Upscale HD SDR to 4K HDR10 with Pixop Deep Restoration 2 Fine-tuning and Pixop InfinteHDR

When to Use This Recipe

Use this processing recipe when:

Your source footage is HD SDR (e.g., 1080p or 720p, progressive).
You want to produce a UHD (4K) HDR10 deliverable (800 nits) with minimal manual configuration.
You need:
- AI-powered detail restoration via Pixop Deep Restoration 2 Fine-tuning, which upscales footage without deblurring or denoising, preserving fine details and texture, while injecting realistic details into lossy compressed footage.
- ML-powered inverse tone-mapping via Pixop InfinteHDR, which performs automatic SDR to HDR expansion, while compensating for over-exposure.
- Built-in color-space conversion from SDR (Rec.709) → HDR10 (Rec.2020 / SMPTE2084).
- A 10-bit HEVC-encoded file in a MOV container.

Recommended Configuration

Pixop provides a built-in configuration that includes all required filters and settings. Simply reference confId: 5a76dfdd-ab15-4137-b919-e7a0f256a5d6. You can view this built-in config directly in our API Reference:
Retrieve video processing configuration details (ReplaceconfId with 5a76dfdd-ab15-4137-b919-e7a0f256a5d6.)

How to Use This Recipe

Ensure you have a valid API key (X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY). See our Quick Start Guide for details.

Import your source video (if not already imported) from S3 or HTTPS. Example (HTTPS import):

curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.pixop.com/api/v1/videos/in/https \
     --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '
{
  "name": "My Video",
  "url": "https://example.com/myvideo.mp4"
}
'

Start the processing job, using the SOURCE_VIDEO_ID and referencing the built-in confId: 5a76dfdd-ab15-4137-b919-e7a0f256a5d6:
```
curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.pixop.com/api/v1/videos/SOURCE_VIDEO_ID/processing/start/5a76dfdd-ab15-4137-b919-e7a0f256a5d6?startPosMs=0&endPosMs=10000' \
  --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --header 'accept: application/json'
```
The startPosMs and endPosMs parameters limit processing to the first 10 seconds. We recommend testing on short clips to keep costs down; to process the entire video, simply remove these parameters.

Monitor the job status by polling the Video Processing Status endpoint until the status updates to DONE:

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.pixop.com/api/v1/videos/TARGET_VIDEO_ID/processing/status \
  --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --header 'accept: application/json'

Alternatively, you can create a webhook to receive status updates.

Export the processed 4K HDR10 file to S3 or download it via HTTPS. Example (HTTPS download):

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.pixop.com/api/v1/videos/TARGET_VIDEO_ID/out/https \
  --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --header 'accept: application/json'

Full API usage details are available in our API Reference and Quick Start Guide.

Output Example

Container: MOV
Codec: HEVC (H.265), 10-bit (4:2:0)
Resolution: 3840×2160 (UHD 4K)
Color Space: BT.2020, SMPTE2084 (HDR10), limited range, mastering display (800 nits)
Filter: DVRES2 (Pixop Deep Restoration 2 Fine-tuning)
Inverse Tone-Mapper: INFINTEHDR (Pixop InfiniteHDR)

Below is a sample workflow diagram (for illustration only):

flowchart TB
    A(["<b>HD SDR Video</b><br/>(1080p or 720p, AVC 8-bit, Rec.709)"])
    A -->|"Import (S3 or HTTPS)"| B["<b>Pixop Processing Job</b><br/>(“HQ live action, enhanced, 4K, HDR10“ built-in config)"]
    B -->|"Export (S3 or HTTPS download)"| C(["<b>4K HDR10 Deliverable</b><br/>(3840×2160, HEVC 10-bit, BT.2020 / SMPTE2084)"])

Tips & Considerations

Processing Time: Pixop Deep Restoration 2 (DVRES2) Fine-tuning combined with Pixop InfiniteHDR and 10-bit HEVC encoding increases job duration, so allow extra time compared to simple upscaling.
Source Quality: Best results come from clean, well-produced HD SDR masters. Heavy noise, compression artifacts and over-exposure may limit HDR mapping quality.
Color-Space Metadata: The built-in config includes mastering display data, Maximum Content Light Level (Max CLL), and Maximum Frame Average Light Level (Max FALL) for 800 nits. If you need different HDR parameters, consider creating a custom configuration (see below).

Custom Configs: To tweak HDR metadata (e.g., Max FALL, Max CLL) or use a different tone-mapping algorithm, modify this JSON (copied from the built-in config), and then call:

curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.pixop.com/api/v1/processing-configurations \
     --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '
{
  "name": "Custom: HQ live action, enhanced, 4K, HDR10",
  "description": "Custom: Upscaling to 4K resolution for high-quality live action and 800 nits HDR10 upconversion.",
  "options": {
    "encodingConfiguration": {
      "codec": "HEVC",
      "pixelFormat": {
        "yuv": "4:2:0",
        "bitDepth": 10
      }
    },
    "container": "MOV",
    "filters": {
      "scaler": "DVRES2"
    },
    "filterSettings": {
      "dvres2Variant": "FINE_TUNING",
      "resolution": {
        "tag": "UHD_4K",
        "aspectRatioTag": "DISPLAY"
      }
    },
    "processingSettings": {
      "outputColorSpaceConversion": {
        "mappingMode": "STRICT_USER",
        "colorProfile": {
          "colorSpace": "BT2020NC",
          "colorPrimaries": "BT2020",
          "transferCharacteristics": "SMPTE2084",
          "colorRange": "LIMITED",
          "hdrFormat": "HDR10",
          "masteringDisplay": {
            "red": { "x": 0.68,  "y": 0.32 },
            "green": { "x": 0.265, "y": 0.69 },
            "blue": { "x": 0.15,  "y": 0.06 },
            "whitePoint": { "x": 0.3127, "y": 0.329 }
          },
          "maxCll": 800,
          "maxFall": 200
        },
        "metadataOnly": false,
        "inverseToneMapper": {
          "algorithm": "INFINITEHDR",
          "outputNits": 800,
          "saturationBoost": 1.25
        }
      },
      "outputScanning": "AUTO"
    }
  }
}
'

Then supply your new confId instead of the built-in one.