WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — April 27, 2021 — SMPTE will launch its new SMPTE + series with “Expanding the Color Universe: The Next Frontier in Imaging,” a hybrid of interactive events and on-demand content exploring expansion of color systems beyond RGB toward the outer limit of what the eye can see and the “colors in-between the colors.” This first of four SMPTE + events slated for 2021 will feature a half-day of live presentations, chats, demos, and panel discussions featuring technologists, creatives, and NASA experts, plus a complementary content library that allows SMPTE + subscribers to delve more deeply into the topic. The live programming will begin at 10 a.m. EDT on June 3.

“Expanding the Color Universe” is inspired by the experience of astronauts who returned from missions to realize that images captured of Earth fail to show the dramatic beauty and grandeur of what they actually could see from space. As Dylan Mathis, communication manager for NASA’s International Space Station program, explained, “Astronauts often say after returning from a six-month mission to the International Space Station that traditional imagery doesn’t do justice to what they see when they look out the window at our magnificent planet. The Earth is alive with vibrant, robust colors.”

Mathis will join Baylor University researcher Corey Carbonara and other experts to discuss topics such as 6P Color innovations and the incredible impact of an expanded color gamut on everything from space imagery to perfecting skin tones in modern cinematic productions. Baylor University and 6P Color Inc. are collaborating to capture, process, and display better color images, including those from space, using novel multi-primary technologies that will be explained during this SMPTE + event.

“During ‘Expanding the Color Universe,’ we will push forward the discussion of how multi-primaries can be influential in expanding the role of color in research, image capture, processing, and displays,” said Carbonara, who collaborated with colleagues at NASA and SMPTE to orchestrate the SMPTE + event. “Would you rather have a box of crayons with eight, 256, 512, or 1,024 crayons in it? Multi-primaries give creatives a larger box and more crayons with which to tell stories.”

Prior to the event, SMPTE + subscribers gain access to a curated content library designed to provide foundational knowledge and food for thought. Subscribers then meet for the SMPTE + live event to discuss the content, hear live presentations, engage in Q&A with speakers and panelists, and socialize with people who share their interests.

“SMPTE + showcases the hottest media technology and the technologists who make it happen,” said Joel Welch, director of education at SMPTE. “The abundance of focused educational and informational resources, the depth of expertise represented, and the unique opportunities for interactivity make SMPTE + unique. With extraordinary subject matter too, ‘Expanding the Color Universe: The Next Frontier in Imaging’ promises to get this new event series off to an amazing start.”

SMPTE + is free to SMPTE members, who will have access not just to the June 3 event, but also to three other events later this year. Registration and further information about the full SMPTE + series is online at plus.smpte.org/2021plus.