Beeble launches SwitchHDR to reconstruct HDR from SDR footage

Beeble's SwitchHDR reconstructs 16-bit HDR video from standard SDR footage, using AI trained on real HDR data rather than automatic tone mapping.

While the use of AI in the production chain remains controversial among many, one thing we can all agree AI does well is upscaling. Even something as simple as creating header images for stories here on RedShark has become hugely easier since AI tools meant you could basically take even images half the size you wanted and scale them up without loss of fidelity.

SwitchHDR from Beeble does a similar thing, only reconstructing HDR imagery from standard SDR video, producing scene-linear 16-bit EXR sequences with native ACES support.

Plausible reconstruction

The company explains that conventional SDR-to-HDR methods can only redistribute the dynamic range already present in a clipped or compressed signal, often introducing banding, noise, and other artefacts as a result. SwitchHDR is trained on real HDR footage rather than synthetic or tone-mapped approximations, allowing it to reconstruct a plausible HDR representation instead of stretching the existing SDR signal. It rebuilds highlight and shadow detail, suppresses shadow noise, and maintains temporal consistency across full video sequences.

Users can define highlight and shadow regions using luminance masks and guide reconstruction in each region with separate text prompts. The rest of the image passes through unprocessed, without AI reconstruction. Output is delivered as scene-linear 16-bit EXR sequences in ACES2065-1 (AP0), for direct use in grading, compositing, and VFX pipelines.

Pricing and availability 

SwitchHDR is available now through the Beeble web application. Its rollout is currently confined to the pro tiers where pricing starts at $16/month billed annually.