Install on your PC
One 127 MB download for Windows 10 or 11. The installer brings the runtime it needs, so there is nothing else to fetch.
Free · Open source · Home cinema video processor
Cinema-grade HDR tone mapping.
Open source. Real time.
Unplugged bridges the gap — scene-by-scene tone mapping, three ML models, and a picture you can actually tune. Free, open source, runs on your HTPC.
Windows 10/11 · 127 MB · No subscription · No account
“Unplugged + Zion on default settings looked better than my tuned madVR setup.” — AVS Forum user
Works with
Unencrypted HDMIPC & camera outputProjectorsOLED & QLED TVsMKV & MP4
Plug in and play
Three steps to a better picture.
No subscription, no cloud account, no installer labyrinth. Set it up once and leave it alone.
Point it at your movie library
Media Player mode needs no capture card. Open your films, choose a track and watch — MKV, MP4, HEVC and TrueHD/Atmos are handled natively.
Add live HDMI
When you want consoles, cameras or PC output, add a DeckLink card and Blackmagic's Desktop Video runtime. Unplugged locks the signal and applies the tone map and grade.
Live HDMI needs an unencrypted source and Blackmagic's free Desktop Video runtime, installed separately — Unplugged does not bundle it. Most people start with Media Player mode and add a capture card later.
One video processor, every source
Live TV, movies and games — one picture.
An unencrypted HDMI source and a file on disk get the same tone mapping, the same picture controls and the same calibration. The only difference is where the picture comes from.
Picture pipeline
DeckLink · files
01
HDMI input4K HDR10 · HLG · Dolby Vision
Live
02
Tone mappingUnplugged default · GT7 Adapt
2 curves
03
Zion GradeShadow · mid-tone · highlight
3 models
04
CalibrationOptional DisplayCAL .cube
Final pass
05
DisplayBT.709 SDR · your measured target
Out
The same five stages run for live HDMI and files.
An unencrypted HDMI source — just press play
Plug an unencrypted source into the PC and Unplugged takes it from there. SDR, HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are recognised automatically.
- 4K HDR from an unencrypted source you control
- Name your inputs: Camera, PC, Console
- Switch sources in one click, without leaving the picture
Your movie library, the same great picture
Play your own films with the same renderer, the same tone mapping and the same calibration as live HDMI.
- MKV, MP4 and the usual formats; HEVC and AVC video
- TrueHD/Atmos, DTS-HD and AC-3; bitstream or PCM
- SRT, ASS, SSA, PGS and VobSub subtitles, right in the picture
- A library with posters, ratings and episode artwork
Video Processor or Media Player?
Both modes run the same picture pipeline. The difference is where the picture comes from.
| Choose your setup | Video Processor | Media Player |
|---|---|---|
| Picture source | Live HDMI from an unencrypted source | Your own MKV, MP4 and similar files |
| Capture hardware | DeckLink card + Desktop Video runtime | None |
| Best for | Consoles, cameras, PC output | Films you already own |
| Picture pipeline | Tone mapping · Zion Grade · LUT | The same pipeline |
| Setup | Pick the input once | Point it at a folder |
How Unplugged compares
Different approach. Different price.
The dedicated processors are mature, and they lead on turnkey hardware, latency, geometry and dealer support. Unplugged leads on learned grading, price and openness. Here is the honest split.
| Choose your setup | Unplugged | madVR Envy | Lumagen Radiance Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (GPL-3.0) | From ~$5,000 (Core); Extreme higher | From ~£5,000 (4242); config-dependent |
| Tone mapping | Base curve + ML scene-by-scene correction | Per-frame dynamic tone mapping | Per-frame dynamic tone mapping |
| ML grade | Zion: 3 models, 1,700 trees | No learned grade | No learned grade |
| NLS | Dual-axis, split, centre protection | NLS+ dual-axis | NLS |
| Open source | GPL-3.0 | Closed | Closed |
| Calibration | DisplayCAL .cube final pass | 3D LUT calibration | CMS + 3D LUT |
| Hardware | Windows HTPC + DeckLink for live HDMI | Dedicated box, NVIDIA GPU | Dedicated FPGA box |
| Best at | Price, openness, learned grade | Turnkey setup, dedicated latency, geometry tools | Turnkey setup, auto aspect, CMS depth |
Competitor information is indicative as of November 2026; prices and features are dealer- and region-dependent. Verify with the vendor. madVR Envy and Lumagen Radiance Pro are trademarks of their respective owners; unplugged is not affiliated.
Dynamic tone mapping
HDR that looks right on your screen.
HDR is mastered for a cinema screen. Unplugged maps it, scene by scene, to the brightness and black level your projector or TV actually has — so you see the detail instead of clipped whites and crushed shadows.
Scene-by-scene tone mapping
Every scene is measured and mapped for your display. Skies keep their gradient, shadows keep their texture, and bright highlights roll off instead of clipping.
Two tone curves, one decision
Unplugged uses a Hable filmic roll-off: highlights compress instead of clipping, and Dolby Vision is handled by default. GT7 Adapt reads the title's own peak brightness for a second flavour. Pick one, or A/B them live.
Easy picture controls
Exposure, shadow detail and contrast. Every slider starts neutral — move it only when you want to, and a look you like stays put.
Made for your screen
Tell Unplugged your screen's measured brightness and black level once. Every film is then mapped into the range your projector or TV can actually show.
Calibrated to your panel
Load a DisplayCAL .cube as a final polish. Use the enable toggle to compare it without unloading the file.
Clean-up that stays subtle
Deband smooths the steps in skies and dark walls. Adaptive sharpen adds detail without white halos. Both stay out of the way of the film.
The Zion Grade
A colourist's eye, running in real time.
The Zion Grade uses three real-time machine-learning models to read every frame and decide how shadow, mid-tone and highlight should be shaped. Where a traditional processor sets a curve once per title, Zion shifts the balance scene by scene — a dark interior followed by a bright exterior gets a different grade, automatically.
- Three models, every frame. Shadow, mid-tone and highlight are judged together rather than one at a time.
- Auto by default. Leave it on Auto and the grade follows the scene; switch to Manual when you want the last word.
- Tuned by you, not baked in. Exposure, shadow detail and contrast sit on top and return to an exact no-op at zero.
3 models · 1,700 trees · 88 features per frame · metadata-free model inference
Live HDMI
Plug in. Lock on. Press play.
Unplugged handles the handshake, the format changes and the odd unplugged cable. Your unencrypted HDMI source just works.
- Reconnects itself. Brief signal dropouts are handled automatically — no manual reconnection — and a source switching from SDR to HDR mid-session is followed automatically.
- Name your inputs. “Camera”, “PC”, “Console” — your names, everywhere the input appears.
- One-click switching. Move between sources without leaving the picture.
- Built for live, not files. No read-ahead buffer, and late frames are dropped rather than queued.
SourceSignal
CameraDeckLink Quad PCIe · HDMI
Locked · HDR PQ
Games consoleDeckLink Quad PCIe · HDMI
Locked · SDR
PC outputDeckLink Quad PCIe · HDMI
No signal
Scope screens and projectors
No black bars. No cropped picture.
A 2.39:1 film on your 16:9 screen wastes 25% of the picture area on black. Crop alone loses the edges. Stretch alone distorts faces. Unplugged splits the correction across both axes — the same dual-axis approach found in high-end video processors.
- Choose how much to fill. 0–100% of the bars gone. Half the bars costs half the distortion.
- Share the stretch. Horizontal, vertical or split. At 50/50, a 24% correction becomes about 12% each way.
- Protect the centre. Keep the middle of the picture uniform and push the correction into the rim.
- See the cost. The Warp/Crop readout shows what the current settings are doing. N toggles it for an A/B.
Free and open source
No subscription. No licence key. No waitlist.
Unplugged is an open research project and GPL-3.0 software. Download it, install it, keep it. The source is public, so you can see exactly what your picture is doing.
- Settings survive updates and reinstalls. A tuned picture is never the price of an upgrade.
- Presets save themselves. Five ready presets are created on first run; switching is immediate and stays open to compare.
- Updates notify only. Once a day the app can ask GitHub whether a newer release exists. Nothing installs itself, and the check can be turned off.
- No account. The download is the whole transaction.
Unplugged began as an open research project on the Windows HTPC: how much of a colorist's grade can be learned from the image itself? It is maintained in public by spedagadi. Questions, build logs and bug reports are welcome in the issue tracker.
Built in public
The proof is in the repository.
Unplugged is new, so there is no decade of awards to show. There is source code, a release history and a reference rig you can inspect.
77release downloads since 17 October 2026
6releases since 17 October 2026
4public repositories
GPL-3.0open source, not source-available
127 MBsingle native installer
3ML models in the Zion Grade
Counts from GitHub on 4 November 2026. See every release on GitHub →
The bigger picture
A PC today. A single box tomorrow.
Unplugged is an open research project with a simple question: if a modern 4K chip can run dynamic tone mapping, an ML grade and full playback at once, why should a video processor cost what it does?
Windows HTPC
The reference implementation: live HDMI, media player, the Zion Grade and calibration on Windows 10 or 11.
Osiris
A standalone ARM board with HDMI input — the same pipeline in a small box, with no PC in the chain.
COM object
A standalone COM wrapper for the grade engine, so third-party DirectX players can call it without the full filter.
Roadmap items are future work, not shipped features.
Before you install
What you need — and what it won't do.
What you need
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Tested on an RTX 4070.
- A Blackmagic DeckLink card for live HDMI. DeckLink Quad PCIe and Mini Recorder 4K are confirmed; movie playback needs no card.
- Blackmagic Desktop Video runtime. Download and install it from Blackmagic's support portal before live use; Unplugged does not bundle it.
- An unencrypted HDMI signal. DeckLink inputs do not accept HDCP-encrypted sources, and Unplugged does not decrypt or bypass HDCP.
- 127 MB of disk. The installer carries the Visual C++ runtime and installs it silently when it is missing.
Stated limits
- Windows for now.
- HDCP-encrypted HDMI is not supported. Unplugged does not decrypt or bypass it; use sources you are authorized to capture.
- No ISO or BDMV folder playback. Rip to a file first.
- Dolby Vision in files (profile 5) is not supported in media player mode. Dolby Vision over HDMI is recognised and handled.
- Subtitle styling applies to text tracks. Bitmap subtitles arrive pre-rendered.
- Very strong stretch can soften small text. Lower the strength or raise centre protection.
- A calibration LUT describes one screen. Moving the PC means measuring the new panel.
Questions
Short answers.
Is unplugged really free?
Yes. The application is GPL-3.0, the download is the installer, and there is no account, subscription or licence key. The source for the application, renderer, LAV fork and FFmpeg capture path is public on GitHub.
Do I need a DeckLink card?
Only for live HDMI. Movie playback works without a capture card. Live use needs a Blackmagic DeckLink input, with the PC's graphics output going to your projector or TV.
Can I use it just as a media player?
Yes. Unplugged plays your movie library with the same tone mapping, picture controls and calibration as live HDMI. No capture card is needed for file playback.
Will it work with my projector?
Any display that accepts a standard HDMI signal. The normal pipeline outputs BT.709 SDR — set the display target to your measured white, peak and black. HDR passthrough is a debug option, not the default.
Is the picture actually better than madVR?
It depends on the source, display and tuning, so we do not claim a universal win. The difference is the mechanism: Zion predicts a colorist-style correction per scene from 88 features, while a traditional processor applies a fixed curve. Use the passthrough toggles and judge on your own content; the AVS Forum quote above is one user's comparison.
How does it compare to madVR Envy?
Envy is a mature dedicated box. It leads on turnkey setup, dedicated-hardware latency, geometry and lens-memory integration. Unplugged is free, open source, runs on a PC, and adds the learned Zion grade. See the comparison table.
Can it handle Dolby Vision?
Dolby Vision over HDMI is recognised as its own case rather than falling back to SDR, and its scene-by-scene metadata feeds the tone curve. Dolby Vision in files (profile 5) is not supported in media player mode.
Which picture setting should I use?
Leave Unplugged selected for everything, including Dolby Vision; it is the default per source. Choose GT7 Adapt manually for HDR10 or HLG when you want the title's own peak brightness to shape the highlights.
Does it need the internet?
No. The picture pipeline is local. Once a day the app can ask GitHub whether a newer release exists and show a card if one does. It notifies only, and the check can be turned off in System → App.
Can I use my own display calibration?
Yes. Load a DisplayCAL .cube and it is applied as the final pass, separate from the tone mapping. An enable toggle compares it without unloading the file.
Does it work with copy-protected HDMI?
No. Unplugged does not decrypt, strip or bypass HDCP or any other content protection. DeckLink inputs accept unencrypted HDMI only. Commercial disc and streaming content is typically protected and is not supported.
Is unplugged a DRM circumvention tool?
No. It does not decrypt, strip or bypass HDCP or any other content protection, and it includes no keys or bypass features. It works only with unencrypted signals the source already provides, and only with content you are authorized to access. See content protection.
Do I need Blackmagic drivers?
Yes for live HDMI. Install the latest Desktop Video runtime from Blackmagic's support portal first. Unplugged does not bundle Blackmagic's proprietary runtime.
Download
Ready to watch?
Version 2.1.0 · 127 MB · Windows 10/11 x64. Install, plug in, press play. Set your screen once and leave it.
New in 2.1.0: set-and-forget NLS, a more reliable library, and a one-click diagnostics report.
SHA-256 is listed on the download page and in the release notes.
| Version | 2.1.0 |
|---|---|
| Released | 4 November 2026 |
| Installer | Unplugged-setup-2.1.0.exe |
| Size | 127,087,675 bytes |
| Platform | Windows 10/11 x64 |
| Licence | GPL-3.0 |
| Price | Free |