Multi-Channel 2K/HD/SD Video I/O over Thunderbolt™ 3

• 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

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.

Thunderbolt Solutions 

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.

Explore more of our HDR Solutions here:

HDR Solutions

Io X3 is directly compatible with OBS Studio, offering a comprehensive toolkit for mixing live video and taking the program content out to streaming destinations. Io X3 again sits at the center of the workflow pictured opposite, providing the necessary video I/O for a four camera source program. Via Io X3's multi-channel support, the 4x HD cameras are connected directly to the 3G-SDI ports of the Io X3 which is connected via Thunderbolt 3 to the host PC or laptop. The host computer runs the OBS Studio software and allows you to view all incoming HD sources in a single multiview via the HDMI port to any display. Audio can be monitored via the built-in analog headphone port. The final PGM stream is output from our switched sources via the host computer.

Download Workflow

A popular way to stream for NLE and 3D modeling applications is to utilize the timeline output and offer commentary in real time as edits or models are created. Following the same base setup as the NLE workflow and by utilizing AJA’s HD streaming device, the HELO Plus, we can combine two high quality AJA devices to create an extremely robust solution. It is easy to connect a 3G-SDI output from the Io X3 to the 3G-SDI input of the HELO Plus and take the content directly from the timeline playhead to a live stream, with voiceover provided by a USB microphone. A very simple but powerful set up that can be utilized by streaming for both entertainment, remote collaboration and educational purposes, allowing viewers to better contextualize the content.

Download Workflow

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

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.

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.

Supports macOS, Windows, and Linux Ubuntu / Rocky. Please see Release Notes for details and version information which can be found in the Downloads, Software tab.

AJA’s technical support is recognized as among the best in the industry and is available to all AJA customers. If you need assistance with any aspect of your Mobile I/O installation, configuration, operation or encounter any technical issue,  AJA Support will work with you to get up and running.

Mobile I/O products are covered by a generous three year warranty. Please see the individual Product’s Manual for additional specifics around warranty conditions for the product itself.