GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Swiss-based developer of high-end solutions for post production Marquise Technologies (www.marquise-tech.com) has announced a partnership with Canon, providing studios, broadcasters and post companies a solution for their HDR mastering workflows.
The continuity of information about the image between the color grading and the mastering phase is important and becomes crucial when the content is in HDR. The full chain, from the mastering solution to the mastering environment, including the mastering display, must work in sync to avoid human mistakes as much as possible.
By providing full control of the mastering display in its MIST mastering system and ICE reference player, Marquise Technologies offers a feature that enhances HDR mastering and quality control.
The characterization of the mastering display based on the SMPTE ST-2086 standard is a key element when working in PQ (ST-2084) and Dolby Vision. Once these parameters are set in MIST or ICE, they are sent to the Canon monitor to configure the display in the right mode by using a remote control protocol — color space, EOTF, luminance levels are automatically set to the correct value.
At NAB, the control of the mastering display is being demonstrated using the Canon DP-V2420 4K reference display. Canon's flagship 24-inch model satisfies the high-luminance performance required for HDR workflows. Sharing many of the outstanding features of the DP-V2410 4K reference display, the DP-V2420 adds additional versatility and functionality. It qualifies as a Dolby Vision mastering monitor (supporting the ST-2084 gamma curve) as well as the proposed HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) broadcast HDR standards.
“Delivering a simplified workflow is key for widespread HDR adoption, Marquise Technologies has taken an important step in this regard aligning the mastering display to the mastering system; Canon has been delighted to collaborate on this project which will no doubt further support HDR uptake across the industry,” says Kieran Magee, professional imaging director, Canon Europe.
“Our vision for developing our products is always driven by the ease of operation. These new HDR standards are adding complexity, and our role as a software manufacturer is to help our users delivering what they need rapidly and in accuracy with the standards. We are very glad that Canon’s product philosophy and technology help our intentions,” says Laurence Stoll, CEO of Marquise Technologies.
In addition, Marquise Technologies is also demonstrating innovative Mastering & Versioning workflows for premium content in HDR and IMF.
The company offers producers of premium episodic and features films in UHD and 4K HDR a wide and complete palette of tools for creating the masters and their multiple versions. Presenting dedicated solutions for each of the post production processes, the company’s product range permits scalable investments and a better distribution of the workload among their teams.
The company’s mastering solution MIST provides an extensive toolset for image editing and conforming, advanced color grading and color management features, as well as image enhancement and format conversion. The multiple deliverables include DCP, AS-11 DPP, AS-10 AMWA and all standardized IMF Applications.
Marquise’s hero Reference Player ICE has the industries largest format support, from RAW data to complex DCP and IMF packages. Its validation tools combined with a variety of image and audio scopes and an NLE timeline compose a strong and efficient feature set for quality control.
For higher volumes of content, a mastering workstation is no longer sufficient. In order to speed the rendering process, MIST can offload the transcoding to the server Tornado. Its API allows TORNADO to be implemented in third-party applications to process automated workflows. The full range of formats, from RAW data to IMF, including supplemental packages is supported by this workhorse.