ATSC 3.

0 Video
Technology

Alan Stein, Chair, S41

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Video Capabilities Overview

• A/341 – HEVC Video

• Advanced HEVC Options
• VVC Support in Progress
ATSC 3.0 Video On One Slide
Resolutions up to 3840 × 2160
Spatial scalability (SHVC)
High Frame Rate
• Up to 100, 120, 120/1.001 (plus lower framerates)
• Temporal sub-layering enables backward compatibility
• Plus temporal filtering for optimizing both the SFR and HFR pictures

High Dynamic Range

• PQ & HLG transfer functions (plus SDR)
• Metadata for PQ

Wide Color Gamut

• Wide Color Gamut BT.2100 (plus BT.709 for SDR)
• Y’CBCR non-constant luminance
• ICTCP constant luminance (for PQ)
• Full Range coding (for PQ)
• SL-HDR1 for delivering SDR/709 stream that SL-HDR1-capable decoders can
render as HDR/2020
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A/341 HEVC Video

• MPEG HEVC/H.265
• Supported by more than 2 Billion devices
worldwide
• Up to 50% more efficient than AVC/H.264
• Flexible resolutions up to 4K (3840x2160p), also
including legacy SD and HD Interlace support
• Support for 4K/UHD, also HDR, HFR and Scalability
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Advanced Video Capabilities

• HDR: multiple technologies

• HDR10, HLG, DolbyVision, HDR10+, Advanced HDR by Technicolor
• AHDR by Technicolor (SL-HDR1) deployed by Sinclair in 30+ markets

• HFR with temporal layering

• 120fps transmission while able to be decoded and displayed at 60fps

• Spatial Scalability (SHVC)

• Combined with multiple PLPs/LDM, can offer fixed + mobile service
with enhanced mobile robustness
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VVC – Versatile Video Coding

• Next Generation MPEG Video

• 40% gains vs HEVC with similar architecture, ~2x decoder complexity

• Under Development in ATSC S41

• New VVC specification is expected to be included in A/300: 2023
• Some systems/transport work may be needed to support new features

• An example of ATSC’s commitment

to evolvability
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MPEG Video Codec Relative Performance
Codec Standardized Primary Use Case “Equivalent Quality” HD
Bitrate***
MPEG-2 1996 SD and HDTV 16 Mbps
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 2003 HDTV, Streaming Video 8 Mbps (50% gain vs MPEG-2)
MPEG HEVC/H.265 2013 4K UHD TV, Streaming Video 4 Mbps (50% gain vs AVC)
MPEG VVC/H.266 2020 4k and 8K UHD, Immersive Video 2.4 Mbps (40% gain vs HEVC)
*** Bitrates are for example only to *Your Mileage May Vary*
demonstrate relative codec performance,
and assume fully mature and optimized
video encoders ***
Thank You!

Questions?
Backup Slides Follow
(not for distribution)
 SHVC: Layered video coding
• HEVC with scalable extensions (aka SHVC)
• 2x spatial scalability between base layer (BL) and enhancement layer (EL)
• Base layer optimized for mobile reception
• Enhancement layer optimized for UHD resolution

High loss Mobile / distant receiver

channel

HEVC HD
SHVC encoder decoder video
High
2x HD, audio robust-
UHD BL encoder
down- ness ATSC
source (HD)
scaling 3.0
PHY
UHD layer
EL encoder Fixed receiver
video High BW
(UHD)

SHVC UHD
Low loss decoder video
channel

10
What make HDR special? DYNAMIC RANGE
• The human visual system (HVS) has an
enormous dynamic range, but only a
portion is plausibly useful for video
entertainment.
• The entire dynamic range available in SDR
is simultaneously available to the HVS.
• HDR spans a larger dynamic range,
potentially requiring a ½ second or more
of adaptation, within the same image, in
order to discern all the available details.
• This makes HDR more immersive, more
like the real world, and provides a tool not
previously available to storytellers
 What make HDR special? SATURATED COLOR
• The colors perceptible to the HVS define
the familiar CIE chromaticity diagram.
• Colors expressible by a display are
limited by its primaries.
• SDR displays, per BT.709, can express
33% of the colors humans can see.
• Some HDR displays cover the Digital
Cinema P3 gamut, yielding 27% more
colors. A few go even further.
• The full BT.2100 gamut represents a 73%
increase over BT.709 but is hard to reach.
What makes HDR Special? CREATIVE PALETTE

• With SDR, content producers had to make DRASTIC

CHOICES to best allocating the limited contrast and colors
available.
• HDR offers the possibility to be MORE EXPRESSIVE,
meaning greater freedom and flexibility for their
storytelling.

Actual photo of two identical LCD TVs. The left showing an SDR grade, the right showing HDR.
 Tone Mapping: Dynamic SDR and HDR Mappings
• The concentration of details along the luminance and color axes vary by image and content.
Dynamic conversions can provide corresponding mappings between SDR and HDR, preserving
details where needed.