An Embedded System for High Dynamic Range Enabled Television

这个为期8个月的项目将华威大学在高动态范围(HDR)成像方面的国际领先专业知识与位于美国奥斯汀的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，它可以包括在所有未来的电视中，甚至可以改装到现有的电视中。HDR是一套技术，允许在场景的明暗区域之间实现比普通数字成像技术或摄影照片更大的动态亮度范围。这一更宽的动态范围允许HDR图像更准确地表示真实场景中从直射阳光到微弱星光的广泛光强度级别。色调映射技术可以降低整体对比度，以便于在动态范围较低的设备上显示HDR图像，可用于生成具有保留或夸张的局部对比度的图像，以获得艺术效果。虽然过程很复杂，但最终结果似乎非常自然。这是因为眼睛和大脑的视觉皮质与相机不同，它可以在一个场景中处理1万倍的光线变化，并自动适应，而不需要任何有意识的努力。能够捕捉动态HDR内容的摄像头现在正在出现。问题是：捕捉大范围的自然光照会导致数据的大幅增加。作为我们在EPSRC授权EP/D032148/2中进行的研究的一部分，华威大学开发了一种用于HDR视频内容的高效压缩算法(至少100：1)，该算法已申请专利。与该编码器相关联的是需要一种解码器和查看器，其能够将HDR内容实时地直接传送到HDR显示器或将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。此解码器-查看器的原型可下载版本，适用于PC。电视机的解决方案并不是那么简单。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的决定将由制造商做出，而不是用户。如果这种嵌入式软件设计良好且易于整合，它可能很快就会被电视制造商采用，因为它为他们的产品增加了另一个产品独特的销售功能。电视市场规模巨大，在这个价值超过300亿美元的市场上，每年售出约1.7亿台显示器。在这个市场中，数字LCD到1080高清规格已经几乎成为标准。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因素，否则他们可能会转向更高的规格标准。我们认为后者更有可能，而人类发展报告将是这一标准。然而，对HDR电视的快速采用有一个限制。杜比在2007年2月收购Brightside后，严格控制了所有与HDR显示器相关的IP(以2900万美元)。因此，可能需要几年时间才能解决许可协议或开始出现HDR显示器的其他创新。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。尽管色调映射图像永远不会像我们和其他人所展示的那样丰富，但现代色调映射器可以在LDR显示器上提供显著增强的视觉体验，在感知上接近HDR体验。因此，这项建议弥合了与EPSRC之前拨款开发嵌入式HDR解码器-查看器和商业开发计划的强大演示器的研究结果之间的差距。项目完成后，我们将处于有利地位，可以获得风险资本或种子基金的商业支持。

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.