AJA OG-ColorBox OpenGear In-Line HDR/SDR Color Transformer

AJA OG-ColorBox OpenGear In-line HDR/SDR Algorithmic and LUT Color Transforms

The AJA OG-ColorBox from AJA is a high-performance color management openGear card specifically designed to meet the color conversion and color correction needs of broadcast, live events, and on-set applications. Supporting HDR, SDR, and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) signals, it utilizes 12G-SDI for single wire 4K/UltraHD up to 4:2:2 10-bit 60p or 4:4:4 12-bit 30p, with a unique color processing pipeline, and down-conversion. The OG-ColorBox’s ultra-low latency, less than ½ of a video line, makes it ideal for color-managed workflows for live productions.

Built around a 33-point 3D LUT processor with tetrahedral interpolation, the AJA Color Pipeline provides additional 4x 1D LUTs and 2x 3×3 matrices that are each individually configurable or can be converted to Proc Amps or RGB Color Correctors. All of the color processing options can be easily managed via the web user interface, which can be accessed directly from a wired Ethernet connection.

OG-ColorBox also includes processing pipelines from NBCU LUTs and ACES. Additionally, OG-ColorBox offers licensable upgrade options for advanced color-managed workflows, including the Colorfront Engine, BBC HLG LUTs, and ORION-CONVERT. ORION-CONVERT’s unique real-time floating point math approach to color transformations produces higher precision results to get “access to the colors between the colors.” This enables pixel-perfect color transforms and round-tripping where maintaining color fidelity is paramount.

The ACES Pipeline includes support for ACES Metadata File (AMF). Internal AMF processing is built on the OpenColorIO (OCIO) from the Academy Software Foundation and supports configurable input and output transforms. The OG-ColorBox is an officially ACES logoed device ensuring end-to-end ACES compliance.

The OG-ColorBox can overlay information onto the image, including helpful user-definable text fields, user-loaded images such as graphic elements and frame lines, and more.

The OG-ColorBox also offers a sophisticated 4K test pattern generator and frame store, bringing useful tools to your workflow, including capturing up to a 4K image as a 16-bit .tiff file for the highest quality reference stills. These captures can be saved locally on OG-ColorBox or onto third-party connected computers, which can simultaneously be running applications like Pomfort’s Livegrade Pro/Studio, Assimilate Live Looks, and QTAKE Video Assist software.

Hardware Details

OG-ColorBox features a robust design, with the backplane offering:

• 12G-SDI Input
• 12G-SDI loop through output
• 12G-SDI Output
• HDMI 2.0 Output
• Ethernet port

HDMI Cable Retention

HDMI cables do not natively have a retention mechanism. This is why OG-ColorBox comes with a unique HDMI cable bracket that can be mounted to the rear card and offers a means to secure the HDMI cable. This helps to ensure connected cables remain installed, even after transportation.

Integration Across Broad Applications

OG-ColorBox offers key applications for modern workflows, including:

• 4K/UltraHD SDR and HDR pipelines for live television and concert production. OB trucks and other live event infrastructure can easily use OG-ColorBox color-correct signals and convert SDR signals to HDR and HDR to other delivery formats. The licensable Colorfront, ORION-CONVERT, and BBC HLG LUTs options, as well as the free built-in AJA Color, NBCU LUTs, and ACES pipelines, provide all the necessary tools to manage HDR workflows and conversions. For hardware-based control, SKAARHOJ and CyanView have integrated native control of OG-ColorBox into their control panels.
• On-set look management and color grading for DITs or anyone in charge of ensuring that the content captured on-set will meet the needs of the Cinematographer, Director, colorist, costume and lighting designers, and editors on the production. A DIT can easily manage workflows to load multiple looks, make adjustments as needed, and save reference images (up to 4K) for dailies, postproduction, and later use.
• Pomfort Livegrade Pro and Studio, Assimilate Live Looks and Live Assist, and QTAKE Video Assist software integrate easily, offering native control of OG-ColorBox in real-time. The unique full-frame processing capability of OG-ColorBox eliminates partial-frame LUT processing.
• Wherever the highest quality display monitor calibration is required for a production studio, rental house, on-set, live, or postproduction facility, OG-ColorBox can help. OG-ColorBox features an extensive API that allows third parties, like Light Illusion ColourSpace and Portrait Displays Calman, to control the OG-ColorBox Frame Store and its ability to output 12-bit RGB test patches for high-quality monitor calibration applications.

High Density Delivered

Up to ten OG-ColorBoxes can be used in a 2RU openGear frame, supplying the highest density and lowest latency color accurate control for your OB truck or production facility with the security of redundant power supplies and hot-swap support.

Image Processing Pipelines

OG-ColorBox comes with a range of Pipelines to choose from. Select any particular Pipeline for your production needs. Some Pipelines are designed specifically for live broadcasts, live events, or on-set needs. Others, like the AJA Color Pipeline, offer greater flexibility for more control over each step of a transform for any application. Pipelines like Colorfront, ORION-CONVERT, or BBC HLG LUTs will display a watermark over the image until a license is applied, offering you the ability to “try before you buy” the optional license. OG-ColorBox offers unique image processing capabilities with an unrivaled array of options for a device of its type with full 12-bit 4:4:4 up to 4K 30p and 10-bit 4:2:2 up to 4K 60p, plus down-conversion. A bypass node is integrated into each processing pipeline for both 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 outputs, allowing quick comparisons between the input and output signals.

There are six image processing Pipelines available:

• AJA Color
• Colorfront (requires License to remove watermark)
• ORION-CONVERT (requires License to remove watermark)
• BBC HLG LUTs (requires License to remove watermark)
• NBCU LUTs
• ACES

Powerful AJA Color Pipeline (ACP)

AJA Color Pipeline provides users with the most advanced color management tools available in the openGear form factor. With seven nodes of real-time processing plus Overlay, the pipeline offers capabilities only seen in software-based color correction applications. These nodes give you full control over colorspace, video level, and dynamic range conversion to get the most out of your color-managed workflow. Dynamic nodes are controllable by 3rd party applications.

• 7x processing nodes plus Overlay
• Pipeline processes in 12-bit RGB
• 1x 3D LUT, user configurable as 3D LUT or Dynamic
• 33pt. 3D LUT processor with tetrahedral interpolation
• 4x 1D LUT, user configurable as 1D LUT, Dynamic, or Color Corrector
• Supports 10 or 12-bit 1D LUTs
• 2x 3×3 Matrices, user configurable as 3×3 Matrix, Dynamic, or Proc Amp
• Supports industry standard file types, no conversion to proprietary format required
• Configurable Color Space, Range, and Transfer Characteristic
• Full-frame LUT processing
• Full bypass node for 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0
• Set-ups can be easily replicated utilizing OG-ColorBox preset import and export capabilities.

33pt 3D LUT Processor with Tetrahedral Interpolation

This primary 33pt 3D LUT uses tetrahedral interpolation for the highest accuracy color conversion. 3D LUTs provide full volumetric non-linear color adjustment, and a 33pt 3D LUT is a requirement for HDR workflows. Very useful for calibration purposes as the controls can respond to all possible calibration errors. Similarly, high-end movie and television productions depend on 3D LUT processing for look generation, distribution, and management. When set to Dynamic, the 3D LUT is fully controllable through 3rd party software like Pomfort’s Livegrade, Assimilate’s Live Looks, and QTAKE Video Assist. The 3D LUT processor supports a wide range of 3D LUT file types and can even process.CLF and .CTF files as 3D LUTs.

1D LUTs

Flexibility is key in production and post, with four 1D LUTs, it is easy to manage your color processing pipeline to get the best possible image. 1D LUTs are commonly used as “shaper LUTs” wrapping around the 3D LUT. The front shaper 1D LUT allows you to map perceptually significant values, typically the darker part of the color space, to use more of the 3D LUT transform data set, resulting in a more effective use of the 3D LUT to produce a better image. The backside shaper 1D LUT is usually the inverse of the front, mapping pixel values into the original dynamic range. 1D LUTs can also be effectively used as log-to-linear and linear-to-log transforms. In the AJA Color Pipeline, 1D LUTs can even be set up as RGB Color Correctors for color correcting a source before 3D LUT processing, this is a common workflow in live production applications.

3×3 Matrices

The OG-ColorBox’s two 3×3 Matrices provide the operator a means to perform different color processing tasks outside of an LUT using their own 3×3 matrix files. 3×3 Matrices are commonly used for color space conversion, for example, between RGB and XYZ or YUV, BT.709 and BT.2020, or other color spaces with different primaries. A 3×3 Matrix can be used to color balance a signal if the white balance is off. They can also be used for look creation, such as film emulation. In the AJA Color Pipeline, 3×3 Matrices can even be set up as Proc Amps for adjusting a signal’s Gain, Black level, Hue, and Saturation before 3D LUT processing, this is a common workflow in live production applications.

ACES Support

The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) is an industry-standard for managing color throughout the life cycle of a motion picture or television production. From capture through editing, VFX, mastering, public presentation, archiving, and future remastering, ACES ensures a consistent color experience that preserves the creative vision.

The OG-ColorBox’s ACES color processing pipeline supports ACES workflows natively and can load and recall 16 AMF (ACES Metadata File) files onboard.

Additionally, ACES has given AJA and Pomfort the first joint product certification status for AJA’s OG-ColorBox and Pomfort’s Livegrade for their support of ACES-based workflows. The AJA OG-ColorBox carries the official ACES Logo, ensuring end-to-end ACES compatibility.

ACES Pipeline with AMF Support

The Academy Color Encoding Systems, or ACES, has a long track record of creating a holistic approach to color management. Since its inception, ACES has worked with artists and vendors to build a system of color management that is comprehensive yet easy to use. Now, the AJA OG-ColorBox makes it even easier with our newest color pipeline, the ACES pipeline, which carries the official ACES Logo, ensuring end-to-end ACES compatibility.

The OG-ColorBox ACES pipeline uses the ACES Metadata File (AMF).

Definition of AMF from ACES: “AMF is the configuration file that allows a precise setup for an ACES pipeline. Besides this basic goal, AMF is also the tool of choice to transmit and exchange configuration parameters in order to ensure consistency within a workflow and across the entire ecosystem of tools that are used within that workflow.”

AMF workflows support an exchange of information that should allow for better interoperability of color throughout the filmmaking process. An AMF includes information needed for an ACES pipeline like the input transform, look transform, and output transform (for example, camera log > ACES where the look is applied > display output) into a single XML file that can then be easily distributed to others working on the project from on-set to post to final grade.

• Built on OpenColorIO (OCIO)
• Configurable ACES Input and Output Transforms
• Full bypass node for 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0

Licensable Options

The OG-ColorBox offers a number of ways to further enhance your workflows with SDR/HDR WCG transforms from key third-party developers and broadcasters. Paying only for what you need makes OG-ColorBox very cost-effective.

Colorfront Pipeline

The OG-ColorBox HDR/WCG capabilities leverage video and color space processing algorithms within the Colorfront Engine, developed by Colorfront’s CTO Bill Feightner and Lead Engineer Tamas Perlaki. Colorfront offers a color processing pipeline with optimized transforms that maintain perceptual integrity designed for use wherever HDR productions are performed.

Colorfront’s TV Mode and Live Mode are now available in both FS-HDR and as a licensable option in OG-ColorBox. TV Mode is an intuitive color processing engine aimed at broadcast workflows that contain SDR, HLG, PQ, and Sony S-Log3 transforms.

The same license also enables Colorfront Live Mode, which includes several camera Log formats beyond TV Mode, like the new ARRI LogC4, as well as the new SDR to Dolby Vision Preview Mode with simplified controls for highlights and contrast.

Ultra-Low Latency

OG-ColorBox processing takes no time at all. With a total latency of less than ½ of a video line, a live signal can be processed and output in real-time to meet the critical + – half line input timing requirement of most production switchers. This also reduces lip sync issues in live event productions where every frame counts and anywhere high quality, low latency video processing is required. Applications span from IMAG to LED Volumes to in-camera VFX and everywhere in between.

4K/UltraHD Down-conversion and 4K/2K Crop

New down-conversion feature for SDI and HDMI outputs with independent conversions per output available for all pipelines. With this feature, you can now down-convert either or both the SDI and HDMI outputs to a lower resolution. Full 4K > 2K or UltraHD > HD (1920×1080). For example, using a high-resolution camera with a 4K or UltraHD baseband output and on-set monitoring needs to be in HD.

There is also a new 4K/2K Crop for the HDMI output for HDMI monitors that don’t support full 4K or 2K resolutions. By offering the crop function, OG-ColorBox can center crop the image and provide an unscaled image on the HDMI output that is compatible with a wider range of UltraHD and HD displays.

4K/UltraHD Frame Capture and Recall

Unique to a device in its class, OG-ColorBox has incredible frame capture and recall up to 4K/UltraHD 16-bit .tiff files, allowing you to capture pre or post-processed reference images. Multiple use cases are possible, from VFX composite checks to look at comparisons between takes to ensure consistency and general reference image capture, recall, and import/export to validate the color processing pipeline. Frames can be stored locally on OG-ColorBox for easy access or saved directly to a computer running 3rd party software like Livegrade and Assimilate. Capture or recall up to 16 full-resolution images locally with an option to include the Overlay if needed. If the resolution of the image doesn’t match your target format, OG-ColorBox can even scale it to fit.

Test Pattern Generator

The OG-ColorBox can also output standard test patterns without the need for an active input. OG-ColorBox test patterns can be used in any number of scenarios where a test signal is needed rather than a source signal. The test patterns are configurable to output a wide range of video formats and frame rates, including up to 4K/UltraHD.

Advanced Overlay and ANC Metadata Management

The OG-ColorBox offers several important features, from overlaying selected metadata and user data on the video for live use, capturing or embedding in the .tiff file for later use, or just passing ANC metadata to the next SDI device or application using the OG-ColorBox API via Ethernet. By storing the ANC data, one can quickly come back to and recall the exact camera settings, pipeline configuration, etc., that created an image. OG-ColorBox also offers a customizable user text field that is great for overlaying any information on an image needing to be conveyed to an observer, such as camera or lens information, if the camera can’t provide it.

When setting up a shot, many factors need to be considered when framing it. The camera manufacturer, the sensor size, the lens, and the target aspect ratio all play a role. The ability to see frame lines on-set gives the production the best chance at capturing the shot composition correctly for the project from the get-go. OG-ColorBox also offers a User Overlay, providing the ability to import and overlay custom images onto the output. Those images could be frame lines or any other image, such as a mask to dim camera status overlays, logos, etc., imported as .png files to the Overlay library and recalled along with or without the already available overlay information.

User Text and User Overlay can also be stored on the captured image as part of the Overlay. Additional Overlay accessible data includes Input and Output VPID, Timecode presence, Closed Captioning presence, and Pipeline Configuration. Output HDMI infoframe status is also available in the UI.

The Largest Onboard Libraries Available

The OG-ColorBox offers the largest library capacity of any equivalent device in its class, providing a wealth of creative choices on-set or anywhere in the production pipeline. Set up an easy-to-access bank of options for any shoot, then recall the same settings just as easily in post. Sixteen onboard memory slots are available for each category of supported files: 1D LUTs, 3D LUTs, 3×3 Matrices, Images, Overlays, and AMFs.

Ten pipeline presets can be stored per pipeline, and all can be imported and exported to/from OG-ColorBox. Pipeline Presets store all settings needed to replicate a configured transform. Included is also a Startup Preset setting that allows an operator to select a specific preset to be loaded upon power up, guaranteeing a known startup state. The Pipeline Presets for AJA Color Pipeline stores all files loaded into the pipeline, active or not, for easy setup and transfer between OG-ColorBox devices.

Partner Integrations

To control the rich feature set of ColorBox beyond the built-in web UI, ColorBox offers a comprehensive set of tools to enable third parties to develop their native control. Using a RESTful API defined using OpenAPI, the protocol is presented intuitively, allowing both humans and computers to discover, interact, and understand OG-ColorBox capabilities. To support developers, several OpenAPI-generated programming language implementations are included with example projects, visit the OG-ColorBox Support page.

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