Eclair masters the first titles in SMPTE format

The Spanish Federation of Cinemas (FECE), through EclairPlay, has conducted a test to help cinemas adapt to the future, with positive participation rates and results.

Eclair and SMPTE

SMPTE stands for Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. The main difference with the previous standard is the incorporation of markers and metadata in the CPL, as well as the transformation of the subtitle files, which will be encrypted in MXF format. The same applies to image and sound. Thus, the ATMOS versions, the new surround sound mode, will be encoded in VF (Version File). These features will substantially reduce the size of the DCPs created.

Eclair has been mastering films in this format since November 2017. The company has mastered DCP’s in SMPTE such as The Cold Skin(Diamond Films), The Good Infidels Club ( Super 8 Media) and or international hit The Square (Avalon). SMPTE allows the projection of the image in HDR. These high dynamic range images are offered by EclairColor, a technology developed by Eclair for the advent of SMPTE.

New advantages

In addition to the ATMOS sound and HDR imageThe SMPTE format will allow the projection of subtitles in variable position 3D format, subtitles in various fonts and sizes, and the application of the HFR technology.

In terms of DCP mastering, the SMPTE format includes markers that indicate the beginning and end of different sections within the CPL, such as the credits or the rating band. In addition, it allows the integration of different audio formats (5.1, 7.1 and ATMOS) in the same DCP. Thus, if a theater does not play in ATMOS, the 7.1 or 5.1 version is automatically selected for the projection. This is the case of La Piel Fría, which included the 5.1 and ATMOS formats in a single SMPTE DCP of only 139GBytes.