diff --git a/cmvr-es/service/grpc/src/grpc_camera_service.cpp b/cmvr-es/service/grpc/src/grpc_camera_service.cpp
index 42804863..449249ae 100644
--- a/cmvr-es/service/grpc/src/grpc_camera_service.cpp
+++ b/cmvr-es/service/grpc/src/grpc_camera_service.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <limits>
 #include <thread>
-#include <utility>
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace cmvr::service;
@@ -220,13 +219,6 @@ grpc::Status gRPCCameraServiceImpl::GetRGBImage(grpc::ServerContext* context,
         response->mutable_header()->set_success(true);
         setCurrentTimestamp(response->mutable_header()->mutable_timestamp());
 
-        // FrameData::U8C3 is defined as RGB byte order. OpenCV/RealSense
-        // color frames are BGR, so normalize the single-frame contract here.
-        if (image.type() == CV_8UC3) {
-            cv::Mat rgb_image;
-            cv::cvtColor(image, rgb_image, cv::COLOR_BGR2RGB);
-            image = std::move(rgb_image);
-        }
         auto imageType = image.type();
         if (imageType == CV_8UC1) {
             response->mutable_color_frame()->set_type(api::FrameData::U8C1);
@@ -345,12 +337,9 @@ grpc::Status gRPCCameraServiceImpl::GetRGBDImages(grpc::ServerContext* context,
         response->mutable_header()->set_success(true);
         setCurrentTimestamp(response->mutable_header()->mutable_timestamp());
 
-        // FrameData::U8C3 is defined as RGB byte order. OpenCV/RealSense
-        // color frames are BGR, so normalize the single-frame contract here.
+        // color image is serialized in the existing OpenCV BGR byte order;
+        // clients convert it once when constructing an RGB image.
         if (color_image.type() == CV_8UC3) {
-            cv::Mat rgb_image;
-            cv::cvtColor(color_image, rgb_image, cv::COLOR_BGR2RGB);
-            color_image = std::move(rgb_image);
             response->mutable_color_frame()->set_type(api::FrameData::U8C3);
         }
         else if (color_image.type() == CV_16UC3) {