An Embedded System for High Dynamic Range Enabled Television

用于高动态范围电视的嵌入式系统

• 批准号: EP/I006192/1
• 负责人: Alan Chalmers
• 金额: $ 11.88万
• 依托单位: University of Warwick
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2010 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FI006192%2F1
• 关键词: Embedded; System; Dynamic; Range; Enabled

This 8 month project brings together internationally leading expertise in High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging from the University of Warwick with the innovation and in-depth market knowledge of the IBM Systems and Technology Group, Austin, USA. Together the partners will demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of an embedded HDR decoder-viewer which could be included in all future TVs and even retrofitted in existing TVs.HDR is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between light and dark areas of a scene than normal digital imaging techniques or photographic prints do. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide range of light intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight. Tone mapping techniques, which reduce overall contrast to facilitate display of HDR images on devices with lower dynamic range, can be applied to produce images with preserved or exaggerated local contrast for artistic effect. Although the process is complex, the end product seems very natural. This is because the eye and the visual cortex of the brain, unlike a camera, can deal with light variances of 10,000-fold within a single scene and adapt automatically without any conscious effort. Cameras capable of capturing dynamic HDR content are now appearing. The problem is: capturing the wide range of natural lighting results in a substantial increase in data. A highly efficient compression algorithm (of at least 100:1) for HDR video content has been developed at the University of Warwick as part of our research undertaken in EPSRC grant EP/D032148/2, for which a patent has been filed. Associated with this encoder is the need for a decoder and viewer which can deliver HDR content in real-time directly to HDR displays or tone mapped to existing Low Dynamic Range (LDR) displays, including computer monitors and televisions. A prototype down-loadable version of this decoder-viewer exists for PCs. A solution for televisions is not so straightforward. TV manufacturers need to embed the decoder-viewer into their display devices, so the decision to be HDR enabled would be made by the manufacturer, not the user. This embedded software may be adopted by TV manufacturers quite rapidly if it is well designed and easy to incorporate, as it adds another product distinguishing sales feature to their product. The television market is huge with about 170 million displays are sold annually in a market worth over $30 billion. Within this market, digital LCD to 1080 High Definition specification has become almost standard. The market has now stabilised, with further cost reduction being the major market driver, or they may move onto an even higher-specification standard. We believe that the latter is the more likely, and that HDR will be that standard. There is, however, one restraint on the rapid adoption of HDR television. Dolby tightly control all the IP related to HDR displays after their acquisition of BrightSide in February 2007 (for $29 million). It could thus take a few years while licensing agreements are resolved or other innovations for HDR displays start to appear. The embedded system we are developing in this project will enable existing television designs to be HDR enabled . The embedded decoder-viewer will allow HDR content to be tone mapped in real-time for display on these televisions. While a tone mapped image will never be as rich as a true HDR one, as we, and others have shown, modern tone mappers can give a significantly enhanced viewing experience on an LDR display which are perceptually close to the HDR experience. This proposal thus bridges the gap from the research results from a previous EPSRC grant to develop a robust demonstrator of an embedded HDR decoder-viewer and a commercial exploitation plan. On completion of the project, we will be in a strong position to secure commercial support from venture capital or seed funds.

这个为期8个月的项目将沃里克大学在高动态范围（HDR）成像方面的国际领先专业知识与美国奥斯汀IBM系统和技术集团的创新和深入的市场知识结合在一起。合作伙伴将共同展示嵌入式HDR解码器-查看器的技术和商业可行性，该解码器-查看器可以包含在所有未来的电视中，甚至可以在现有的电视中进行改造。HDR是一套技术，与普通的数字成像技术或摄影打印技术相比，它可以在场景的明暗区域之间实现更大的亮度动态范围。这种更宽的动态范围使HDR图像能够更准确地表示从直射阳光到微弱星光的真实的场景中的各种光强水平。可以应用色调映射技术来产生具有保留的或夸大的局部对比度的图像以获得艺术效果，色调映射技术降低整体对比度以促进HDR图像在具有较低动态范围的设备上的显示。虽然过程很复杂，但最终产品看起来很自然。这是因为眼睛和大脑的视觉皮层与相机不同，可以处理单个场景中10，000倍的光线变化，并自动适应，而无需任何有意识的努力。能够捕捉动态HDR内容的相机现在正在出现。问题是：捕捉大范围的自然光照会导致数据的大幅增加。沃里克大学已经开发了用于HDR视频内容的高效压缩算法（至少100：1），作为我们在EPSRC授权EP/D 032148/2中进行的研究的一部分，已经为其申请了专利。与该编码器相关联的是对解码器和观看器的需要，该解码器和观看器可以将HDR内容实时地直接递送到HDR显示器或色调映射到现有的低动态范围（LDR）显示器，包括计算机监视器和电视。这个解码器查看器的原型向下扩展版本存在于PC中。电视机的解决方案并不那么简单。电视制造商需要将解码器-查看器嵌入到他们的显示设备中，因此启用HDR的决定将由制造商而不是用户做出。这种嵌入式软件如果设计良好且易于整合，可能会很快被电视制造商采用，因为它为他们的产品增加了另一个产品区别销售功能。电视市场是巨大的，每年销售约1.7亿台显示器，市场价值超过300亿美元。在这个市场中，数字LCD到1080高清晰度规格几乎已成为标准。市场现在已经稳定下来，进一步降低成本是主要的市场驱动力，或者他们可能会转向更高规格的标准。我们认为，后者的可能性更大，而人类发展报告将是这一标准。然而，迅速采用HDR电视有一个限制因素。杜比在2007年2月以2900万美元的价格收购了Side后，严格控制了与HDR显示器相关的所有IP。因此，可能需要几年的时间才能解决许可协议，或者HDR显示器的其他创新开始出现。我们在这个项目中开发的嵌入式系统将使现有的电视设计能够支持HDR。嵌入式解码器-查看器将允许HDR内容实时进行色调映射，以便在这些电视上显示。虽然色调映射图像永远不会像真正的HDR图像那样丰富，但正如我们和其他人所示，现代色调映射器可以在LDR显示器上提供显著增强的观看体验，其在感知上接近HDR体验。因此，该提案弥合了来自先前EPSRC资助的研究结果的差距，以开发嵌入式HDR解码器-查看器和商业开发计划的鲁棒演示器。待项目完成后，我们将处于有利地位，可取得创业资金或种子基金的商业支持。

项目成果

Optimal exposure compression for high dynamic range content

高动态范围内容的最佳曝光压缩

• DOI: 10.1007/s00371-015-1121-z
• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: The Visual Computer
• 作者: Debattista K

HDR video past, present and future: A perspective

• DOI: 10.1016/j.image.2017.02.003
• 发表时间: 2017-05
• 期刊: Signal Process. Image Commun.
• 作者: A. Chalmers;Kurt Debattista

Advanced High Dynamic Range Imaging

• DOI: 10.1201/9781315119526
• 发表时间: 2017-07
• 作者: F. Banterle;A. Artusi;Kurt Debattista;A. Chalmers

Fifty shades of HDR

五十度 HDR

• DOI: 10.1109/dmiaf.2016.7574902
• 发表时间: 2016
• 作者: Chalmers A

Learning Preferential Perceptual Exposure for HDR Displays

学习 HDR 显示器的优先感知曝光

• DOI: 10.1109/access.2019.2898910
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: IEEE Access
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Bashford-Rogers T