Cannes: Barco previews new HDR cinema projection system

Technology developer Barco brought its new Lightsteering HDR cinema projector to Cannes, previewing the system for filmmakers ahead of a rollout expected to begin in early 2024.

This “light-steering” technology is an option that Barco believes would offer viewers a brighter HDR image, hence a wider creative palette for filmmakers, than most of today’s laser projection systems.

The technology effectively projects more light into the parts of the image that need high brightness, but not into the darker areas, which the company says makes their system a more efficient user of light and therefore more cost-effective than screens proposed HDR-compatible LED cinema lights.

The company showcased this system for more than a year in a custom-built setup in Hollywood to directors and studio executives, after first showcasing what was then-developing technology to a small number of demo guests private at CinemaCon in 2018.

In Cannes, Barco presents the system in the Cineum’s Lodge auditorium with clips from 2021 Latest film review2022 Jacir and 2017 Let the corpses get a tan. It is also demonstrating lightsteering technology with the American Society of Cinematographer’s Standard Evaluation Material II (StEM2) project, titled The missiona 16-minute short film that was crafted to offer a consistent baseline by evaluating a myriad of different technologies and workflows used to produce and display feature films and episodic series, with the aim of maintaining the filmmakers’ intent.