NEW High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging: Capture, Standards, Display, and Color Management
Instructors: Nicolas Bonnier, Paul Hubel, and Luke Wallis, Apple Inc.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 2 hours
Course Time: 13:30 - 15:30
Benefits
This course enables the attendee to:
- Achieve a strong foundation in HDR imaging.
- Gain an understanding of the evolving standards landscape.
- Learn how HDR is shaping the future of visual media.
Course Description
This short course provides a comprehensive overview of high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, with a focus on the end-to-end pipeline—from image capture to color management, display, and prints. Designed for imaging professionals, researchers, and engineers, the course covers the technical foundations, industry standards, and practical considerations that define modern HDR workflows. Topics include:
- HDR Capture: Techniques and technologies used in multi-exposure and single-shot HDR capture.
- Benefits of HDR: Enhanced contrast, color volume, and realism across imaging applications.
- HDR Displays: Capabilities and challenges of HDR display systems, including tone mapping and peak brightness.
- HDR Standards: Overview of relevant ISO, ITU, and SMPTE specifications.
- ISO HDR Gain Maps: The role of gain maps in enabling adaptive rendering across devices.
- ICC Adaptive Gain Curves: ICC’s approach to supporting HDR through adaptive gain modeling.
- SMPTE ST 209450: The use of dynamic metadata in HDR video content.
- Editing HDR: Best practices for post-production of HDR stills and video.
- ICC Color Management for HDR: New developments enabling HDR-aware color workflows.
- Printing HDR: Leveraging the latest ICC HDR tags.
- Adoption Trends: Current landscape of HDR deployment in hardware, software, and content creation.
Intended Audience: imaging scientists and imaging engineers.
Nicolas Bonnier is a senior manager in camera & photos at Apple, where he leads advancements in HDR imaging and image processing. He holds a BS in photography from ENS Louis-Lumière, an MS in electronic imaging from Université Pierre & Marie Curie, and a PhD in image processing from Télécom Paris. Bonnier represents Apple in several international standardization bodies, including ISO TC 42, ITU R, ICC, and SMPTE. His work has played a key role in the development of Apple’s HDR displays and next-generation photo and video processing pipelines.
Paul M. Hubel is chief scientist of camera technology at Apple Inc., where he leads advancements in color and image processing for digital photography. He played a key role in developing multi-image fusion, zoom, and depth features that revolutionized smartphone photography and has contributed core color and imaging technologies since 2008. He holds a BSc in optical engineering from the University of Rochester and a DPhil in engineering science from Oxford University. Prior to Apple, he held research and development roles at MIT-Media Lab, Hewlett-Packard, and Foveon, working on color aspects of holography, printing, scanning, copiers, and cameras.
Luke Wallis is a senior software engineer at Apple, where he works on the foundation of color management for Apple products. He represents Apple at the International Color Consortium, ISO TC-42, ITU, and SMPTE. Currently, he is also a vice-chair of the International Color Consortium. He received an MS in computer science from Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland, and a PhD in computer science from Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Wroclaw, Poland.