AJA: seven big updates, at NAB 2024

With the goal of helping professionals keep pace with the evolution of standards, formats, protocols and codecs, and streamline their workflows, AJA Video Systems transfers in NAB 2024 all the details of their latest software updates for ColorBox, FS-HDR, Bridge Live, Desktop, FS4, HELO Plus and Diskover Media Edition.

Beyond exhibiting a wide selection of its main products, AJA has put the focus on NAB 2024 in firmware updates for seven of its most popular solutions. Nick Rashby, president of AJA, has stressed that with this move the company seeks to allow its clients to “take advantage of the latest technologies quickly and with greater profitability”, providing along the way capabilities that provide “more flexibility”.

It highlights a feature-packed update to its AJA ColorBox device for real-time color-managed workflows. ColorBox v2.1 (available now) introduces several new features and enhancements inspired by customer feedback that support emerging workflows, from 4K/UltraHD downconversion and 4K/2K cropping to new support for ACES Metadata File (AMF), support for ARRI Wireless Video Optimized LogC4 (WVO), and more. At NAB 2024, AJA also announced that Pomfort's ColorBox and Livegrade have received Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) certification.

with firmware FS-HDR v4.3, AJA's real-time HDR/WCG converter and frame synchronizer includes the latest BBC HLG LUTs v1.7, as well as a new motion-adaptive deinterlacer and channel-to-channel HFR sync controls. The new BBC HLG LUTs v1.7 update LUT 9 to improve the reproduction of bright saturated colors and LUT 21, which offers SDR output with a wider color gamut. A new motion adaptive deinterlacing control improves performance with some interlaced videos containing fast motion by adjusting the amount of motion adaptive used. AJA has also updated the channel-to-channel HFR sync control to be user-configurable so it can be easily turned on or off based on production needs. FS-HDR v4.3 will be available in Q2 2024 as a free update.

AJA also shows the latest developments of Bridge Live, the multi-channel IP video workflow transcoder used to facilitate remote production, two-way interviews, live event streaming, and synchronous multi-camera backhaul with HDR. Among the improvements of the version 1.16, available in the second quarter of 2024, highlights bonding with SRT, AAC-HE v2 encoding/decoding or 20-bit Dolby E passthrough, among other additions.

Desktop, FS4, HELO Plus and Diskover Media Edition

The software AJA Desktop v17.1 for the products DRIVE Kona, Io y T-TAP, which will be released in Q2 2024 as a free downloadable update, offers new capabilities, including the ability to pass metadata such as SCTE-104, Dolby Vision, Closed Captioning, and SMPTE Time Code. The release also adds support for Thunderbolt on Linux.

Regarding frame synchronizer and up/down/cross converter FS4, Update 3.1 debuts motion-adaptive deinterlacing control and improved, user-configurable channel-to-channel HFR sync control. Regarding H.264 streaming and recording device HELO Plus, the version 2.1 brings a new SRT Stream ID parameter to Caller mode, the addition of SRT Listener mode as a user selection, a view of each encoder's B-frame settings on the status page, and much more. Both versions will arrive for free in the second quarter of 2024.

Finally, AJA Diskover Media Edition v2.2.3 will offer a rich catalog of metadata through a new arrival date attribute, a plug-in for Autodesk's popular Flow Production Tracking creative project management software (formerly ShotGrid), and a host of useful new navigation, host-aware file action, task pane, and analytics enhancements designed to streamline workflows. With no confirmed release date, users will also be able to set up a trial version of the software in minutes via an OVA (Open Virtual Device).