Colour Technology for Digital Cinema
and the Digital Intermediate

See the workshop announcement.

Syllabus

Morning: THEORY

Tone reproduction

• radiometry and photometry
• lightness terminology
• contrast
• lightness sensitivity
• importance of perceptual uniformity
• gamma in video, HDTV, and CGI
• rendering for the viewing environment

Colour Reproduction

• classical CIE colorimetry
• trichromaticity; metamerism
• necessity of colour matrixing
• additive and subtractive reproduction
• white reference and colour temperature
• film capture and reproduction
• optical density (Status A, Status M)
• sensitometry and film gamma (D-log E curves)
• emulsion sensitivities and dye spectral characteristics; unwanted absorptions

Image coding for CG, video, HDTV, and film

• gamut limitations
• codeword utilization issues
• chroma subsampling (4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0, etc.), implications for compression
• constant luminance
• colour science systems (XYZ, LAB)
• video encoding (R'G'B',, Y'C_BC_R)
• film encoding (log RGB, Cineon/RP 180 printing density CPD/DPX)

Colour management and colour appearance

• colour transform techniques
• ICC architecture - profiles, device characterization and calibration
• gamut mapping
• limitations of classical colour science - subjective effects, chromatic adaptation
• introduction to colour appearance models.

Afternoon: PRACTICE

Acquisition

• camera characteristics
• scanner/camera metamerism
• colour transforms (including 3x3 matrixing)
• white balancing
• camera gamma, black gamma, knee point, and knee slope controls
• dependence of display gamma upon display surround and contrast ratio

Digital intermediate

• traditional film workflow, film timing/grading
• choice of coding system and gamut
• integration of CGI and visual effects
• Cineon/DPX coding issues
• colour calibration and colour management.

Film recording

• behaviour, characterization, and calibration of film recorders
• previsualization, colour grading, and approval prior to film recording

Display and exhibition

• DLP/DTIM/P7V2 primaries
• colorimetric matching and appearance matching
• gamut issues
• display characterization and calibration
• use of profiles

Charles Poynton - Courses & seminars
www.poynton.com/notes/events/
2004-08-16