Objective color difference metrics are the main tools for evaluating the color accuracy of professional reference monitors in the content creation industry. They are also vital for consumers who calibrate their displays with a desire to maintain the creators’ intent when viewing films, TV shows, and even the latest video games. Accurate predictions of perceptual color differences are essential to providing a realistic evaluation of a device’s color reproduction.
ΔE2000 has been the industry standard for assessing perceptual color differences, but high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG) display technologies have revealed inaccuracies in the formula’s predictions. It has since been encouraged to adopt a new color difference metric, ΔICTCP, which has been shown to provide accurate color difference predictions of colors in standard dynamic range (SDR) and these extended regions when compared to experimental just-noticeable difference (JND) threshold data sets. In January 2019, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) released Recommendation ITU-R BT.2124 “Objective metric for the assessment of the potential visibility of colour difference in television.” This ITU document defines ΔICTCP as the next generation of color difference metrics and is now officially known as ΔEITP.
Given this new recommendation, it is important that we become familiar with how ΔEITP performs in practice and what can be expected when using it in existing workflows. In this paper, we will provide real-world examples of using this new color difference metric for the calibration of professional SDR and HDR mastering displays, client monitors, as well as premium consumer televisions. We will also highlight the performance differences we find when comparing ΔEITP to the incumbent industry-standard, ΔE2000. Lastly, we will examine whether the industry is ready to quickly adopt ΔEITP, and what steps should be taken in education to help ensure a smooth transition to a metric that was designed specifically for HDR and WCG technologies.
Speakers:
Catherine Meininger – 01:55
Tyler Pruitt – 05:15