HDR for social media

A paper and session at the SMPTE Media Technology Summit 2024: Elevating Content Creation for Social Media – Harnessing HDR Technology Beyond.

HDR is at home in broadcast and streaming. On social media it is barely used, although the phones people watch on have been able to show it for years. The paper describes a workflow for creators from end to end: acquisition, grading, compression that survives the platform, and what all of that does to how a picture actually lands.

It also deals with the parts nobody advertises – compatibility, file sizes, format conversions, and the fact that the same file looks different depending on where it is played.

I could write it because I stand on both sides: the broadcast chain, where HDR has been specified and measured for years, and an Instagram account where a few million people see the result. Neither side alone would have produced the paper.

Paper and presentation are on the SMPTE session page.