You know how some TV shows or movies look absolutely stunning — richer colors, brighter highlights, deeper blacks? That's HDR, and it's been called the biggest visual upgrade since color TV. The problem is that making HDR content from start to finish is a mess — the tools don't talk to each other and every screen shows it differently. This project built a complete set of professional tools so content creators can produce HDR material once and have it look amazing whether you're watching on a cinema screen, your phone, or a VR headset.
The media industry is racing to adopt HDR — the biggest visual quality leap since color TV — but there's no complete production pipeline. Content creators face fragmented tools that don't work together, inconsistent results across different screens, and no way to personalize the viewing experience per device. Companies that can't deliver consistent HDR across cinema, TV, mobile, and VR risk falling behind competitors who can.
The project delivered a final HDR graphics engine, a collaborative web tool for HDR production, and an interactive web implementation built on WebGLStudio. These tools together form an end-to-end HDR pipeline from content capture to display, with personalization capabilities based on device type and viewer preferences.
If you are a post-production studio dealing with the headache of making HDR content look consistent across cinema, broadcast, and streaming — this project developed an end-to-end HDR pipeline with professional tools and an HDR graphics engine that lets your team produce once and deliver everywhere. The consortium of 6 partners across 4 countries built close-to-market tools tested with real creative workflows.
If you are a streaming platform or broadcaster struggling to deliver personalized HDR experiences across different devices — this project built tools that use display metadata and viewer preferences to automatically optimize HDR content for each screen. With 83% industry partners in the consortium, the solutions were designed for real commercial deployment.
If you are a game studio or interactive media company looking to implement HDR across your content pipeline — this project developed a collaborative web tool and WebGL-based interactive implementation that brings HDR capabilities directly into web-based creative environments. The tools support AR/VR headsets alongside traditional displays.
The project was funded with EUR 2,234,125 in EU contribution as an Innovation Action, meaning the tools were developed close to market readiness. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated directly with the consortium partners. Based on available project data, specific pricing models were not published.
The project built both pilot and close-to-market versions of its tools, including a final HDR graphics engine and a collaborative web tool. The consortium included 5 industry partners (83% industry ratio), suggesting the tools were designed and tested for professional production environments rather than just research labs.
The coordinator is Universidad Pompeu Fabra in Spain, but with 5 industry partners out of 6 total — including 2 SMEs — IP is likely shared across the consortium. Specific licensing arrangements would need to be discussed with individual partners who developed each tool.
The project specifically aimed to create an end-to-end HDR ecosystem, addressing gaps at every stage from capture to display. The interactive web implementation was built within WebGLStudio, and deliverables include integrated demonstrators, suggesting compatibility with existing web-based workflows was a design priority.
Based on the project objectives, the tools support cinema, TV, mobile devices, and AR/VR headsets. The goal was to ensure the best possible HDR experience regardless of the viewer's chosen outlet, with content personalization based on display capabilities and viewing environment.
The project ran from 2017 to 2020 and delivered final implementations — not just prototypes — including a final HDR graphics engine and final collaborative web tool. As an Innovation Action (not basic research), these were designed for near-market deployment. The project is closed, so outputs should be available for commercial discussion.
The HDR4EU consortium is heavily industry-driven with 5 out of 6 partners coming from the private sector (83% industry ratio), making this one of the more commercially-oriented EU projects. Only 1 university partner (Universidad Pompeu Fabra, the coordinator) provides the research backbone, while 2 SMEs bring agility and niche expertise. The 4-country spread across Belgium, Germany, Spain, and the UK covers major European media markets. For a business buyer, this composition signals that the tools were built by and for industry practitioners, not just academics — a strong indicator that the outputs are practical and production-ready.
Universidad Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain) coordinated the project. SciTransfer can help you reach the right person on the team.
Want to explore licensing the HDR tools or connecting with the consortium partners? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction and help you evaluate fit for your production pipeline.
