Talking HLG with Alister Chapman

[@JimRobinson-colors]

I had the opportunity to personally talk to Alister when he came to Vancouver Canada a few years back after one of his seminars. I hung back and talked with him while he waited for someone from Sony to go out and get him some dinner ( McDonalds - if my memory serves me ) . Like others have said - you can learn so much from just a small conversation with him. Was really glad that he was so approachable, given his vast knowledge. I think that asking the right questions helps tremendously to getting this information out, so I am very glad that you "asked the right questions" which to me is the whole point of interview. Thanks for this. thumbs up.

[@ProAVTV]

Glad you found the video useful. Carl

[@no15minutecities]

want a medal?

[@JimRobinson-colors]

@@no15minutecities Go away- that comment shows your lack of knowledge or comprehension.

[@QuicksilverSG]

Alister Chapman's points about HDR10 (PQ) apply to 4K HDR TV's as well as 1080p SD TV's. The problem with HDR10 (and DolbyVision) is that it demands extremely high brightness levels that exceed the capabilities of most current 4K HDR TV's. To cope with this mismatch, PQ-based HDR systems require an additional metadata stream that applies "tone mapping" to scale down the excessive HDR10 brightness to match your particular HDTV. Even when this retrofix works, it begs the question of what brightness level you might actually prefer, a seemingly irrelevant detail HDR10 doesn't bother to address. What make HLG inherently more adaptable is that it automatically scales its brightness levels to each HDTV set's capabilities, without requiring any extraneous metadata. This also makes it easy for the viewer to adjust HDR brightness levels to their personal tastes. In addition, the highlight range of HLG video remains compatible with non-HDR 1080p TV's as well, which simply compress the brightest areas into Rec.709 highlights while displaying dark and moderately bright areas at normal levels of brightness.

[@auxsom]

Amazing video. I've been wanting to shoot in HLG for a while. This video excites me now to go shoot HLG. Thanks!

[@PostColorGear]

This was great! Thanks for having this conversation. I am always interested in hearing Allister talk. He has this way of explaining things that make sense.

[@ProAVTV]

Absolutely, he explains difficult subjects very well indeed Carl

[@PaulRhysTV]

Great interview as always from ProAV but I agree with a previous commenter that the TV in the background really has to go. Distracting.

[@bobuk5722]

Me, again. Hopefully Carl you'll be able to put up a video of Alister's presentation. They are always very good. Kudos for getting him there! BobUK.

[@ProAVTV]

Unfortunately we can’t for various reasons. We are planning more video content with Alister over the next few months though, so watch out for that. Carl

[@bobuk5722]

Hi Alister and Carl. Thanks. A really helpful aid to understanding. A lot of it seems to be based on visual perception. I'm very interested in the future proofing attributes. BobUK.

[@ProAVTV]

Log & HLG are both very useful for future proofing footage. Carl

[@automat8]

So good. Big thanks!

[@MLee-vcrr]

Great information...I have been experimenting with HLG on the GH5s and Ninja V quite a bit recently. Still don't have it down but this video has helped a lot, thanks!

[@matahari1576]

Thanks for bringing up the topic! I think we have also to discuss the following (even if it seems to be a bit off topic): I still own a good old tube TV. Lately I wanted to purchase a TV. After spending some time in the Shop I left. These TVs have so many "Automatics" active, that most films look really bad, esspecially the older ones shot on film. Extreme Oversharpening and color representation are only 2 problems of these TVs. But the worst is, that it is not possible to deactivate these features. Now I am considering a beamer. The new Sony 1 inch cameras are also interpreting the picture and add an artificial kind of sharpening. In my opinion we need TVs where we can deactivate all these features to get a halfway propper representation of the footage,

[@mathewspencercunningham84]

Informative and easy to understand video, thanks a lot!

[@ProAVTV]

Glad you found it useful Carl

[@walkingmanvideo9455]

Great work on this video. Does the Sony FS7 mk1 have HLG capability like the PP10 on the Z90?

[@aplusphotovideo]

What is the latest update on PMW Z280 back focus and lens soft focus issue? Many Sony buyers are complaining about the lens on this camera is too soft?

[@trevorpinnocky]

A lister is always a wealth of information

[@ProAVTV]

Indeed! Carl

[@skymakai]

Yeah, but how do you flick that HLG switch to enable HDR metadata?

[@MrVh78]

damn i FINALLY get it, like really get it.

[@ProAVTV]

Good! Glad the video helped Carl

[@basschevers]

Thanks for this! Just one question though about this future proofing that was discussed. It's great that HLG is in consumer cameras but doesn't it need to be recorded in 10 bit to really be HDR compatible?

[@petrub27]

Bas Schevers no

[@ProAVTV]

10 bit is of course better. But as HLG doesn’t need much grading, 8 bit can also look great. To meet some broadcast spec’s you will need 10 bit though Carl

[@dathofilms]

can someone explain, when he says dont worry about exposing skin at 60% (what does that mean)..? are not we supposed to expose skin at 40 IRE?

[@ProAVTV]

It changes with every different gamma you use Carl

[@dathofilms]

@@ProAVTV Thank you Carl for your answer, but this is still confusing. Is there a guide somewhere which breaks down, Gamma/Skin tone IREs? Would be a perfect video topic for the next one. Or am I the only one struggling with this?

[@stufftosee1746]

If hlg was designed for broadcast and most broadcast is only 8bit, can you explain why the gh5 only allows the hlg profile in 10 bit please? Thanks. P.S very interesting watch.

[@chrisklugh]

HLG uses the Rec.2020 color space. Broadcast today is still in Rec.709 and all HLG is is a simple next level so as we covert over as broadcast studios make their hardware upgrade to HDR. We are fortunately that we can make that transition and not have to worry about equipment (your TV) today working or not. The interesting debate is whether 'true HDR' matters or not. True HDR needs a monitor to put out over 1000 nits of brightness. But in real world applications, its too bright and hard on your eyes. Most people have their monitors brightness dialed down to around or less then 200 nits! These 1000 nits are only good when watching content outside on a bright sunny day! lol And don't even get me started on how ambient light in a room effects the color cast of TV to the point where it does not matter what the TV specs say, or a color calibration tools read, at the end of the day, all that matters is does the it look good to you. Can you immerse yourself in the viewing experiences? We can do that with Black & White TVs.

[@punkrachmaninoff]

we all know allister is rocking a fuji X-T3 in his small bag though...

[@aleksanderhaugdal9361]

is he XD, i thought he was the sony king.

[@punkrachmaninoff]

@@aleksanderhaugdal9361 he's a specs man, first and foremost.

[@quickpickle]

Yeah but to give the client a future proof hlg film you would have to render the project out 2 times wouldnt you? From what I know if you render out in premiere pro for example high10 rec2020 profiles and high dynamic range it doesnt look right on a non-HDR monitor or tv.

[@ProAVTV]

You need to embed the HLG metadata in the file, and I don't believe Premiere can do that yet. Carl

[@bcnewsvideo]

Should videographers be using HLG / HDR when filming at night. I've seen some side-by-side footage, and HLG footage looks darker.

[@chrisklugh]

With my experience, I do. My philosophy is let the dark's be dark. But they have to be clean. I'm not trying to shoot with a Night Vision camera and even the 'bad light' m43 see better in the dark then my eyes do. I get better results with this philosophy then trying to grade a Log format to look the same. HLG for me is just less work.

[@ProAVTV]

Yes there’s no reason to not use HDR formats in the night. In fact when shown in HDR it will really make the bright highlights of any lights in the scene really pop. Carl

[@auxsom]

When he says 60% zebras, he means we switch our Zebra setting to 60% and then we expose our subject. Correct?

[@451804]

Ah ha!

[@no15minutecities]

How do you afford all this gear Alister living in a council house in reading???? *Scratches head*