OTB to EXR Converter

Convert OTB images to EXR format quickly and easily online

Drop files here. 1 GB maximum file size or Sign Up
to
Facebook Amazon Microsoft Tesla Nestle Walmart L'Oreal

Modern Format Output

EXR provides high dynamic range image format for VFX and film — a significant upgrade over the legacy OTB format for everyday image use and sharing.

Batch Processing

Upload multiple OTB files at once and convert them all to EXR in a single session — ideal when you have many legacy images to migrate.

Privacy Protected

Your OTB files are deleted immediately after conversion to EXR. Converted files are automatically removed from servers within 24 hours.

How to convert OTB to EXR

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose exr or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your exr file right afterwards

About formats

OTB (Over-the-Air Bitmap) is a monochrome image format developed by Nokia as part of their Smart Messaging specification in 1997, designed for transmitting small graphics — operator logos, group graphics, and picture messages — to Nokia mobile phones via SMS. OTB files contain 1-bit (black and white) images at small fixed resolutions, typically 72x14 pixels for operator logos and 72x28 pixels for group graphics, encoded in a compact binary format suitable for embedding within the payload of SMS text messages. The format uses a simple structure: a header byte indicating whether the image is an operator logo or group graphic, width and height values, and the raw bitmap data where each bit represents one pixel packed eight per byte. The extremely tight format — designed to fit within a single SMS message (140 bytes maximum payload, shared with addressing overhead) — reflects the severe constraints of mobile communication in the late 1990s. Nokia's Smart Messaging system was one of the first commercial implementations of rich content delivery to mobile phones, and OTB images represented the entire visual content capability of Nokia handsets before MMS and mobile data browsing arrived. One advantage is the format's historical role as a pioneer of mobile visual messaging: OTB images were among the first graphics that ordinary consumers could send to each other's phones, predating MMS, camera phones, and smartphones by nearly a decade. The format's minimal footprint is another characteristic — entire images fit in a few dozen bytes, reflecting an era of extreme bandwidth constraints. OTB files are supported by ImageMagick, various Nokia phone management tools, and specialty mobile format utilities.
Developer: Nokia
Initial release: 1997
EXR is a high-dynamic-range raster image format developed by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) internally since 1999 and publicly released as open-source software in January 2003. OpenEXR was created to meet the demanding requirements of feature film visual effects compositing, where scenes routinely contain extreme brightness ranges — from deep shadows to specular highlights on water, metal, or light sources — that exceed the precision of 8-bit or 16-bit integer formats. EXR stores pixel data in 16-bit floating-point (half) or 32-bit floating-point per channel, providing over 30 stops of dynamic range with smooth precision across the entire luminance spectrum. The format supports an arbitrary number of channels (not just RGBA), tiled and scanline storage, multiple compression methods (lossless ZIP, lossy B44 and DWAA/DWAB for preview quality), multi-part files containing multiple views or layers, and deep pixel data where each pixel stores multiple depth-sorted samples for volumetric effects. One advantage is compositing fidelity: the floating-point precision means that color grading, exposure adjustments, lighting changes, and multi-layer compositing operations produce mathematically correct results without the banding, clipping, or quantization artifacts inherent in integer formats. EXR's adoption as the VFX industry standard is another core strength — it is the default interchange format for Foundry Nuke, Autodesk Flame, Blackmagic Fusion, Adobe After Effects, and every major 3D renderer, and its open-source C++ library is embedded in hundreds of production tools.
Initial release: January 2003

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the reason to convert OTB to EXR?

OTB originated in Nokia mobile phones and has narrow compatibility today. EXR offers high dynamic range image format for VFX and film — a far more practical choice for sharing.

What apps support EXR?

You can view EXR with Photoshop, Nuke, Blender, DJV Imaging, RV player. These tools cover all major desktop and mobile platforms.

What exactly is the OTB format?

OTB (Over-The-Air bitmap format for early Nokia phones) originated in Nokia mobile phones. It has very limited modern application support but can be converted to modern formats on Convertio.

Does this converter work on mobile devices?

Yes — Convertio runs entirely in the browser. You can convert OTB to EXR on phones, tablets, or desktops without installing anything.

Can I convert multiple OTB files to EXR at once?

Absolutely. Batch upload your OTB images and convert them all to EXR in a single pass — no need to repeat the process for each file.

Are my uploaded files kept private?

Completely. Convertio removes uploaded OTB files right after conversion, and the EXR output is automatically deleted within 24 hours.