UK), working in partnership with spinout company goHDR, have succeeded in achieving and patenting a method of real-time encoding and remote display of High Dynamic Range (HDR) video.

Working with their Portuguese partner INESCTEC (Porto, Portugal), they have also been able to demonstrate the technique in action on an iPad. This means that full HDR video content can now be encoded and streamed directly to remote displays, including mobile devices.

To handle all the data in an HDR video stream, goHDR has a patented algorithm that is capable of compressing HDR frames by at least 150:1 with minimal perceptual loss of quality. The partners have now developed a new method that enables uncompressed HDR frames to be encoded and streamed to a remote device in real-time. Encoding rates of over 60 frames per second (fps) have been achieved for 720p resolution on a modern 16-core computer.

“Previously HDR video compression had to be done off-line. This meant the HDR video data from a camera had to be first stored on high-speed disks, encoded and finally transmitted. This could take many minutes, precluding any live broadcasts. Real-time encoding now opens up many more opportunities for people to experience HDR content directly," says Professor Alan Chalmers from Warwick University.

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1. TVs display high dynamic range

Researchers at Warwick University (Coventry, UK) together with partners at goHDR and Altera Toronto Technology Center (Toronto, ON, Canada) have developed a system that allows existing televisions to display high-dynamic-range (HDR) video content.

-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design