Great News From DSC Laboratories

Since we announced our upcoming retirement, we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and affection from our customers and other fans of our test charts and alignment products.  THANK YOU to all who have written and called.  Your support is very much appreciated!

We have been particularly touched by the notes and calls we have received from companies asking us how they could help to continue the DSC mission of improving image quality by producing our products.  As a result, we are delighted to let you know that we currently in discussions regarding the continuing development and delivery of our products in North America.  We plan to let you know of the details, once there is further news.

In the interim, DSC will be continuing to produce and deliver our products until at least April of 2025.  Please continue to order charts online and let us know if you have any questions.

Ongoing Developments

As more productions are making use of the wider color gamut and high dynamic range enabled by modern cameras and displays, we are receiving increasing inquiries regarding the calibration of cameras to the wide gamut colorimetry prescribed by Recommendation ITU-R BT.2020-2 (Rec. 2020), and for high dynamic range parameters, as detailed in Recommendation ITU-R BT.2100-2 (Rec. 2020).

While we are currently calibrating vectorscope simulations for the ChromaMatch Vista Standard charts for the Recommendation ITU-R BT.709-6 (Rec. 709) and Rec. 2020 colorimetry, the ChromaDuMonde provides vectorscope simulations for the Rec. 709 and SD SMPTE C colorimetry. We would like your views as to whether the SD SMPTE C vectorscope simulations for the ChromaDuMonde are of value, and should be retained, or whether they should be replaced by and/or supplemented with a Rec. 2020 simulation?

Please let us know your thoughts on these questions by sending an email to dsc@dsclabs.com with “Rec. 2020” in the subject line.

We are also hearing that the greater sensitivity and range of HDR cameras is making it difficult to accurately calibrate them using front lit charts. DSC has developed the back-lit Xyla test patterns to provide accurate, high dynamic range test standards which provide from 14 to 25 f-stops of dynamic range.  The Xyla may be used to assist with the calibration and optimization of the dynamic range provided by modern cameras.

Art Adams, a leading Director of Photography who has done consulting for DSC, has written an article, entitled Gamma Curves and Exposure, which discusses some strategies for adjusting the gamma curve and provides a link to a sample LUT, which may be of interest.

Thanks again for your support.

Susan Corley,

President, DSC Laboratories