HDR Video: Capturing and Displaying Dynamic Real-world Lighting

High Dynamic Range (HDR) video offers the possibility, for the first time, of capturing, storing, manipulating, and displaying dynamic real-world lighting. This gives a step change in viewing experience, for example the ability to clearly see the football when it is kicked from the shadow of the stadium into sunshine. An HDR video camera now exists which is capable of capturing 20 f-stops at full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) at 30 frames per second and commercial HDR displays are available. However, there are many significant challenges that still need to be overcome if HDR video is to be widely adopted and move from a niche research area into mainstream use. These include the need for high quality compression algorithms to cope with the enormous amount of data generated, the development of a common interface standard to facilitate widespread uptake, and even a definition of exactly what HDR is and what dynamic range might be considered "enough". This paper investigates these challenges and highlights some of the key endeavours being undertaken to ensure HDR is the future of imaging technology.