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Supplemental Reading & Resources

The documents, standards, books, and tools cited or referenced across this handbook, gathered in one place. Where a work is freely available, the link goes to the PDF or hosting page. Where it is sold, the link goes to the publisher or vendor page that offers it.

Sourcing

Claims in the chapters are checked against the primary sources below and cited inline.

Standards

SMPTE

As of June 2026, all published SMPTE Standards, Recommended Practices, Engineering Guidelines, and Registered Disclosure Documents are freely downloadable from the SMPTE standards library. The ACES set also has a curated landing page. Each citation below links to its document page:

  • ST 2065-1: Academy Color Encoding Specification (ACES2065-1), the AP0 interchange encoding
  • ST 2065-4: ACES image container file layout (the constrained OpenEXR container)
  • ST 2065-5: mapping ACES image sequences into the MXF Generic Container
  • ACESclip: clip-level ACES metadata is Academy TB-2014-009, not a SMPTE standard. In current practice it is superseded by AMF
  • ST 2067-21: IMF Application #2E (the streaming/versioning application)
  • ST 2098-2: Immersive Audio Bitstream (IAB) specification
  • ST 2067-201: IMF Immersive Audio Bitstream Level 0 Plug-in (carriage of ST 2098-2 essence in IMF)
  • ST 2084: PQ (Perceptual Quantization) EOTF
  • ST 2086: Mastering-display color-volume metadata (static)
  • ST 2094: Dynamic metadata for color-volume transform (Dolby Vision, HDR10+): -1, -10, -40
  • ST 428-1: D-Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM) X′Y′Z′ image encoding
  • ST 428-24: DCDM Packed Image (pDCDM): lossless JPEG 2000, 12-bit-packed DCDM exchange
  • ST 379-1 and ST 422: MXF generic container and JPEG 2000 mapping
  • ST 2019-1: VC-3 (Avid DNxHD) bitstream
  • RP 431-2: D-Cinema projection reference (P3 / 48 cd/m²)
  • SMPTE 195-1993 and PH22.106 (1957, 1971): anamorphic ("CinemaScope") aperture and aspect-ratio history

ITU-R (freely downloadable at itu.int)

  • BT.709: HDTV primaries, white point, and camera OETF
  • BT.1886: reference EOTF for flat-panel SDR displays
  • BT.2020: UHDTV wide-gamut primaries
  • BT.2100: HDR television (PQ and HLG)
  • Report BT.2390: high dynamic range television (the OETF/EOTF/OOTF discussion)

Academy / ACES

Books

Vendor documentation

  • Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve manuals & training: the DaVinci Resolve Reference Manual (Ch. on Data Levels, Color Management, and ACES), The Colorist Guide to DaVinci Resolve, and the DaVinci Resolve 17: Wide Gamut Intermediate white paper (DWG/Intermediate primaries and matrices)
  • FilmLight: Truelight / TCS / T-CAM: the Truelight Color Spaces, T-CAM display transform, downloadable color-space files, and OCIO config
  • Dolby: Dolby Vision (professional): the Dolby Vision Color Grading Best Practices Guide and Dolby Vision Professional Tools User Manual (provided to licensed facilities). Trim-pass and metadata-level workflow

Tools & platforms

  • OpenColorIO: the color-management engine that delivers ACES to VFX applications
  • OpenEXR: the scene-referred image format underlying the ACES container
  • VFX Reference Platform: the annual specification pinning ACES, OCIO, OpenEXR, and the rest of the stack
  • Filmbox (Video Village): a Kodak Vision3 film-print-emulation display transform
  • Lattice (Video Village): LUT authoring and conversion
  • ColourSpace (Light Illusion): display calibration and profiling (successor to LightSpace CMS)
  • Codex Backbone: on-set media management, discontinued and no longer in Codex's current lineup
  • Apple ProRes white paper: the ProRes family and data rates
  • DCI: Digital Cinema Initiatives: the digital-cinema specifications and compliance test plans
  • Technicolor Pulse: remote review and dailies, now defunct with its service and domain retired
  • Academy/ASC Common LUT Format specification (S-2014-006): the freely available normative statement of the ASC CDL transfer functions (ASC_CDL ProcessNode). The primary document, Pines and Reisner's ASC CDL Transfer Functions and Interchange Syntax, Release 1.2, is not publicly hosted. Request it from asc-cdl@theasc.com. For a plain-language walkthrough of SOP/Sat versus lift/gamma/gain, see Pomfort's in-depth look at ASC-CDL based color controls

Digital cinema delivery (DCP)

  • ISDCF: the Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum: the Digital Cinema Naming Convention and the Open and Closed Captions registry (OCAP / CCAP)
  • Deluxe Digital Cinema: Specifications for Digital Cinema Source and DCP Content Delivery (v5.11, 14 March 2022): a practical DCP delivery spec covering Interop vs SMPTE, audio channel layouts, subtitle and caption rules, accessibility tracks, and delivery media. Some chapters cite the earlier v4.08/2019 "DTDC" edition for historical points
  • Video Village DCP Inspector: deep DCP validation of the CPL, PKL, ASSETMAP, hashes, reels, frame rate, audio layout, and subtitle and caption references. It can repair many common CPL errors before a theater QC or return to the authoring vendor
  • Cinematiq: Making a DCP: Accessibility: OCAP/CCAP, SDH, and described-audio in practice
  • Festival DCP technical specifications. Verified July 2026. Linked to each festival's evergreen page rather than a year-stamped PDF, because the PDF paths change every edition (Venice's file name is not even predictable year to year):
    • Berlinale: the most complete public spec of any major festival and the clearest pro-SMPTE statement
    • Venice: names SMPTE Bv2.1 as the preferred profile. The year in the URL changes each edition
    • Cannes: Marché du Film, where Cannes actually publishes a spec. The Official Selection publishes none
    • Locarno: compulsory DKDM handover through a partner lab
    • Sundance: the strictest accessibility requirements in this group. Note its detailed technical PDF has not been refreshed since 2023
    • IFFR and Hot Docs
    • TIFF, SXSW, Tribeca and Cannes' Official Selection publish no DCP technical specification. They issue requirements privately after invitation. Do not rely on third-party summaries.

Displays, HDR, and theatrical

Articles & discussion