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180 Litton Drive
Grass Valley, CA 95945
United States

AJA Video

Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of video interface technologies, converters, digital video recording solutions and professional cameras, bringing high-quality, cost-effective products to the professional broadcast, video, post production and ProAV markets. AJA products are designed and manufactured in Grass Valley, California.
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AJA Unveils ColorBox for Color-Accurate Broadcast, Production and Post
Posted on Thursday, September 1, 2022
AJA Unveils ColorBox for Color-Accurate Broadcast, Production and Post

Grass Valley, CA (September 1, 2022) – AJA today debuted ColorBox, a portable, high-performance device with unprecedented inline algorithmic color transforms and LUT processing capabilities delivering precise and accurate color space conversions for live broadcast, live events, on-set production and post production. ColorBox enables a range of HDR and SDR conversions and allows DITs to easily load, modify, and save looks, and create reference images for dailies to ensure color accuracy across all production stakeholders and creative vendors.  

ColorBox arrives as more productions are standardizing on 4K/UltraHD HDR, with color and LUT management proving essential to creating and achieving looks for live and scripted content. Designed to support a wide range of look management approaches on-set and in live production environments, ColorBox features 12G-SDI in/out and HDMI 2.0 out for up to 4K/UltraHD 60p 10-bit YCbCr 4:2:2 and 30p 12-bit RGB 4:4:4 signal support. ColorBox includes AJA Color Pipeline (ACP) Mode with a 33-point 3D LUT processor with tetrahedral LUT interpolation, four built-in user-configurable 1D LUTs, and two 3x3 user-configurable matrices. ColorBox users also benefit from a built-in RGB color corrector and ProcAmp, extensive LUT, matrices and image libraries, powerful capture and recall capabilities, ancillary (ANC) metadata management, and more. All of this is easily controlled via an integrated web browser-based interface.

In total, ColorBox offers five Modes with one active at any given time.

  • AJA Color Pipeline (ACP)
  • Colorfront 
  • ORION-CONVERT(Optional license - watermarked preview)
  • BBC HLG LUT (Optional license - watermarked preview)
  • NBCU LUT

"Powered by the HPA Award winning Colorfront Engine, the new Colorfront Mode in AJA's exciting new ColorBox offers state of the art conversions between SDR and HDR content," explained William Feightner, CTO, Colorfront. "As opposed to traditional LUT based processing, the Colorfront Engine's Human Perceptual Model algorithm assures flawless artifact free conversions. This ensures the preservation of creative intent."

"ORION-CONVERT was developed out of the need to create bespoke color-managed conversions for our clients at Cromorama. The ease of use and the simplicity of the user interface together with unprecedented highlight control help deliver the most challenging live broadcasting events and episodic file based content," explained Pablo Garcia Soriano, Cromorama's Founder and Head of Color. "Now with the implementation of ORION-CONVERT in AJA's new ColorBox we can finally use optimized floating point processing that provides greater precision than can be achieved using standard LUT solutions."

ColorBox packs ultra low-latency, high-density 4K/UltraHD processing into a portable device with a robust feature set of SDR/HDR/WCG color transforms for many applications. Extensive frame capturing features include pre-processed image capture or post-processed output capture for reference stills with overlaid metadata, such as video payload ID's, pipeline configuration, and customizable user text.  These frame captures can be saved locally and exported to the configuration PC running the web browser-based ColorBox user interface.  

A built-in USB OTG port lets users easily configure ColorBox wirelessly via a 3rd party USB WiFi adapter. 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 outputs provide up to 4K/UHD video for local monitoring, and an additional 12G-SDI loop through output is available for connecting the unaltered source to other devices.

ColorBox Feature Highlights

  • Up to 4K/UltraHD 60p 10-bit YCbCr 4:2:2 and 30p 12-bit RGB 4:4:4 signal support.
  • 12G-SDI in/out, with loop out.
  • HDMI 2.0 output.
  • 5 Modes available: AJA Color Pipeline, Colorfront, NBCU, BBC HLG, ORION-CONVERT.
  • Extensive color processing using AJA Color Pipeline: 1D LUTs, 3x3 Matrices, and 3D LUT nodes for image manipulation/correction. 
  • Optional licenses for varying image processing needs, including BBC HLG LUTs and ORION-CONVERT with optimized floating point processing provides greater precision that can be achieved by standard LUT boxes.
  • Light-weight portable form factor that easily fits on the desktop or up to 4 units in a 1RU rack. 
  • Intuitive and convenient web browser-based user interface with Video Preview for confidence monitoring.4K/UltraHD Frame Store capture and recall of 16-bit .TIFF, .JPEG, or .PNG files. 
  • Powerful built-in test pattern generator for simple setup and signal path validation.
  • Extensive API/Software Development Kit (SDK) for third-party control of every parameter. 
  • The ability to key information onto a processed output with Overlay for local use or capture with customizable user fields.
  • Ultra-low latency to ensure sources remain within the timing window of the downstream switcher in live production workflows. 
  • HDMI 2.0 output for 4K/UltraHD HDR enables cost-efficient monitoring on consumer displays.
  • USB OTG port and third-party WiFi adapter provides wireless access to the web UI when a wired Ethernet connection is not available. 
  • ANC management with a user-defined field that can be overlaid or embedded in frame store .tiff files.

"Reliable, high end color processing and display have become essential to creating scripted and live content that resonates with audiences, and AJA developed ColorBox in response to this demand. Drawing on an extensive engineering background in HDR and conversion technology, as well as third-party partnerships with experts in color science, we've delivered an unparalleled and flexible image processing toolset in this device," shared AJA President Nick Rashby. "ColorBox streamlines color management and display for environments ranging from TV, episodic, film, live event and commercial production to creative, editorial, and finishing studios, and we're thrilled to bring it to market."

Pricing and Availability

ColorBox is available today through AJA's worldwide reseller network for $1995 US MSRP with optional licenses for the BBC HLG LUT pipeline at $145 US MSRP and ORION-CONVERT pipeline at $695 US MSRP. For more details, visit: www.aja.com/colorbox

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Douglas Fearing- Co-Founder / President

A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.

Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.

Lois Fearing- Co-Founder/Accounting, Human Resources

A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.

Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.

Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.

Ehren Tresner-VP of Technology and Innovation

Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.

Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.

Ben Voeck-Director of Commercial AV

With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.

By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.

Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.

Chris Matson-Senior VP of Sales

Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.

Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.