AJA Unleashes New Firmware For openGear Cards

The updates streamline modern production workflows with new HDR metadata pass-through functionality, improved immersive audio support, and more for select AJA openGear solutions.

AJA Video Systems has released feature-rich firmware updates for OG-Hi5-4K-Plus, OG-HA5-4K, OG-4K2HD, and OG-12GM openGear cards. Building on AJA’s latest Mini-Config v2.26.3 software update for its Mini-Converter line, the new releases help production professionals maintain the integrity of signals and better manage associated metadata as they move throughout the chain. Available as free downloads from the AJA support page, OG-Hi5-4K-Plus v1.6.1, OG-HA5-4K v1.6.1, OG-4K2HD v1.5.1 and OG-12GM v1.2.2 include powerful new enhancements such as HDR VPID pass-through, BT.2020 and dual-link support, Dolby Audio compatibility, and more.

HDR is quickly evolving into a production standard, requiring more metadata from SDR and HDR equipment to be carried throughout the chain. The new firmware releases reduce the opportunity for color and brightness errors during this process via new VPID metadata pass-through for each openGear card with optional override functionality. Automating HDR metadata pass-through, the new improvement makes it easier for upstream equipment to generate HDR metadata and pass it to downstream equipment, without having it stripped or manually configured along the way. Additional feature updates include automatic infoframe generation, and custom HDMI metadata and mastering display information generation for HDMI outputs, which streamline the movement of metadata between SDI and HDMI equipment for simpler workflows and troubleshooting. OG-Hi5-4K-Plusand OG-HA5-4K also gain additional HDR capabilities with color space converter support for BT.2020.

Growing consumer adoption of Dolby Atmos audio sound systems has also driven more use of immersive audio technology in the field, yet pipelines often comprise a range of audio types such as stereo, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital Plus. As the audio is processed and rendered between equipment, loss of data is a risk, but OG-Hi5-4K-Plus v1.6.1 preserves embedded audio pass-through for Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus compressed audio – including DD+ Atmos immersive sound. This allows professionals to monitor and validate that the immersive audio being produced is reaching end viewers.

In addition to immersive audio upgrades, the firmware releases bring dual-link support for 2x 1.5G outputs to OG-HA5-4K, and 2x 6G, 2x 3G, and 2x 1.5G input and output format support to OG-12GM.

You might also like...

KVM & Multiviewer Systems At NAB 2024

We take a look at what to expect in the world of KVM & Multiviewer systems at the 2024 NAB Show. Expect plenty of innovation in KVM over IP and systems that facilitate remote production, distributed teams and cloud integration.

NAB Show 2024 BEIT Sessions Part 2: New Broadcast Technologies

The most tightly focused and fresh technical information for TV engineers at the NAB Show will be analyzed, discussed, and explained during the four days of BEIT sessions. It’s the best opportunity on Earth to learn from and question i…

Standards: Part 6 - About The ISO 14496 – MPEG-4 Standard

This article describes the various parts of the MPEG-4 standard and discusses how it is much more than a video codec. MPEG-4 describes a sophisticated interactive multimedia platform for deployment on digital TV and the Internet.

Chris Brown Discusses The Themes Of The 2024 NAB Show

The Broadcast Bridge sat down with Chris Brown, executive vice president and managing director, NAB Global Connections and Events to discuss this year’s gathering April 13-17 (show floor open April 14-17) and how the industry looks to the show e…

Essential Guide: Next-Gen 5G Contribution

This Essential Guide explores the technology of 5G and its ongoing roll out. It discusses the technical reasons why 5G has become the new standard in roaming contribution, and explores the potential disruptive impact 5G and MEC could have on…