AI SDR to HDR. 8-bit in, 16-bit EXR out.
The library is SDR and the delivery spec is HDR. A finishing house will inverse-tone-map it and hand-grade the clipped skies shot by shot. Our AI expands the range instead: 8-bit video in any standard format comes back as 16-bit scene-linear EXR in ACEScg, or the colour space you declare, with the highlight and shadow detail the original never recorded synthesized in, so your colourist grades with latitude instead of stretching a Rec.709 master until it breaks.
SDR to HDR expansion sample, shown in SDR · click to play full-screen · sample footage courtesy of LTX
or declared
What a finishing house does by hand, the model does per frame
We are not a VFX lab with faster artists. We are an AI lab: the tedious, per-frame work that fills a vendor’s schedule is done by the model in a single pass, and artists are spent only where judgment matters. The result is the same deliverable, in a day or two instead of weeks.
| The job | Traditional VFX lab | Pixazo AI |
|---|---|---|
| Expanding the range | Inverse tone-map; clipped stays clipped | Highlight and shadow detail synthesized by the model |
| Colour management | Manual conversions per source | ACES through the chain; EXR in ACEScg or your declared space |
| Turnaround | Weeks per season | Days per season |
| Cost driver | Colourist-hours per minute | Per minute, by material class; one free test clip gives the number |
Where the artist still matters: the creative grade, display trims and any sky that was fully clipped. A colourist signs off every delivery.
Range expansion, not a tone-map
An inverse tone-map stretches the values you already have and leaves the clipped sky clipped. A range expansion rebuilds what the 8-bit encode threw away: the gradient inside a blown highlight, the texture inside a crushed shadow, the colour that Rec.709 could not hold. The result is a scene-linear master that behaves like it was shot with more stops.
What expanded footage looks like
Five clips from the LTX-2.5 HDR workflow the pass runs on. You are watching them in SDR, so what shows here is the look of an expanded master, not a 16-bit result; the EXR and the HLG review file come back with your test clip. Click any clip to play it full-screen.
Sample footage courtesy of LTX, generated and processed with LTX-2.5.
What actually comes back
Everything is specified so it drops into a finishing pipeline that already works in EXR and ACES. If yours does not, say so and we deliver the HDR encode instead.
| Deliverable | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| HDR master frames | 16-bit EXR, per frame, scene-linear | ACEScg by default, or the colour space you declare. Full-range shadow and highlight information preserved for the grade. |
| Review sidecar | HLG MP4 | Matches the EXR, for client review on an HDR display or a phone. Not a delivery master. |
| Display encode (optional) | PQ (HDR10) or HLG, ProRes or H.265 | For teams without an ACES finishing suite. Trimmed to the target display by a colourist, with MaxCLL / MaxFALL metadata. |
| Resolution | Source resolution, up to 8K | We do not upscale in this pass. If the library also needs resolution, it goes through restoration and upscaling first and both come back in one drop. |
| Shot-matched sequences | Per shot, one setting across a scene | A conform across many shots is expanded consistently so a scene cut from different sources sits together before the grade starts. |
The question that decides the scope: what does the finishing suite consume? If it is EXR in ACES, the pass is the whole job. If it is a PQ ProRes for a broadcaster, a colourist trims the expanded master to that display, and that is a second line on the quote.
Range expansion cannot do every clip
It is very good at well-exposed SDR that was clipped by the encode. It cannot recover what the camera never saw, and it is not a substitute for an HDR original.
- SDR libraries going to HDR distribution. Series, catalogue films and documentaries delivered as Rec.709 that now need an HDR version for a platform spec.
- Mixed-source projects. HDR hero footage cut with SDR archive, stock or generated clips that have to sit in the same timeline.
- Generated video. AI-generated clips are 8-bit by nature; the pass gives them the range to grade alongside camera originals.
- Skies, lights and specular highlights. The clipped areas most SDR encodes lose first are the ones the pass rebuilds best.
- Virtual production assets. SDR plates and backgrounds expanded for LED walls that run in HDR.
- Heavily compressed or banded sources. Low-bitrate web encodes carry macroblocking into the highlights. They go through restoration first, then expansion.
- Hard clipping over large areas. A fully white sky across the whole frame has no gradient to rebuild from. The pass synthesizes a plausible one; a colourist decides whether it is the right one.
- Camera-native RAW. ARRIRAW, BRAW and ProRes RAW already carry the range. They are debayered to EXR in the normal way, not expanded.
- A creative HDR grade. The pass gives the colourist a master with latitude. The look, the trims and the display mapping are still the colourist's job, and they are quoted as grading.
- Exact matches to an existing HDR master. Expanding the SDR cut-down of a film to match its own HDR original gets close, not identical. Use the original.
What works in the brief: the delivery spec. EXR in ACEScg for a Resolve conform
or PQ ProRes 4444, 1000-nit, for a broadcaster
is a complete instruction. Make it HDR
is a conversation, and we will have it with you on the test clip.
What moves the number
We do not publish a rate card, because a clean ProRes master and a banded web encode of the same programme are not the same job. These are the drivers; the test clip gives you the actual figure.
| Driver | Cheaper | Dearer |
|---|---|---|
| Source | ProRes or high-bitrate master, well exposed | Low-bitrate, banded or heavily clipped encodes |
| Resolution | HD and UHD | 8K, or source that also needs upscaling |
| Deliverable | EXR in ACEScg, as-is | Display encodes trimmed by a colourist, multiple targets |
| Volume | A series or a catalogue, priced per minute | Single clips |
| Conform | Standalone clips | Shot-matched sequences across mixed sources |
Faster than a rate card: send one clip, ideally the shot with the sky your colourist already complained about. We return the EXR, the HLG review file and a firm per-minute number for that class of material.
Frequently asked questions
What is AI SDR to HDR conversion?
AI range expansion: 8-bit SDR video comes back as 16-bit scene-linear EXR, with highlight and shadow detail the original encode lost synthesized back in.
How is it different from inverse tone mapping?
An inverse tone-map stretches the values you already have, so clipped areas stay clipped. AI expansion rebuilds detail inside blown highlights and crushed shadows, so the master grades with latitude.
What formats do you deliver?
16-bit EXR in ACEScg or the colour space you declare, plus an HLG MP4 for review. A PQ or HLG display encode trimmed by a colourist is available on request.
Can I see the HDR result on this page?
No. Web pages are viewed in SDR, so the samples show the look of an expanded master. The EXR and HLG review file come back with your free test clip.
What is the maximum resolution?
Up to 8K at the source resolution. The pass does not upscale; if you also need resolution, it goes through AI restoration and upscaling first.
How much does it cost?
We price per minute by material class. Send one clip free and you get the EXR, the HLG review file and a firm per-minute number.
HDR is usually the last step of a remaster
Libraries going to HDR often need restoration and upscaling first, and a scene shot at the wrong hour may want a relight before the grade. Anything that has to be comped into the HDR master comes with a proper alpha matte. All of it sits inside the AI VFX Studio: 15 production capabilities, 200+ models, human-finished on every shot.
Send us the clip with the blown-out sky.
One clip, no charge, no commitment. You get back 16-bit EXR in ACEScg, an HLG review file, and a firm per-minute number, and you put the EXR in front of your colourist before deciding anything.
Send a test clip8-bit SDR in · 16-bit EXR out · ACEScg or declared · Colourist-finished
