AJA Io X3 is a portable video I/O device with 3G-SDI, HDMI, and audio connections, connected to your computer via Thunderbolt 3. It's perfect for high quality HDR or SDR video work with up to 60p HD/2K signals, or files with support for all major NLE applications as well as other video applications such as OBS Studio, vMix, and Telestream Wirecast. Connecting with a single Thunderbolt 3 (Thunderbolt 4 compatible) cable and providing a second Thunderbolt connector for flexibility, Io X3's compact and quiet form factor is ideal for on-set, in the studio, at an event, or in the edit suite.

Features

• 2K/HD/SD I/O up to 50/60p 
• 4x bidirectional 3G-SDI BNC with 16-channel embedded audio 
• HDMI I/O with 8-channel embedded audio 
• Two Thunderbolt 3 (Thunderbolt 4 compatible) ports with loop through 
• Multi-channel workflow support for OBS, Wirecast, vMix, and other applications
• YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit up to 60p 
• RGB 4:4:4 12-bit up to 30p
• VPID signaling for SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry, and Luminance via SDI
• PQ, HLG, HDR10 and Dolby Vision Support 
• HDR Metadata Capture and Auto Playback Detection
• Multiview output over HDMI, to view up to 4-channels on one screen
• Analog audio flexibility with a choice of 8-channel In or 8-channel Out or 4-channel In and 4-channel Out via a standard Tascam connection
• Front panel audio display
• Includes support for Apple silicon
• XLR 12V power for battery or AC use (AC adapter included)
• Headphone jack and level control for mobile and live environments
• RS-422 VTR control, Reference, LTC Input and LTC Output

Versatile and Practical Connectivity

The Io X3 rear panel offers a wealth of easy to access connectivity for almost any need in SD/HD/2K video pipelines. Power is supplied via industry standard 4-pin XLR with either the included AC adapter or battery power. Dual Thunderbolt 3 (Thunderbolt 4 compatible) ports provide host connectivity to a laptop, desktop PC, or Mac, with the second port for loop through to other Thunderbolt devices. RS-422 is included for machine control of external devices so they can be synchronized for editing. Analog audio is offered via a DB-25 port, with all 8-channels configurable to be in or out. HDMI in and out ports allow for easy monitoring or video input sources to be accessed, including HDR and SDR video. Reference input connects the Io X3 to any master clock source alongside LTC input and output for timecode. Finally, 4x bidirectional 3G-SDI ports can be configured as multi-channel inputs or outputs to suit the video application of choice, offering immense flexibility in the field, editing suite or on-set.

Thunderbolt Connectivity
Simple to set up and use, Io X3’s Thunderbolt 3 ports (also compatible with Thunderbolt 4) easily connect to a wide range of Apple, Windows, and Linux laptops and desktops, providing instant professional video and audio I/O from your favorite creative application.

Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports allow convenient daisy-chaining of other devices on the same Thunderbolt connection.

Thunderbolt is ubiquitous across both Mac, Windows, and Linux computers and supports the massive bandwidth needed for professional video, audio, data, and more.

HDR
HDR or 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.

Io X3 provides this support for your 2K and HD HDR pipelines to HDMI and SDI compatible displays with HLG and HDR10 support with HDR Infoframe metadata, in accordance with HDMI 2.0a/CTA-861.3 and HD.

AJA Control Room software and Io X3 add 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 and Io X3 Plus also provide 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 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 high 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.

Integrated Digital Audio, Analog Audio Flexibility
Embedded 16-channel SDI and 8-channel HDMI audio are supported, as well as, analog audio inputs, outputs, or both via a standard Tascam DB-25 connection.

Stereo monitoring is also possible with a front panel 3.5mm mini-TRS headphone jack.

The flexible analog audio I/O can be configured to record voiceovers and more with the ability to choose how the DB-25 connection on Io X3 is configured:

8-channel, 24 and 16-bit D/A analog audio, 48 kHz sample rate, balanced, using industry standard 8x XLR or TRS on DB-25 breakout cable (cable not included)

Balanced Analog Audio I/O:
Input across Ch. 1-8, Ch. 1-4, or Ch. 5-8
Output across Ch. 1-8, Ch. 1-4, or Ch. 5-8

High Density, Rackmountable
Io X3's compact design offers easy rackmounting, allowing for two Io X3 devices to sit comfortably in just 1RU. This allows for high channel density for up to 8-channels of fully configurable video I/O for applications such as OBS Studio.

Multiview Output
Io X3 offers multi-channel I/O, and the HDMI output port can display all of these sources to one display. Io X3 is fully compatible with OBS Studio software with multiview output offered for clear monitoring of incoming or outgoing video via the convenient HDMI output. OBS Studio can be configured with Io X3 to make monitoring easy, all from a single I/O device.

Sync Up
Io X3 can be locked to an external reference for integration into larger productions, or feed LTC in and out to ensure footage captured with Io X3 has the proper timecode. The REF in port ensures reference sync with other synched devices in a facility.

Machine Control
An RS-422 port allows control of tape decks for frame accurate captures and layoffs.

Apple silicon Support
AJA Desktop Software is optimized for the latest Apple silicon with native support for AJA macOS drivers, application plug-ins, AJA Control Room, AJA Control Panel, and AJA System Test.

Io X3 Operating Systems Compatibilities
Macs with Intel processors or Apple silicon running macOS 13.x (Ventura) or later. It also supports older versions of macOS with Intel processors, from macOS 11.x (Big Sur). Hardware must have support for Thunderbolt 3 or later.

Windows 11, 10, and updates.

Linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Rocky Linux versions 8.5 to 8.9 and 9.0 to 9.3.

Extensive Software Support
AJA hardware is supported by an extensive list of professional software for editing, visual effects, graphics, and more allowing the same AJA device to be used by many different applications on the same system. In addition, AJA provides several free applications that enable you to utilize the power of your AJA hardware even without having to run a particular software package. This allows you to create unique workflows without tying up valuable resources unnecessarily.

Tech Specs

Video Formats
(2K) 2048 x 1080p 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94, 60
(2K) 2048 x 1080PsF 23.98, 24, 25
(HD) 1080p 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60
(HD) 1080PsF 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30
(HD) 1080i 50, 59.94, 60
(HD) 720p 50, 59.94, 60
(SD) 625i 50
(SD) 525i 59.94
Note: High Frame Rate support is dependent on Thunderbolt speed and system performance. Not all host systems will support all frame rates.

Video Input Digital
3G-SDI, SMPTE 425: RGB 4:4:4 12-bit*, YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
1.5G-SDI, SMPTE 292M: Single Link HD-SDI YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
270 Mbps SDI, SMPTE 259M-C: YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit, 8-bit
HDMI v1.4b: 30/36-bits/pixel, RGB or YUV, 2.25 Gbps , 2K, HD, and SD 
*Bit depth support is application dependent. Check with your software manufacturer for compatibility.

Video Output Digital
3G-SDI, SMPTE 425: RGB 4:4:4 12-bit*, YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
1.5G-SDI, SMPTE 292M: Single Link HD-SDI YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
270 Mbps SDI, SMPTE 259M-C: YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit, 8-bit
HDMI v1.4b: 30/36-bits/pixel, RGB or YUV, 2.25 Gbps , 2K, HD, and SD with HFR support up to 60p (4:2:2), 10-bit
*Bit depth support is application dependent. Check with your software manufacturer for compatibility.

HDR
SDI: VPID signaling for SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics
HDMI: HDR10 Support - HDR Infoframe metadata, compatible with HDMI 2.0a/CTA-861.3
HDMI: HLG Support - compatible with HDMI 2.0b/CTA-861-G 
Note: HDR support is application dependent. Check with your software manufacturer for compatibility.

Audio Input Digital
16-channel, 16 and 24-bit SMPTE-259 SDI embedded audio, 48 kHz sample rate, synchronous
8-channel, 16 and 24-bit HDMI embedded audio, 48 kHz sample rate, synchronous

Audio Output Digital
16-channel, 16 and 24-bit SMPTE-259 SDI embedded audio, 48 kHz sample rate, synchronous
8-channel, 16 and 24-bit HDMI embedded audio, 48 kHz sample rate, synchronous

Audio Input Analog
8-channel, 24 and 16-bit D/A analog audio, 48 kHz sample rate, balanced, using industry standard 8x XLR on DB-25 breakout cable (cable not included)
+24 dBu full scale digital (0 dBFS)
+/- 0.2 dB 20 to 20 kHz frequency response
Input supported across Ch 1-8, Ch 1-4, or Ch 5-8 depending on configuration chosen

Audio Output Analog
8-channel, 24-bit D/A analog audio, 48 kHz sample rate, balanced, using industry standard 8x XLR on DB-25 breakout cable (cable not included)
+24 dBu full scale digital (0 dBFS)
+/- 0.2 dB 20 to 20 kHz frequency response
Output supported across Ch 1-8, Ch 1-4, or Ch 5-8 depending on configuration chosen
2-channel, 18-bit D/A analog audio, 48 kHz sample rate, unbalanced, using standard 3.5mm jack
1.2V RMS full scale digital output level (0 dBFS)

Downstream Keyer
Supports graphics up to 2K/HD with alpha channel over video, matte or framebuffer, or framebuffer content over incoming video or matte

LTC
1x BNC LTC input (dedicated)
1x BNC LTC output (dedicated)

Reference
1x BNC (dedicated)
Analog Color Black (1V) or Composite Sync (2 or 4V)
Nonterminating

Electrical Interface
Thunderbolt 3 (2x)

Machine Control
RS-422, Sony 9-pin protocol
9-pin D-connector pinout is as follows:
1 GND
2 RX-
3 TX+
4 GND
5 No Connection
6 GND
7 RX+
8 TX-
9 GND
Shell GND

Size (w x d x h): 8.74" x 7.09" x 1.65" (222.0 x 180.09 x 41.91 mm)
Weight: 3.1 lbs. (1.5 kg)
Power: 10-20V, 23W typical, 28W max

Environment
Safe Operating Temperature Range: 0 to 35 C (32 to 95 F)
Safe Storage Temperature (Power OFF): -40 to 60 C (-40 to 140 F)
Operating Relative Humidity: 10-90% noncondensing
Operating Altitude: <3,000 meters (<10,000 feet)