New Format at Metamerism 2026 – Exploring the Future of Colour in Film and Cinema
New Format will be attending Metamerism 2026 in London today, 6 October 2026, exploring one of the most fascinating technical challenges facing modern filmmaking: how colour changes between cameras, monitors, projection systems and the screens on which audiences ultimately experience a film.
Taking place at the London Film School, 24 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9UB, Metamerism 2026 brings together filmmakers, cinematographers, colourists, colour scientists, post-production professionals, engineers and technology specialists for an afternoon dedicated to colour accuracy and the future of moving-image technology.
The main programme runs from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM, followed by networking and drinks until approximately 7:00 PM. Registration begins earlier, from 12:15 PM.
For New Format, the event represents another opportunity to expand our understanding of professional film and television production while connecting our university studies, content creation and media activities with developments taking place across the wider screen industries.
What exactly is metamerism?
Anyone working with cameras, editing software or different displays may already have encountered the practical consequences of metamerism without necessarily knowing the term.
An image can look perfectly balanced on one professional monitor but noticeably different when displayed on another screen.
Colours that appear identical under one viewing condition may no longer match when the lighting, display technology or projection system changes.
In professional filmmaking this becomes considerably more important.
A cinematographer, director and colourist might spend hours establishing the visual identity of a production. Decisions concerning skin tones, shadows, highlights, saturation and colour temperature are all part of the storytelling process.
However, the finished production may eventually appear on dozens of different display technologies.
A film might be viewed through a professional cinema projector, an OLED television, a computer monitor, a tablet, a smartphone or a streaming device.
Metamerism therefore presents an important question:
How can filmmakers preserve creative intent when audiences experience their work through fundamentally different technologies?
That question sits at the heart of Metamerism 2026.
From the camera to the cinema screen
The event examines colour across the entire moving-image pipeline.
This means considering what happens during capture, monitoring, post-production, colour grading, mastering, distribution and exhibition.
Metamerism can affect cameras, lighting systems, professional reference monitors, consumer displays and cinema projection.
Modern technologies have made this issue particularly interesting.
Laser cinema projection, HDR displays, wide colour gamuts and increasingly sophisticated OLED and other display technologies allow filmmakers to reproduce images that would have been extremely difficult to achieve only a relatively short time ago.
But greater technological capability also introduces new challenges.
Two displays can be technically calibrated and still appear different to a human observer.
Understanding the relationship between measurement and human perception is therefore becoming increasingly important.
Colour science meets filmmaking
Metamerism 2026 is not simply a discussion about monitors.
It sits at the intersection of cinematography, neuroscience, colour science, engineering and creative filmmaking.
The event is hosted by Bram Desmet, an experienced professional in display technology and colour accuracy.
The announced line-up also includes experts such as Professor Anya Hurlbert, Professor of Visual Neuroscience at Newcastle University; Aidan Farrell, Senior Colorist at The Farm; Dr Kaida Xiao, Professor of Colour and Imaging Science at the University of Leeds; artist and engineer Stephen Robert George Jr; and IMIS Board Member Simon Hasler.
This combination is particularly interesting because accurate colour reproduction cannot be solved entirely through engineering.
Ultimately, images are experienced by people.
Understanding how human vision interprets colour is therefore just as important as understanding how a camera sensor captures it or how a projector reproduces it.
One image, many realities
One of the central ideas behind today's programme can effectively be summarised as one image, many realities.
The opening discussions examine what metamerism actually means and why colour matching has become increasingly complicated across production, post-production and exhibition.
Modern displays often use different technologies to produce apparently similar colours.
Measurement equipment may indicate that colours match according to established standards, while viewers can still perceive differences.
That gap between measured colour and perceived colour creates a significant challenge for professional production.
It is particularly relevant when filmmakers want audiences in different environments to experience approximately the same creative vision.
The future of cinema colour
Another major part of Metamerism 2026 concerns the future.
The industry continues to investigate improved colour models, standards and workflows capable of addressing the limitations of systems developed many decades ago.
Today's programme also reaches beyond conventional cinema colour spaces.
A scheduled session, “Beyond P3: A New Colour Gamut for Cinema,” explores the evolution of cinema colour, while another presentation considers practical approaches to colour management in cinema post-production.
The programme then moves toward the wider question of the next cinema experience.
Premium cinema formats increasingly combine sophisticated projection, sound, large screens and carefully controlled exhibition environments.
For filmmakers, manufacturers and exhibitors, the objective is not simply technological improvement.
The technology ultimately has to serve the image.
Protecting creative intent
For us, one of the most important concepts surrounding this event is creative intent.
A filmmaker does not choose a colour palette accidentally.
Colour can communicate emotion, time, temperature, danger, nostalgia and atmosphere.
A cold blue environment can create emotional distance.
Warm highlights can create intimacy.
Reduced saturation can contribute to a bleak or historical atmosphere, while extreme colour contrast can establish an entirely different visual language.
When those decisions change dramatically between displays, part of the filmmaker's intended experience can potentially change with them.
Colour management is therefore not merely a technical problem.
It is part of storytelling.
Why Metamerism 2026 matters to New Format
Our interest in the event extends directly into our developing work across film, television, journalism, streaming and digital media.
As we continue developing New Format alongside our Film and Television Production studies at the University of Westminster, events such as Metamerism provide an opportunity to connect academic learning with professional industry practice.
Camera operation is only one stage of producing an image.
Understanding exposure, lighting, codecs, colour spaces, monitoring, grading and delivery becomes increasingly important when moving towards professional production.
The same principles extend beyond cinema.
They matter for television, YouTube, streaming, gaming content, live production, virtual production and emerging immersive formats.
A piece of content produced today might eventually appear on a cinema screen, television, smartphone, gaming monitor or VR headset.
Maintaining a consistent visual identity across those environments is becoming part of the modern production challenge.
Learning beyond the university environment
Film education does not end inside a classroom.
Professional events provide another layer of learning because they allow students and emerging creators to hear directly from people solving problems inside the industry.
Metamerism 2026 is particularly valuable because it connects scientific research with practical production experience.
For students entering cinematography, directing, editing, post-production or technical roles, understanding these relationships can provide a much broader picture of how professional moving-image production actually works.
It also demonstrates how many specialised careers exist behind the images audiences see every day.
Networking with the moving-image industry
The programme concludes with networking and drinks from approximately 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
For New Format, this part of professional events is also important.
Industry events create opportunities to meet cinematographers, engineers, post-production professionals, manufacturers, filmmakers, researchers and other people entering the sector.
Those conversations can sometimes become as valuable as the formal presentations themselves.
New Format's long-term objective is not simply to report on technology from a distance.
We want to participate in the environments where filmmaking, media and technology are developing.
A rapidly changing screen industry
The screen industry is currently experiencing enormous technological change.
HDR production continues to develop.
LED and laser technologies are changing displays and cinema projection.
Virtual production increasingly combines physical cinematography with real-time digital environments.
AI-assisted production tools are becoming part of creative workflows.
Streaming has dramatically expanded the number of devices on which professional productions are consumed.
XR and immersive media introduce entirely different viewing environments.
And cinema itself continues experimenting with premium formats and increasingly sophisticated presentation technologies.
All of these developments make the fundamental question of Metamerism 2026 increasingly relevant:
How do we ensure that the image the creator intended is the image the audience ultimately experiences?
There may never be a completely universal answer.
But understanding the problem is essential for the next generation of filmmakers and moving-image professionals.
New Format will be there
Today we will be attending Metamerism 2026 at the London Film School, learning more about professional colour workflows, cinematography, display technology and the future of cinema presentation.
We will also be looking at the event from the perspective of emerging filmmakers and media creators: what these technologies mean for people entering the industry now, and how knowledge of colour science can improve the quality of future productions.
Expect further coverage from New Format as we continue exploring the technologies, people and ideas shaping the future of film, television and digital media.
Event: Metamerism 2026
Date: Tuesday, 6 October 2026
Venue: London Film School, 24 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9UB
Registration: from 12:15 PM
Main programme: approximately 1:00 PM–6:00 PM
Networking & drinks: approximately 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Organiser: International Moving Image Society (IMIS)
Comments