User Manual

To accommodate backward compatibility with SDR displays, as well as the varyingmaximum
brightness of different makes and models of HDR consumer displays, Dolby Vision offers both
dual layer backward compatible and single layer non-backward compatible output options
(mastering is identical for both).
The dual layer backward compatible output option accommodates a two-stream video delivery
method thatconsists of abase layer and an enhancement layer with metadata. On an SDR
television, only the base layer is played, which contains a Rec. 709-compatible imagethat’s a
colorist-guidedapproximation of the HDR image. On a Dolby Vision-enabled HDR television,
however, both the base and enhancement layers will be recombined, using the metadata
generated during the grading session to determine how the resulting HDR image highlights
should be scaled to fit the varied peakwhite levels and color volume performance that’s
available on any given Dolby Vision television.
Those, in a nutshell, arethe twin advantages of the Dolby Vision system. It’s backward
compatible with SDR televisions, and it’s capable of intelligently scaling the HDR highlights to
provide the best representationof the mastered image forwhatever peak luminance and color
volume a particular television is capable of. All of this is guided by decisions madeby the
colorist during the grade.
At the time of this writing, all seven major Hollywood studios are mastering in Dolby Vision for
cinema. Studios that have pledged support to master content in Dolby Vision for home
distribution include Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, and MGM. Content providers that
have agreed to distribute streaming Dolby Vision content include Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon. If
you want to watch Dolby Vision content on television at home, consumer television
manufacturers LG, TCL, Vizio, HiSense, Sony, Toshiba, and Bang & Olfusen have all shipped
models with Dolby Vision support.
Mastering Displays for Dolby Vision
To do Dolby Vision grading, you need a suitable HDR display. Technically any monitor that
supports SMPTE BT.2084 (aka PQ) will work. Happily, a growing number of professional
displays from Sony, Flanders Scientific, TV-Logic, Canon, and Eizo are suitable for use in HDR
grading suites. Dolby offers an optional certification program. If you intend to be certified by
Dolby, the minimum requirements are as follows:
 A minimum Peak Luminance of 1000 nits (greater than 1000 nits preferred), measured
with an L32 loading pattern covering 10% of the total screen area
 A 200,000:1 contrast ratio (greater than 1,000,000:1 preferred)
 Minimum black at 0.005 nits (a data value of 80 is the minimum value that must be
visually differentiated from higher code values)
 Signal support for BT.709, P3/D65, and Rec.2020, display support for the P3 gamut
(support for BT.709, P3, and Rec.2020 preferred)
 Support for an EOTF of SMPTE ST.2084 (aka PQ) (support for ST.2084 and Gamma 2.4
preferred)
 Minimum 10-bit signal and display support (12-bit preferred)
 RGB 4:4:4 signal and display support
For more information on Dolby certification and best practices for color grading Dolby Vision,
visit: https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-vision/dolby-vision-for-creative-
professionals.html.
Chapter – 8 HDR Setup andGrading 242