Talking About Dolby Vision

Thanks for sharing some of the specifics about DV. The Dolby encoding tools sound like something I’d have a great time with when they become more available (and affordable). If its as much fun to grade as it is to watch, its a very bright future…..

Looks like the CMU has been completely incorporated as GPU-accelerated software in DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c07b3e08530971b338e766a5e712dcaa30684042718c504480184f64ee6bac4a.jpg

HI Seth –

Well I’d be careful about the use of completely at this point as that’s a little misleading.

It’s true that a huge feature of R15 is DV software CMU integration. However:

1. Free version of Resolve will support L1 analysis only – meaning – you select target display and let Dolby’s proprietary algorithms process the SDR or other HDR target display metadata. In talking to Dolby and BMD at NAB it’s not clear yet if the free version will support multiple targets like the hardware CMU.

2. Level 2 metadata i.e. DV trims will still require a license from Dolby just like the hardware CMU . Dolby told me that they’ll be revamping their licensing scheme and that my hardware CMU license will not port to the software CMU license – but what that actually means and the the ramifications of that are unclear at this point

3. Confirmed by both Dolby and BMD there is currently no way to monitor both HDR/SDR simultaneously as you do with the hardware CMU currently. Obviously this is a HUGE area of work in the R15 beta cycle. Both Dolby and BMD weren’t to keen to share any info at NAB but I suspect it will involve Resolve/Dolby teams working with BMD Decklink engineers. In the hardware CMU, Dolby worked closely with AJA for I/O.

4. Currently in R15 none of the DV tools are actually working 🙂

5. There were a lot of new HDR mastering monitors introduced at NAB with 2000 nit plus capabilities – I know Dolby is in process of evaluating those for inclusion in the master monitor list, in addition there are more targets possible – for example 800/900 consumer OLEDs are popular

Bottom line – DV and HDR 10+ support are announced but really still very much in development.