Skip to content
ORIONCOLOUROrion Colour
ORION-CONVERT™ SDK
ORION-CONVERT™

A cross-platform HDR ⇄ SDR conversion SDK

Real-time, parametric and fully invertible.

Easily add high-quality, real-time and fully parametric HDR ⇄ SDR conversions to your solution. The ORION-CONVERT™ SDK integrates into cloud-based services, Linux or Windows-based hardware products, and desktop software — including macOS.

WindowsLinuxmacOSCUDAMetal
Why it's different

Mathematically defined. Mathematically invertible.

ORION-CONVERT™ takes a novel three-step approach to HDR ⇄ SDR conversion, with a simple, intuitive set of user controls. The intent isn't to adjust these continuously during a broadcast — rather, settings suitable for a situation are found once and used as presets.

Because the transform is mathematically defined, it's mathematically invertible: apply a down-conversion, then run the identical parameters in reverse, and the compressed highlights expand back to HDR for a pixel-perfect round trip.

ORION-CONVERT™ brings real-time, floating-point precision to colour conversion — the same technology behind the Emmy-nominated, IBC 2021 Special Award-winning NBCU LUT-based workflow used at the Tokyo Olympics and many of the biggest international sporting events since 2020.

Workflow specs

EOTFs
SDR, HLG, PQ, S-Log3, LogC3
Gamuts
BT.709, BT.2020, LogC3, S-Gamut3, S-Gamut3.Cine
Modes
Scene-light and Display-light
Compliance
ITU BT.2100 and BT.2408
Presets
NBCU, British TV, plus HLG/S-Log3 Live & Mild looks
Features

Everything the engine gives you

  • Invertible conversionsSDR, HLG, PQ and S-Log3 with a perfect roundtrip.
  • Dual highlight compressionCompression/expansion and gamma compensation built into the core transform.
  • NBCU and “BBC emulation” presetsFloating-point presets used at major broadcast events.
  • Full-range, narrow-range, float and integerFormat support across the whole pipeline.
  • Parametric looksFully invertible emulation presets for Sony's Live and Mild Looks (HLG and S-Log3).
  • Blocking and non-blocking APIsConfigurable to fit your threading model.
  • Whole-frame and subframe processingProcess exactly the region you need.
  • Multi-threaded processingInternally- or externally-managed.
  • Optional internal frame bufferMemory management handled for you, or bring your own.
  • CUDA and Metal GPU accelerationHardware-accelerated on every supported platform.
  • Windows, Linux and macOS binariesOne SDK, every major platform.
  • Flexible licensing optionsTalk to us about what fits your product.
SDK contents

What's in the box

  • C++ headers
  • Libraries for Windows, Linux and macOS
  • API reference documentation
  • Full Qt GUI sample source code, with Blackmagic DeckLink HDR monitoring
  • Performance tester and source code for measuring frame rate and latency on target hardware
  • Command-line frame (TIFF) converter sample code
Platforms

Supported targets

PlatformArchGPU
Windows 10+x64CUDA
Linuxx64CUDA
macOS 10.15+x64, arm64Metal

Compilers: MS Visual Studio / MinGW / GCC (Windows), GCC / Clang (Linux), Clang (macOS).

Also integrated in

AJA Video Systems ColorBox

ORION-CONVERT™ brings parametric control and floating-point precision to AJA's real-time ColorBox hardware solution.

Visit AJA ColorBox
Recognition & deployments
IBC 2021Special Award — WinnerEmmy Awards 2020Nomination
Orion Convert SDK 2.0
UEFA EURO 2024FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022FIFA Women's World Cup 2023Tennis French Open 2022Winter Olympics Beijing 2022FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021Summer Olympics Tokyo 2020UEFA EURO 2020UEFA EURO 2024FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022FIFA Women's World Cup 2023Tennis French Open 2022Winter Olympics Beijing 2022FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021Summer Olympics Tokyo 2020UEFA EURO 2020

Read the user manual or talk to the team