1080p50 HDR or 4K? Let's splurge when we can afford it!
On this platform, Emili Planas, CTO and operations manager of Mediapro Group, reflects on the debate between HD and 4K that emerged as major sporting events such as the Champions League final or UEFA Euro 2024 have opted for HD-HDR as a standard after years of defending 4K as the future for sports entertainment.
Throughout the history of TV, we have accepted that the maximum quality for both capture and viewing is that of cinema. Leaving aside the user experience when we go to the cinema and sit in a dark room with an “immense” screen, which is unmatched, the technical parameters of a signal 1080p50 HDR son best that what we can see in the great most cinemas in the world.
Much despite those of us who come from admire the superior quality of cinema, the standards HDR of TV surpass in quality all los DCI parameters by whom
Most of the projections that we can see in cinemas use the standard DCI 2K, with a resolution 1080×2048 at 24fps. This can be considered better than the HD TV standard: not because of the resolution, whose difference is irrelevant (1080x1920), nor because of the number of images per second (25 interlaced in 50 fields), but because of the DCI color space of the cinema that was implemented when the transition was made from chemical to electronic, and that compared to the Rec.709 of the old television is substantially better. Rec.709 covers 36% of the visible spectrum and DCI-P3 covers approximately 46%.
But what happens with the appearance of HDR on Television? Well, despite those of us who come from admiring the superior quality of cinema, the HDR standards of TV They exceed in quality all the parameters of the cinema DCI. A 1080p50-HDR TV production is equivalent in resolution to the traditional DCI 2K, but it has twice the images per second, has a dynamic range hundreds of times greater and acolor acid (Rec.2020) that exceeds the 75% of the visible spectrum, that is, 29% more than in the cinema DCI.
HDR: noticeable regardless of the distance from the screen
If instead of comparing cinema with other screens we base ourselves on the limitations of the human visual perception system (SPVH), we can see that the definition parameter, always associated with the resolution of the signal, entails a direct relationship with screen size and viewing distance. That is, for the same screen size, the further we are from it, the less resolution we will need to see the images with the highest possible quality.
Regardless of the marketing, which allows manufacturers to sell more screens thanks to resolution figures more understandable by the innocent buyer, los professionals of this industry we must maintain the necessary knowledge to be able to decide at every moment.
To give an example and based on these limitations of the SPVH that are equivalent to an angle of one minute of degree to differentiate a white line from a black one, it is considered that 3H (3 times the horizontal measurement of the screen) as the minimum distance to appreciate the details of a 1080×1920 HD signal. For 4K, this distance is halved, 1.5H. In other words, if we sit 3 meters from our screen, to appreciate a difference between HD and 4K, we need a 90-inch screen. And what happens with HDR? Well, unlike the issue of resolution, when there is more dynamic range and greater color space, these can be seen at any distance from the screen.
Regardless of marketing, which allows manufacturers to sell more screens thanks to more understandable resolution figures on the part of the innocent buyer, professionals in this industry must maintain the necessary knowledge to be able to decide at all times. There are cases in which it is necessary to produce and issue a resolution 2160p50 (4K), but there are others in which 1080p50 will have the same quality impact for viewers, substantially reducing the costs, work times and bandwidths to reach them.
HDR in sports: opportunities compared to an SDR that is far from realism
Where we cannot back down is in the evolution towards the adoption of HDR throughout the production-broadcast chain. Currently, only the most premium sports content and some content are produced in HDR. on-demand on OTT platforms. All of these contents have their SDR version to make viewing compatible on older screens, and this is where the only problem that can slow down the rapid evolution of HDR occurs.
All the television manufacturers apply their “magic formulas” so that your screens shine brighter and have more saturated colors, even if it is at the cost of skip the Rec.709 standard, which governs emissions in SDR.
All television manufacturers apply their “magic formulas" so that their screens shine brighter and have more saturated colors, even if it is at the cost of skipping the Rec.709 standard, which is the one that governs broadcasts in SDR. Is it likely that we will see a Euro Cup match on TVE HD brighter and with greener grass, than on the UHD channel (which is HDR)? Well yes, this is more than likely and happens regularly.
In reality, what we see in SDR is not what the technical control of the production or the broadcaster is seeing on a grade 1 monitor or on any calibrated monitor/TV, since the television manufacturer wants its screen to shine as bright as possible, even if it is at the cost of generating defects of banding. On the other hand, when we select the version HDR, what we see on a latest generation television is very similar to what is being seen on the producer image control room.
HDR, future of UHD
From the audiovisual production industry, it is unlikely that we will be able to get screen manufacturers to be forced to have a preset (user selectable) that respects the Rec.709 for SDR emissions, but if that happened, it would be much easier for the viewer to finish appreciating the quality that content producers and broadcasters strive to generate, both in the traditional SDR and in the nuevo HDR.
In conclusion, a broadcast in 4K a 25fps y SDR has much less than UHD that a broadcast 1080p a 50fps y HDR, just as many relevant industry players are beginning to recognize.
Emili Planas
CTO and operations manager of Mediapro Group
Did you like this article?
Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and you won't miss anything.