KONA 5

New Apple M1 Chip Support
Desktop Software v16.1 and above is optimized for the new Apple M1 chip with native support for AJA macOS drivers, application plug-ins, AJA Control Room, AJA Control Panel, AJA System Test and AJA NMOS software.

Professional Connectivity:
12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0
KONA 5 boasts 4x bidirectional 12G-SDI spigots and a Reference Input directly on the card bracket. The 4x HDBNC SDI connections can be used in a wide variety of configurations to support your creative needs; use four cables simultaneously to support either 8K/UltraHD2 (via 4x 12G-SDI) or 4K/UltraHD (via 3G-SDI), alternatively use a single cable for input and a single cable for simultaneous pass-through/output for either 4K/UltraHD (via 1x 12G-, or 6G-SDI) or HD/2K (via 1x 3G-SDI, or even single/dual link 1.5G-SDI).

A full-sized HDMI 2.0 connection offers monitoring and output, with HDR , Deep Color and HFR support. Across the board, KONA 5 is the professionals choice for post, broadcast, graphics, virtual sets, pre-viz, live compositing and more.

Extended Connectivity
KONA 5 ships with an included breakout cable that offers extensive connectivity for AES, RS-422 control support and Reference:

8-Channels of AES/EBU (BNC) In

8-Channels of AES/EBU (BNC) Out

RS-422 9-pin connector for control

LTC In and Out

KONA 5 also ships with 5x HDBNC to full-size BNC “pigtails” to ensure out-of-the box compatibility with your SDI infrastructure.

Apple Mac Pro Compatible
AJA offers full compatibility for the new Apple Mac Pro, including support for AJA Control Room with Metal compatibility as well as extensive support for a range of applications. macOS support for 11.0 (Big Sur), 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave) is also offered with KONA 5.

For productions handling high resolution workflows all the way up to 8K, KONA 5* is a perfect companion for the new desktop offering multi-channel 4K and 8K support.

*Special Note for ordering KONA 5 for use with a Mac Pro 2019

HDR
HDR (High Dynamic Range) provides the ability to display a wider and richer range of colors, much brighter whites, and much deeper, darker blacks than standard signals allow. This gives your imagery a more ‘dynamic’ look and allows for natural true to life colors to be communicated to your audience.

KONA 5 HDR workflows can also benefit from AJA's Control Room application and it's companion, AJA Control Panel, which comes complete with built-in HDR test patterns. 

AJA Control Room provides VPID signaling for SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance transfer characteristics over SDI, bringing flexible output options to your KONA 5. HDMI ports that were already HDR compatible will work simultaneously, for HDR output via both SDI and HDMI.

AJA Control Room software adds support for HDR metadata capture from an incoming SDI or HDMI signal. The captured .mov video file will have embedded HDR metadata, allowing the file to be played back at its intended dynamic range.

AJA Control Room software also provides the KONA 5 with HDR Auto Playback Detection. Embedded HDR metadata in a recorded .mov file, is read and used to automatically set the HDR format on the monitor(s) connected to the KONA 5 HDMI and/or SDI outputs. Support for file-based .mov HDR outputs with metadata from Adobe Premiere Pro/Adobe Media Encoder HDR files is also available. Screening those rendered outputs is a simple and hi-quality experience with AJA Control Room. Every frame is presented in its full-quality, at the timing intended, and with the proper HDR format set correctly and automatically.

HDR NLE / VFX Software Support
Desktop Software v16 now supports HDR across more third-party professional video softwares applications than ever, including Adobe Premiere Pro 

Take advantage of HLG, PQ, HDR10 workflows in broadcast and post.

Work between 709, BT2020 and P3 with ease.

8K NLE / VFX Software Support
The latest AJA Desktop Software v16 advances 8K workflows with KONA 5 by providing native support for 8K video in Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer. KONA 5 offers the broadest video format of any AJA product, meaning you can confidently transition to larger format video workflows for Sports, eSports, Virtual Production, and other cutting-edge workflows.

For those who hop between 8K visual effects sequences and 4K live action footage, KONA 5 now also supports fast-bitfile-switching. In under 10 seconds you can flip between a KONA 5 personality tuned for 8K operations, to one dedicated to 4K and below. No waiting for firmware to update, no reboots required. Just powerful options to make your day go that bit faster and easier.

8K Capture and Playback
At a time when 8K recording devices are prohibitively expensive, unlock the next generation power of 8K capture and playback via KONA 5 and use a more cost effective workstation. Capture 8K ProRes on Windows, Linux or macOS for example, and use the file immediately in your NLE or other application of choice.

Dynamic FPGA Firmware Reconfiguration
KONA 5 now supports fast bitfile-switching. In under 10 seconds you can flip between a KONA 5 personality tuned for 8K operations, to one dedicated to 4K and below. No waiting for firmware to update, no reboots required.

4K Closed Caption Support
AJA Control Room

Supports CEA-608 or 608-in-708 via ANC extraction firmware

Avid & Adobe Plugins

All SMPTE-291 (ANC) based captions supported
Adobe Premiere supports native 708 if the raw data is available. For instance in the Adobe plug-ins we handle the case where Premiere hands us full 708 data, we just pass it through to the device.
Avid Media Composer supports active video ANC (line 21) or ANC via ANC extractor/inserter (up to UHD/4K)