LTX vs. Beeble — AI SDR to HDR Conversion Compared (2026)
Generative SDR-to-HDR, sometimes called inverse tone mapping (ITM) or HDR reconstruction, is a new category. Instead of tone-curve tricks, a video model infers the high-dynamic-range scene the footage came from, reconstructing plausible detail inside blown-out highlights and crushed shadows, and hands you scene-linear HDR frames a colorist can grade. As of July 2026 there are two leading generative options for converting SDR footage to HDR: Lightricks' LTX SDR-to-HDR (an in-context LoRA for the LTX video model) and Beeble's SDR to HDR, built on Beeble's proprietary SwitchHDR model.
We ran the same source clips through both models and report the detailed Beeble vs. LTX results below.
| Feature | LTX | Beeble |
|---|---|---|
| Linear HDR (EXR) output | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Dynamic range reconstructedside-by-side at −6 EV in Resolve, Beeble retains markedly more highlight detail | ◐ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| ACES (AP0) color spaceLTX outputs linear Rec.709/sRGB only | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Highlight / shadow threshold control | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Prompt-guided reconstruction | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Processing speedLTX: minutes; Beeble: ~10 min for a max-length clip | ✓ Yes | ◐ Partial |
| Clip lengthLTX's cap is tiered by resolution: 181 frames at 1080p, 101 at 1440p, 41 at 4K. Beeble's 240 applies at its full 1080p output | 181 frames | 240 frames |
| Max output resolution4K support coming to Beeble later in 2026 | Up to 1440p | Up to 1080p |
Feature parity as of July 2026; both models are moving fast, so treat time-stamped claims accordingly.
Dynamic range reconstruction
The reason to run SDR footage through an HDR model at all is to rebuild the light the camera clipped, and this is where the two models differ most. One thing to be clear about up front: once a highlight clips, the original radiance is gone from the file, and no tool retrieves it, Beeble's included. Both models infer a plausible scene-linear reconstruction, informed by how light behaves in real high-dynamic-range footage. The practical question is whose reconstruction holds up when you grade into it.
In our side-by-side tests we pulled both EXR sequences down 6 stops with the HDR wheels in DaVinci Resolve. Beeble's SwitchHDR output holds recoverable detail deep into the highlights where LTX's has already flattened out. Car headlights, practical lights, bright skies: pushed down in the grade, Beeble's frames keep resolving structure while LTX's clip earlier.
How much this matters depends on how hard you plan to grade. For a light touch, both models deliver. If you are rescuing a blown-out window or relighting around a practical, the extra stops of reconstructed range decide whether the pass is usable.
Processing speed
Lightricks' LTX is the faster of the two. A 181-frame clip processes in a couple of minutes, while a 240-frame clip on Beeble takes around ten. If you process a high volume of clips and keep what works, that difference adds up.
Control over the HDR result
LTX's tool is a single shot: upload, preview a frame with an exposure control, download. Nothing lets you influence the reconstruction itself. What the model treats as a highlight worth rebuilding isn't up to you.
Beeble treats SDR-to-HDR as a pass you direct. You set the highlight and shadow thresholds that decide what the model treats as clipped, with a live mask overlay and per-frame scrubbing to check coverage anywhere in the clip. You can write prompts to guide what gets reconstructed inside the blown-out regions ("the sky behind the building is a sunset gradient"), or let the Suggest button draft them from your footage. You can pin a seed to reproduce a result across iterations. And before downloading anything, you preview the output in the browser as a −2 / 0 / +2 EV bracket, so you know what the grade will find before the EXRs land on disk.
For a one-off clip this is a convenience. Across a project, it means you can iterate on a shot instead of re-running and hoping.
Color science and pipeline fit
LTX outputs linear Rec.709/sRGB EXRs. That is real linear HDR data and it works. Beeble outputs ACES (AP0) by default, the interchange standard film and VFX pipelines are built around, with FPS metadata stamped into the EXR sequence. Either way you set an input transform on import. With Beeble's frames it's the one an ACES pipeline already expects.
On clip length, Beeble processes up to 240 frames per run against LTX's 181, which at 24 fps is ten seconds versus about seven and a half. Resolution runs the other way: LTX outputs up to 1440p, while Beeble tops out at 1080p today, with 4K support coming later in 2026. Note that LTX's resolution and clip length trade off against each other: the 181-frame cap holds at 1080p and drops to 101 frames at 1440p and 41 at 4K. If your delivery is native 4K and upscaling isn't acceptable, that is a real constraint on Beeble today.
Choose LTX if
- You need turnaround in minutes and are processing a high volume of clips.
- You need output above 1080p today.
- A single-shot workflow (upload, check exposure in the preview, download) fits how you work.
Choose Beeble if
- You need the most recoverable dynamic range, with highlights and shadows that hold up under a real grade.
- Your pipeline runs on ACES, or you'd rather not hand-manage color from linear Rec.709/sRGB.
- You want to steer the result with threshold masks, reconstruction prompts, and seeds instead of re-running and hoping.
- Your clips run longer than 181 frames, or you want the pass alongside relighting, alpha, and VFX passes in one toolset.
Do LTX and Beeble both output real HDR?
Yes. Both produce linear floating-point EXR frames with reconstructed highlight and shadow detail, not a tone-mapped 8-bit approximation. Neither model retrieves data destroyed by clipping; both infer plausible detail. The difference is in how much usable range the reconstruction gives you (Beeble's holds up further into the highlights and shadows) and the color space it arrives in (Beeble outputs ACES AP0; LTX outputs linear Rec.709/sRGB).
Can I control what the AI reconstructs?
On Beeble's SDR to HDR (the SwitchHDR model), yes: you set highlight/shadow thresholds with a live mask preview, write prompts describing what should be reconstructed in clipped regions, and fix a seed for reproducibility. LTX's tool lets you preview a single frame and adjust exposure, but exposes no controls over the reconstruction itself as of July 2026.
What resolution can each output?
As of July 2026, LTX outputs up to 1440p and Beeble up to 1080p, with 4K support coming to Beeble later in 2026. Clip length caps per run: 240 frames on Beeble at 1080p; LTX's cap is tiered with resolution, 181 frames at 1080p and shorter at higher resolutions.