NDI protocol technology is a video encoding transmission protocol developed by NewTek based on the local area network. NDI is a network interface protocol, a high-quality, low-latency, multi-channel IP video transmission standard created by NewTek. After the audio and video signals are NDI encoded, they can transmit and receive multiple broadcast-quality signals through the IP network in real time. At the same time, they have the characteristics of low latency, accurate frame video, mutual recognition of data streams, and communication.
Nowadays, there are two versions of NDI World, full NDI® and NDI | HX. All NDI ® is an I-frame high bit rate protocol, with the advantages of ultra-low latency (1 frame or less) and almost lossless quality. It can replace complex SDI/HDMI connections, but it needs to take up a certain amount of bandwidth, such as a single 1080p60 NDI stream may require 140Mbps, and a single 4Kp60 NDI stream requires 250Mbps. For video transmission with high quality requirements, full NDI ® shall be used for encoding and transmission. If you want to stream multiple NDI sources at the same time, it is limited by the local network bandwidth. For example, Gigabit Ethernet can only transmit several NDI sources at the same time.
NDI|HX is a low-bandwidth version of NDI, a compressed version of the long GOP H.264 variant. It has the advantage of low bandwidth requirements and allows simple gigabit networks to carry multiple video streams without taking up a lot of network traffic, such as A single 1080p60 NDI stream only needs about 10 Mbps. The advantage of low bandwidth allows NDI|HX to use WiFi wireless connection, or a network link with a speed lower than gigabit, which is very convenient for deployment. It should be noted that compared with full NDI ®, NDI|HX will produce a little delay, but it is still acceptable and still better than the existing RTSP transmission delay. The amount of delay depends on the equipment used, frame rate, video resolution and network conditions. With the hot application of NDI technology, many real-time streaming media production software and devices have supported NDI, such as Kunuomagic Encoders, Wirecast, vMix, LiveStream Studio, OBS, xSplit, StreamStar and NewTekTricasters. Among them, Kunuomagic Encoders is a hardware encoder.
There are also many NDI encoding transmission front-end products available on the market (converting SDI/HDMI signals to NDI streams) to help you quickly and effectively join the video IP production and transmission system. For example, the aforementioned Kunuomagic Encoders encoder, NewTekSpark encoding series, Kiloview NDI wireless video encoder (NDI| HX version) and 4K NDI codec (full NDI® version) can all support the NDI protocol, and more Cameras that support NDI are available, such as Lumens, Newtek and PTZoptics cameras all support NDI|HX. Among them, Kunuomagic Encoders encoders use the latest Huawei HiSilicon chips, which are characterized by high efficiency and high stability.
The advantages of NDI technology can transmit HDMI or SDI video signals to IP workflows, while supporting the conversion of signals in IP workflows to traditional HDMI or SDI video signals, and converting the signals into high-quality NDI streams. The user provides a solution to switch to IP workflow at low cost.
