The corridors of Cannes’ Marché du Film hub CONNECT buzzed with the familiar mix of dealmaking and demonstrations that defines the festival’s business heart. Among the usual parade of distributors and rights holders, the UHD World Association occupied a prime spot from 14 to 20 May, drawing industry attention not for another streaming platform or content acquisition, but for something more fundamental: a new audiovisual standard that could change how manufacturers, content creators and platform owners think about licensing costs.
The star of their presentation was VIVID, a comprehensive audiovisual standard that handles both picture and sound. Unlike many technical specifications that focus on single elements, VIVID delivers per-image colour and luminance metadata tailored to individual devices, whether they’re televisions, smartphones or automotive displays. The audio component uses spatial AI to create immersive sound experiences across different listening environments.
What grabbed attention wasn’t just the technical capabilities, but the business proposition: VIVID operates on a royalty-free model. In an industry where Dolby Vision licensing fees can add around $3 per device and create ongoing cost pressures for manufacturers, the UWA’s approach offers a different path entirely.
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The Economics of Standards Adoption
The royalty question matters because it directly affects how quickly manufacturers can adopt new standards. HDR10+, Samsung’s royalty-free alternative to Dolby Vision, demonstrates how licensing costs influence corporate strategy – Samsung has refused to support Dolby Vision on its TVs specifically to avoid per-unit fees.
VIVID’s supporters point to concrete adoption figures. More than 30 brands have certified 1,127 models across six device categories, with particularly strong uptake in Asia. Content creators have encoded over 100,000 hours in VIVID format, including major sporting events like the Olympics and FIFA tournaments, plus television series, films and live events.
The demonstration on Samsung UHD displays at Cannes showcased content that spans genres, while the AITO M9 vehicle’s integration of VIVID Audio with its Huawei intelligent cockpit system illustrates how the standard extends beyond traditional entertainment devices into automotive display applications.
Business Questions Beyond Royalties
Removing licensing fees solves only one problem in standards adoption. Device manufacturers still face integration costs ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 for standard implementations, plus ongoing expenses for technical certification, documentation and compliance.
For content owners, the calculation involves more than just encoding costs. They must weigh the expense of creating VIVID versions against potential audience reach and revenue benefits. The format’s 100,000 hours of content represents substantial investment from creators who see value in the approach, but it’s still a fraction of total content production across the industry.
Platform owners face their own considerations. Supporting VIVID means additional bandwidth, storage and processing requirements, alongside the technical challenges of delivering optimised experiences across diverse device types and network conditions.
Technical Hurdles That Remain
Even with royalty-free access, manufacturers confront practical integration challenges. Device integration projects require ongoing maintenance as APIs evolve and new device models emerge. Firmware updates for existing devices add complexity, particularly for manufacturers managing diverse product lines with different hardware capabilities.
Consumer awareness presents another obstacle. Technical standards typically remain invisible to buyers unless they directly impact viewing experience. Advanced audio technologies like VIVID’s spatial sound must demonstrate tangible benefits that justify the technical effort and convince consumers to seek out compatible devices and content.
The competitive positioning complicates adoption timelines. Asian manufacturers like TCL and Hisense are gaining market share against established players, creating pressure for differentiation through features like advanced display technologies. Standards adoption becomes part of this competitive positioning.
Asia’s Leading Role
VIVID’s strong adoption in Asia reflects broader market forces. The region accounts for 35.9% of the global smart TV market, driven by urbanisation, rising incomes and widespread streaming adoption. Chinese manufacturers have overtaken Samsung in specific segments, particularly ultra-large screens and premium UHD models, creating opportunities for new standards to gain traction.
The UHD World Association’s 400-plus industry members include major Asian device manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, Hisense, TCL, Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor and Vivo. This regional concentration provides VIVID with manufacturing scale and market access that many standards struggle to achieve.
Integration Complexity
The UWA has worked to address integration concerns through its network approach. The organisation facilitates collaboration between device manufacturers, content creators and platform operators, potentially reducing the coordination costs that often slow standards adoption.
Sony’s recent launch of its BRAVIA 5 Mini LED television series with full HDR Vivid support illustrates how established manufacturers are investing in the technology. The company’s commitment provides validation for content creators and other device makers considering VIVID integration.
However, the complexity of modern audiovisual workflows means that technical standards succeed through network effects rather than individual adoption decisions. Content creators need device support to justify encoding costs, while manufacturers need content availability to justify hardware investment. The same challenges that affect AI-generated video content apply here: technical capability means nothing without user adoption.
The Cannes presentation served its purpose of generating industry attention, but VIVID’s ultimate success depends on solving practical integration challenges rather than just eliminating royalties. The standard offers manufacturers cost advantages and technical flexibility, but adoption requires navigating the same complex web of technical requirements, market coordination and consumer acceptance that all audiovisual standards face. The royalty-free approach removes one significant barrier, but the path from demonstration to widespread deployment involves many more steps than a successful festival presentation.
