What's the difference between the AJA Kona boards?

The AJA Kona series of capture cards allow you to ingest footage from a variety of formats and if needed, convert them to other formats for editing. For instance, you can convert any SDI signal to ProRes or any HD-SDI signal to ProRes or DVCPro HD. Here are the basic differences between the various Kona Boards.

One feature of the Kona boards that is not widely recognized is the "Input Pass-Through" mode. All Kona boards have this feature and allows you to use the board as a hardware format converter without the need to pass the video through Final Cut Pro. For instance, you can dub HD material directly to DVCAM or Beta by downconverting it through the Kona and passing the video directly from the HD deck to the SD deck. You can continue using the computer for whatever you need while this process is taking place, it's all happening in the hardware without the need for any software.

All Kona boards have RS-422 included.

Kona 3: This is a PCIe card for the G5 Quad 2.5 and all Mac Pros.

Allows realtime SD to HD Up-conversion, HD to SD Down-conversion, HD Cross-conversion (720 to 1080 and 1080 to 720)

This card has Digital Inputs ONLY. AES/EBU/SDI for Audio. SDI (HD/SD) for Video.

This card has Digital and Analog Outputs. AES/EBU/SDI/RCA for Audio. SDI (HD/SD), Component, Composite for Video.


Kona 3X: This is the PCI-X version of the Kona 3 for older model G5's.


Kona LHe: This is a PCIe card for the G5 Quad 2.5 and all Mac Pros.

Allows realtime HD to SD Downconversion.

This card has Analog and Digital Inputs. AES/SDI/XLR for Audio. SDI (HD/SD), Component, Composite, S-Video for Video.

This card has Analog and Digital Outputs. AES/SDI/XLR/RCA for Audio. SDI (HD/SD), Component, Composite, S-Video for Video.


Kona LH: This is the PCI-X version of the Kona LHe for older model G5's.


Kona LSe: This is a PCIe card for the G5 Quad 2.5 and all Mac Pros.

This is a Standard Definition version of the LHe. Same inputs and outputs as the LHe, but all SD only.


Kona LS: This is the PCI-X version of the LSe for older model G5's.


Kona Breakout Boxes: The breakout boxes are generally a $299 upgrade for all the Kona cards and are highly recommended. The cards come standard with a snake of cables that can be a bit messy. The K-Box gives you a very clean box to connect all your equipment.