ARRI ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme Announced – Up to 8x HFR via SDI, 480fps, Baseband Slow Motion

Camera News

by Nino LeitnerJuly 7^th, 2026

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ARRI has released the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme, a broadcast camera that pushes high frame rate output of up to 8x into live productions over traditional SDI, no separate high-speed camera required. It ships with permanent licenses for 8x HFR in HD or 2x in UHD, reaches 480fps in a Sensor Overdrive mode, and feeds super-slow-motion replays into the standard baseband workflow while simultaneously outputting a live program feed.

The launch is a logical next step for a camera system that CineD has followed closely over the past year, from the original ALEXA 35 Live Multicam System introduction in 2024 through its large-scale deployment at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna (watch our exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary of ARRI at Eurovision 2026 here). What the Live Xtreme adds is slow motion, and it does so by folding the high-speed capabilities already familiar from the cine world into a live signal chain that broadcast engineers, shaders, and directors can operate without changing how they work.

High frame rate over a traditional SDI workflow

The core proposition is straightforward: bring the drama of slow motion to live entertainment without breaking the baseband workflow that broadcast infrastructure is built around. The ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme comes permanently pre-installed with the existing High Speed License for ALEXA 35 and a new High Frame Rate SDI License. Combined with the ARRI LPS-1 Fiber Camera Adapter and Fiber Base Station, plus a standard slow-motion playout server such as SimplyLive or EVS, the camera outputs HFR at up to 8x in HD or 2x in UHD.

There is a sensible constraint around signal routing. Up to 4x HFR can be carried over a single SDI connector, and higher speeds are split across both SDI outputs. That keeps the whole pipeline within the SMPTE conventions that operators already know, rather than requiring an IP transport layer or a bespoke interface to move the extra data.

Frame rates, dynamic range, and the Sensor Overdrive tradeoff

For anyone who has read our coverage of the ALEXA 35 Xtreme on the cinema side, the sensor behavior here will look familiar. Frame rates up to 330fps use the camera’s full dynamic range of 17 stops (worth noting that our own ALEXA 35 Lab Test measured 15.1 stops at SNR = 2 and 16.3 stops at SNR = 1, still a benchmark result in our Camera Database). A Sensor Overdrive mode then enables frame rates up to 480fps at a reduced dynamic range of 11 stops, the same high-speed compromise the cine camera makes when it reaches for its top speeds.

Whichever frame rate is chosen for the slow-motion feed, the system simultaneously outputs a live feed for broadcast. Operators can switch between the program frame rate and HFR in real time, so a single camera position can serve both the live cut and the replay. A phase-blending feature adds control over motion blur and shutter effects in the live feed, which matters because high-speed capture and a natural-looking program image do not always want the same shutter treatment.

Why one camera for both feeds changes the math

The practical significance is that a separate high-speed camera is no longer required for the slow-motion positions. Because the HFR content comes off the same sensor as the regular feed, it carries the same ARRI look, and a consistent visual style is assured across both the live coverage and the highlight reels. Anyone who has tried to match a dedicated slow-motion rig to a broadcast chain in the grade will appreciate how much friction that removes.

Sports broadcasting is the obvious target, with indoor, outdoor, individual, and team events all in scope. ARRI points to the camera’s wide dynamic range for high-contrast environments such as winter sports, where the cinematic image quality is meant to convey the emotion of decisive moments in slow motion. Beyond sports, the company cites live concerts, where the camera’s sensitivity and latitude are pitched at dazzling stage lighting, and fashion events, where the 2x UHD output allows an element of slow motion for catwalk turns while resolving fabric colors and textures at maximum resolution. As with any ALEXA, these are ARRI’s claims about image performance, and they will be borne out in the field rather than in a press text.

The base look and creative control

With its Super 35 sensor, high dynamic range and sensitivity, and color fidelity, the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme delivers a base look that ARRI positions as its starting point rather than a fixed rendering. Users can choose looks from the ARRI Look Library, apply ARRI’s Multicam looks, or build their own LUTs, with traditional live painting still possible regardless of the look in use. That last point is the important one for a shading gallery: the cinematic pipeline does not lock out the real-time control that broadcast operators depend on.

Seamless integration is the recurring theme. When the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme is used on a live production, everyone from engineers and operators to shaders and directors works in the normal way. The LPS-1 Fiber Base Station plugs directly into the slow-motion playout server, and an HFR signal is available from the camera over a standard baseband workflow. Super-slow-motion replays are available instantly, with no need to cue up recorded material for playback.

Where it sits in the lineup, and the upgrade paths

The ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme joins the ALEXA 35 Live in ARRI’s current broadcast lineup rather than replacing it. ALEXA 35 Live cameras sold from 2026 onwards can be upgraded to Xtreme functionality by purchasing the High Speed and HFR SDI Licenses from the ARRI online shop. Pre-2026 ALEXA 35 Live cameras need a hardware upgrade, available through ARRI service centers. There are also further upgrade options that can equip ALEXA 35 cine cameras for multi-camera broadcast applications, which keeps the door open for owners who want to cross between cinema and live work.

The context here is hard to ignore. This is ARRI’s first major broadcast camera release since Thomas Riedel acquired the company, and it lands squarely in the live-production territory where Riedel’s infrastructure business already dominates. A camera built to feed slow motion into a traditional baseband chain fits the end-to-end, one-infrastructure vision that ARRI’s leadership laid out to us at NAB 2026 almost too neatly.

The ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme is available to order now, and you can find full details on the ARRI product page.

Does cinematic slow motion from a single camera change how you would light and cover a live event? We would love to hear from broadcast operators in the comments below.