Marquise Rushes to Advance HDR / IMF Mastering and Versioning at NAB

Marquise Technologies has continued their development of efficient tools for creating the masters and multiple versions of episodic TV and feature films produced in UHD and 4K HDR. By making dedicated products available for each post-production process, Marquise’s products support scalable investment and custom distribution of the workload among a company's teams. The MIST system is devoted to mastering and versioning, ICE is a reference player for quality control and TORNADO automates transcoding and versioning.

Extended HDR Mastering

Marquise Technologies’ systems and software support all of the existing HDR types released so far - HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG and ST-2094-10.

MIST is now certified for Dolby Vision Packaging and QC, allowing the user to master Dolby Vision graded content into a scene-referred ACES format and in a display-referred PQ-encoded IMF or iTunes package referenced to the display in use. The scene-referred format maintains the image data to represent the original scene as closely as possible, without restricting colour or dynamic range due to capture format.

The Content Mapping Unit (CMU) is also supported, permitting artistic intent to be reproduced as faithfully as possible on all devices, both HDR and SDR. Packaging capabilities of MIST allows the dynamic review of the Dolby Vision metadata, and also their re-creation following a modification in the content.

Dynamic Metadata Colour Volume Transform (DMCVT) support has been extended to include ST 2094-40 and ST 2094-10 for transporting the metadata into IMF and HEVC. For ST 2094-10, MIST and ICE also simulate the result of the tone mapping algorithm, permitting the review and modification of the content at the mastering stage when preparing broadcast material compliant with ATSC 3.0 norms.

HDR Confidence

Marquise's HDR Analysis Module and Reporting, used to verify HDR content, has new measurements added to the analysis of the MAX FALL and MAX CLL. MAX FALL is a metadata value defining the maximum average light level, in nits, for any single frame within an encoded HDR video stream or file. MAX CLL is a metadata value defining the maximum light level, in nits, of any single pixel within an encoded HDR video stream or file. The two values combined define how bright any individual pixel within a frame can be, and how bright the frame as a whole can be. They must be considered in order to correctly assess the accuracy of images viewed on your display.

Supporting this analysis are live nit-level display with a pixel picker using the Luminance meter, and out-of-luminance settings in Zebra mode - new functions in the existing set of video monitoring tools in MIST and ICE, such as the Histogram, the Waveform with support for ST 2084 and the Vectorscope with HDR graticules, readouts and a CIE chromaticity diagram presenting the colour distribution within the boundaries of the colour space. The HDR analysis can be exported as a PDF report and an XML file, ready to be packaged in the IMF as a side-car file.

Users' confidence in Marquise's analysis functions is supported by tools like the remote control of the mastering display for Canon and Eizo devices. This control in MIST and ICE sends commands directly to the monitor to apply the correct colour settings - colour space, EOTF, luminance levels and so on – ensuring accuracy of the displayed image. The Video Pipeline Active Diagram of MIST gives instant feedback regarding the modifications applied to the source content - colour space conversions or resolution changes, video output information, and also specific connected devices, like the Dolby Vision CMU (Content Mapping Unit), are displayed in real-time.

IMF Expansion

After becoming the first system to support IMF RDD45 ProRes in 2017, at this time, MIST is possibly the only mastering system able to create OPLs (Output Profile Lists) as required by the ST2067-101 standard, and among them the OPL Presets and Audio routing macros.

MIST and TORNADO are already compliant with the forthcoming specification IMF for Broadcast and Online, which requests the support of the ST 2067-9 Sidecar Composition Map and the OPL Preset for AS-11 X1 UHD Air Master Delivery. HDR IMF content mastering capabilities have been updated as well with support for ST 2067-200, for embedding the DMCVT tracks in an IMF package.

These tools, combined with wide support of standard IMF Applications, including new App #5 ACES, App #4 Cinema Mezzanine and App #2/2e Studio Profiles, are increasing the value of MIST, ICE and TORNADO as reference tools for demanding IMF mastering and QC.

Digital Cinema Update

MIST continues to be a top tool for SMPTE DCP mastering and has added support for Dolby Cinema and Éclair Colour for HDR projection.

Delivery Support with Automation

The NAB 2018 version of MIST has an updated UI, helping the operator create deliveries to spec. MIST now integrates the naming conventions of major studios and OTTs directly in the delivery templates, which for now includes Fox, Disney and Netflix.

These delivery templates are regularly updated, and are available in the UMD panel for Unified Master Delivery. The UMD is a dedicated interface devoted to automating the output of deliverables requiring specific packaging and metadata. Using the UMD is also very useful for rewrapping existing packages into another format without re-encoding the video tracks. As an example, an iTunes package or an MKV ProRes can be instantly created from an IMF RDD45 ProRes source, as can an IMF App 2e be versioned for a QT JPEG2000 delivery. The rewrapping not only saves hours of encoding time, but also avoids extra QC passes because the video is not modified.

Formats available in the UMD currently include Apple iTunes HDR10 and Dolby Vision, AS02/AS10/AS11-DPP, MXF J2K op1a Fox/HBO, QT JPG2000, MXF ProRes, MKV JPEG2000 and ProRes (YouTube), Disney and Netflix DSM and Fox ISR & ISM.

ISAN and EIDR numbering and unique identifier systems are now integrated in MIST at the root of the project. Each level has its correspondence in a MIST Project, from the top (project) level down to all the different versions, represented in MIST by the compositions. Once it is referenced in the composition, the number is automatically embedded if required by the type of delivery, that is, an IMF, an iTunes package or an AS-11 DPP deliverable, saving time and typing errors for the operator.   www.marquise-tech.com