Topaz Labs' Hyperion 2.5 Pushes AI Video Into Professional HDR Pipelines

Generative video models spit out 8-bit SDR files. Professional post-production pipelines demand 10-bit or 16-bit HDR. That gap is why AI footage still feels stuck in a sandbox, unable to sit next to live-action plates in Resolve or Nuke without visible banding and crushed highlights. Topaz Labs is trying to close it with Hyperion 2.5, a new AI SDR-to-HDR conversion model.

From 8-bit to broadcast-grade

Hyperion 2.5 transforms 8-bit SDR input to professional-grade 10-bit ProRes or 16-bit EXR HDR output while expanding color, luminance, and visual data. The model outputs ProRes 10-bit, EXR 16-bit, and H.265 10-bit, and supports the color spaces that actually matter in finishing: BT.2020 PQ for HDR delivery and ACES 2065-1 for VFX interchange.

The practical difference between the two color spaces comes down to the number of tonal steps the model can preserve. 8-bit gives you 256 values per channel with harsh, fixed steps. 10-bit and 16-bit deliver smooth gradients with millions of values, which is the difference between a sky that bands under a color grade and one you can push hard without artifacts.

Why this is not just a color tweak

Naive SDR-to-HDR conversion is a math operation: stretch the luminance curve, remap into a wider color space, done. The result looks like an SDR image in an HDR container. Hyperion is doing something different. Its predecessor, Hyperion 2, was described as a model that automatically redistributes luminance and color information across highlights, midtones, and shadows. The 2.5 release extends that approach and pushes it into professional deliverables.

Topaz frames Hyperion 2.5 as a workflow bridge rather than a filter. The intended pipeline looks like this:

1. Generate a still with Nano Banana or Midjourney
2. Image-to-video with Seedance, Veo, Kling, or Runway
3. Edit in Premiere, Resolve, or Final Cut
4. Upscale via Astra or Topaz Video
5. Convert to HDR with Hyperion 2.5 (10-bit ProRes or 16-bit EXR)
6. Send to Nuke or After Effects for VFX and CGI
7. Finish and color grade in Resolve or Baselight

What it is good at, and what it is not

Based on Topaz's own positioning and independent reviews, Hyperion sits in a specific niche. Hyperion 2 is currently the best model to convert from SDR to HDR. It can output 10-bit ProRes or 16-bit EXR. Reviewers describe its predecessor as automatically converting SDR video to HDR , redistributing luminance and color while improving text, small faces, and fast motion.

What it will not do:

• It is not an upscaler. If you need higher resolution or texture recovery on GenAI faces, Topaz recommends chaining Starlight Precise 2.5 first, then running Hyperion for HDR.
• It is not designed for long continuous scenes with hard cuts inside a single render. Topaz's own support recommends scene splitting for tricky footage.
• It does not fix source-level compression artifacts, contrast crush, or blown highlights that were already lost in the 8-bit master.

Availability and pricing

Hyperion 2.5 is available now in Astra, Topaz's cloud video product, and is coming to the desktop Topaz Video app. Astra Standard runs $19 per month promotional pricing (regularly $39), which includes 400 credits per month, 4K output, and 2-video concurrency, with additional credits at $0.10 each. Heavier users can move up to Plus at $99/mo (1400 credits) or Pro at $299/mo (5400 credits).

The bigger shift

Diffusion video models have gotten remarkable at generating plausible motion, but the industry has quietly accepted an unspoken ceiling: their output belongs on the web, not on a color-graded timeline destined for a spec-sheet deliverable. Hyperion 2.5 is a bet that the bit-depth ceiling is a solvable ML problem, not a fundamental limitation of generative video. If it holds up under real colorist scrutiny in Astra and later Topaz Video, the pipeline for mixing AI plates with live action gets a lot shorter.