Zero configuration in AV signal distribution

One of the biggest issues in AV distribution in the IP world is that equipment is not identifiable by its physical connection. In networking, every connected device needs to have a unique address so another device, hardware, and applications can reach it.

However, the network physical connection is dynamic and not related at all to the equipment address. For that reason, in a large network with hundreds (or thousands) of devices with addresses, it becomes difficult to find and interconnect equipment. NDI offers two different options for a zero-configuration discovery and registration: mDNS and Discovery Service.

This White Paper offers a compressed overview of NDI: its fundamental principles, technological features, protocols, and settings. It is updated in real-time by the NDI team to reflect the most recent developments to our Core Tech Platform. The current version of NDI is 6.1.

Contents

One approach to manually interconnect NDI devices is to specify the IP address of the transmitter in the receiver.

In Windows and MacOS, this can be achieved using the NDI Access Manager in the External Sources feature. Several NDI hardware decoders also support this functionality.

For Linux, the IP addresses of NDI senders can be added manually in the NDI configuration file called "ndi-config.v1.json." This file is in the home directory of the user currently logged in.

Specifying the IP address of an NDI source allows the receiver to receive NDI sources that are in a different subnet and may not be discoverable by mDNS (Multicast

Reliable UDP – NDI 5

In NDI version 5 the default communication mechanism is a Reliable UDP protocol that represents the state-of-the-art communication protocol that is implemented by building upon all the experience we have seen in the real world with NDI across a massive variety of different installations

Reliable UDP, also known as RUDP, is a transport protocol that combines the advantages of UDP's low latency and simplicity with the reliability of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). It is designed specifically for real-time multimedia applications, where maintaining the timeliness of data is crucial.

In the context of NDI, Reliable UDP is employed to ensure that video and audio streams are delivered reliably and with minimal delay. It achieves this by implementing several mechanisms:

Sequencing: Reliable UDP assigns a sequence number to each packet it sends. This allows the receiving end to detect missing or out-of-order packets and request retransmissions if necessary.

Retransmissions: If a packet is lost or arrives out of order, the receiving end can request a retransmission of the missing packet(s) using the sequence number information.

Flow control: Reliable UDP incorporates flow control mechanisms to manage the rate of data transmission. This prevents overwhelming the network or the receiving device with more data than it can handle, ensuring a smoother streaming experience.

Congestion control: RUDP also includes congestion control algorithms to prevent network congestion and avoid unnecessary packet loss. It dynamically adjusts the transmission rate based on network conditions, maintaining optimal throughput without overwhelming the network.

Multipath TCP – NDI 4

This protocol permits transport across multiple NICs and all network paths, it is intended to use hardware-accelerated network adapters with adaptive bandwidth sharing across NICs.

Multipath TCP is a transmission protocol that offers advantages such as maximizing throughput, optimizing resource usage, and enhancing network redundancy. It can seamlessly integrate multiple network pathways, including wireless and mobile networks. It is especially efficient when used with NDI equipment that utilizes multiple Gigabit connections to exchange a large number of NDI streams.

However, in scenarios where 10Gbit interfaces are connected with 1Gbit interfaces, Multipath TCP's efficiency is compromised. This is primarily due to network switches being unable to effectively manage network congestion in such situations. As a result, the protocol may not perform optimally in these specific network configurations.

UDP with Forward Error Correction – NDI 3

This alternative protocol to TCP is used when reliable delivery of data packets is not required. UDP is typically used for applications where timeliness is of higher priority than accuracy, such as streaming media, teleconferencing, and voice-over-IP (VoIP). Forward error correction (FEC) is a method of obtaining error control in data transmission in which the source (transmitter) sends redundant data to the destination (receiver).

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) with Forward Error Correction (FEC) is a beneficial approach when the network is prone to errors or not entirely reliable. It provides a solution for error correction when data packets get lost or corrupted during transmission.

However, it's important to note that using UDP with FEC requires additional computational processing on the receiver side. The receiver needs to implement algorithms and mechanisms to manage the error correction process. This involves decoding the received data and applying error correction techniques to recover any lost or corrupted packets.

Single TCP – NDI 1

This network communications protocol enables two host systems to establish a connection, exchange data packets, and ensure data is delivered intact to the correct destination. TCP is typically grouped with IP (Internet Protocol) and is collectively known as TCP/IP.

Single-TCP is supported on all NDI versions. While the other transmission modes are likely to perform better, this mode offers baseline compatibility for all NDI clients.

Video, just like voice data in VoIP systems, is a very demanding data stream and will immediately expose a weakness in a network. The network must support multiple video, audio, and data streams in a reliable, synchronized manner without disruption. When delay, packet loss, and jitter reach thresholds where the video is impacted visually, the usefulness of that video drops to zero. It is important to understand the complexities of video in IP data networks to mitigate these factors.

Networks that are designed to move NDI video streams should be thought of as being primarily utilized for video. IP networks are, by their very nature, “best effort delivery” systems and were originally developed for the transport of data. By contrast to video, data services can function happily with packet retransmissions, lost packets, and even packets arriving out of order.

Video streams, while still composed of data, are much more rigid in their requirements. With the use of modern networking equipment and proper configuration, video can move across networks whilst still obtaining low latency, frame accuracy, and high-quality requirements necessary for live video production.

Setting up an NDI-based video production in a Virtual Private Cloud is quite easy; the first step is to define how to make NDI Discovery and Registration work in a VPC. Cloud providers allow the creation of a multicast domain; multicast is required to use mDNS-based discovery and registration. This setup requires the creation of a transit gateway with multicast enabled. Enabling multicast in the cloud might require specific knowledge; for this reason, the easiest solution to enable NDI Discovery and registration is to set up a Discovery Service. NDI Discovery Service requires just a basic Windows or Linux-based instance to run.

NDI groups enhance the efficiency and management of NDI-based workflows by providing a structured way to organize and control the visibility and access of NDI sources and destinations within a network.

NDI devices support two different kinds of Groups: Send and Receive.

A device can be part of different Groups, some Groups only in the Send or Receive mode:

Scenarios

In this scenario, NDI Device 01 is sending discovery information to Groups 02 and 04. Devices part of the Receive Groups 02 and 04 can discover and receive NDI streams from Device 01.

NDI Device 02 is sending discovery information in Groups: Public, 01, 02, and 04.

NDI Device 03 is sending discovery information in Groups: Public and 03.

There are different ways to define Groups in NDI Devices:

In MS Windows and MacOS, Groups are defined in the NDI Access Manager, which is part of the free NDI Tools:

The Groups string for each Send and Receive operation must not exceed 248 bytes in length, which means that the total length of the combined Group names should not exceed 248 characters.

In Linux, NDI Groups can be defined in the NDI configuration file located in the home directory of the effective user: "ndi-config.v1.json"

Here is the way to configure Groups in the configuration file:

}, "groups": { "send": "Public", "recv": "Public,Group 01,Group 02" },

Hardware NDI Devices must support NDI Groups to be compliant with the NDI standard specifications.

Here are some examples of hardware devices with NDI Groups support:

The NDI Discovery Server is a command-line application available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It allows you to replace mDNS-based automatic discovery with a centralized registry of NDI sources.

This can be very helpful for installations where you wish to avoid having significant mDNS traffic for a large number of sources. It can also be useful when multicast is not possible or desirable; it is very common for cloud computing services not to allow multicast traffic. When using the Discovery Service, NDI can operate entirely in unicast mode and thus in almost any installation. The Discovery server supports all NDI functionality, including NDI groups. Clients should be configured to connect with the Discovery Service instead of using mDNS to locate sources.

When there is a Discovery server, NDI applications will use both mDNS and the Discovery server to find and receive sources on the local network that are not on machines configured to use discovery.

For senders, if a Discovery Service is specified, then mDNS will not be used; these sources will only be visible to other finders and receivers configured to use the Discovery server.

By default, an NDI Sender has the capability to generate two types of streams: a full-quality stream and a proxy stream. A receiver can readily activate the proxy stream. A simple way to visualize a proxy stream is by utilizing NDI Studio Monitor and enabling the Low Bandwidth mode within the Video settings menu.

The Proxy stream serves as a means for an application to enhance the efficiency of NDI distribution across the network. For instance, an NDI-based Video Mixer can leverage the proxy stream for sources that are intended for use in a preview monitor rather than an actual output. Then, when a source is transitioned to an output, the application can seamlessly switch from the proxy stream to the full bandwidth stream.

This approach empowers receivers to effectively manage a more significant number of NDI sources while utilizing less network bandwidth.

Codecs

NDI is essentially codec-agnostic, meaning it is compatible with various codecs. Officially, it supports PCM, AAC, and Opus for audio.

Channel Count

An individual NDI stream can transport multiple audio channels. The number of channels supported depends on the codec used. PCM allows unlimited channels; in NDI, AAC can support 2 channels, while Opus can support up to 255 channels.

Multiple audio channels are multiplexed into a single NDI stream to maintain synchronization.

Sampling

NDI Audio supports any sample rate; the standard for live production is 48 kHz.

Quantization

The audio processing in NDI is 32-bit floating point, Internally, the processing is handled as 32-bit. On the sending side of NDI, APIs are available to accept audio in various formats, which are then converted to floating-point.

Latency

Currently, NDI technology does not allow for latencies similar to those offered by technologies such as Aes67, Ravenna, or Dante Audio. However, an NDI audio transmitter is capable of delivering a stream over the network in 6 ms. This latency might not be acceptable for some cases such as where a captured audio source, like a microphone, is simultaneously listened to in the same environment. Still, there are many use cases where this amount of latency may be acceptable.

Synchronization

The NDI protocol does not employ PTP-based clock synchronization internally, although it may be possible to employ external PTP synchronization software that's available on the market. NDI delivers all sent audio samples exactly and they can be captured to storage without loss, or if they need to be retimed at the receiver for real-time playback or processing, they will be resampled with high quality to adjust for small clock rate differences that may exist between the sender and receiver.

For some use cases such as driving line array loudspeakers or multitrack recording, clock synchronization between endpoints for sample-accurate synchronization between outputs is essential and protocols like Dante or Ravenna would be recommended. However, NDI audio is suited for a vast number of other use cases for networked audio.

Also note, there are scenarios where PTP-based clock synchronization is difficult or impossible to implement, and NDI is an excellent solution. This is because PTP is a multicast protocol, and clock synchronization using PTP also requires tight hardware integration. NDI has the advantage of being a pure software implementation that can run without multicast, making it suitable for functioning in environments like the cloud or across WANs or the Internet, where multicast is not available.

NDI is designed for use with standard consumer off-the-shelf (COTS) network infrastructure devices. Looking closely at the network topology and configuration will help to ensure that the maximum possible bandwidth is available.

When selecting a network switch, it is important to check the throughput speeds. Ensure that each port is full duplex (i.e., bi-directional communication) and that each port's upstream and downstream data speeds are at least 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). In some cases, it is best to force the ports on managed switches to utilize 1 Gbps in contrast with Auto-Negotiation. The use of Auto-Negotiation can sometimes (mostly because non fully compatible Network Interfaces) result in 100Mb connections or even lower, which does not renegotiate until the port is flooded with traffic for some time. Also, poor termination of RJ-45 connectors can impact Auto-Negotiation.

The same suggestion applies when considering network switches that include 10 Gigabit per second ports. Many switches manufactured at the time of writing may share bandwidth across the backplane of multiple ports. Since these ports are generally reserved for linking to other switches, the specification for throughput may be listed differently than the Gigabit port section in the product documentation.

It is best to use switches from the same manufacturer, or ideally, the same model of switch, throughout a single subnet. This will simplify configuration and lessen the chances of compatibility and configuration issues.

MAC (Media Access Control) address refers to a unique physical address identifying a network node. Sending and receiving video streams across an IP network requires applications that support video and can discover receiving applications that are looking for video.

NDI resolves host names to IP addresses over the LAN and does so automatically. When you start an application that sends NDI, the devices that can receive NDI become aware instantaneously. While this is a typical function on almost all networks, there are some cases where it is important to know how this works to properly configure networks utilizing managed data flow protocols.

By default, NDI utilizes mDNS (multicast Domain Name System) to create the zero-configuration environment for discovery. This service sends an IP multicast message that asks the host to identify itself. The target machine then multicasts a message that includes its own IP address. This multicast is seen by all NDI-receiving machines on the subnet, which then use the information in that message to update their own caches.

These multicast queries are sent to a multicast address, and thus, no single device is required to have global knowledge.

When a service or device sees a query for any service it recognizes, it provides a DNS response with the information from its cache. The primary benefit of using mDNS is that it requires little or no administration to set up. Unless the network is specifically configured not to allow mDNS, NDI sources will be discovered. This format works when no infrastructure is present and can span infrastructure failures.

The mDNS Ethernet frame is a multicast UDP packet that broadcasts to:

Choosing the network location type on Windows devices is critical for the successful discovery and registration of NDI. Typically, the first time a Windows machine is connected to a network, a dialog window appears that allows the user to choose the network location type: Private or Public. By default, Windows sets a new network location to Public.

This location is designed to keep machines from being visible and responding to broadcast pings. This location type also affects mDNS responses and keeps NDI video streams from being discovered and registered on the network.

Network locations should be set to Private for successful discovery and registration of NDI. The Domain network location is used for domain networks, such as those at enterprise workplaces. The network administrator controls this type of network location, and it cannot be selected or changed. In this type of configuration, mDNS discovery must be allowed at the domain level. Because mDNS uses a link-local multicast address, its capacity is limited to a single physical or logical LAN.

NDI uses both TCP and UDP ports for handling inbound and outbound traffic. For example, ports in the range of 5960 and up are used for both TCP and UDP connections, allowing for efficient data transmission and reception.

NDI HX3 stream specifications:

GOP size must be 20 frames Glass-to-Glass latency, less than 100ms I Frame request response, less than 80ms

NDI operates most efficiently in a dedicated network with high bandwidth and high availability. This contrasts with unmanaged environments such as the public Internet or networks where video rides along with data without priority.

Gigabit (1000 Mbps) networks are essential in production workflows. A typical NDI stream consisting of 1080 60P video yields a data rate up to 150 Mbps per stream. This extremely efficient stream is designed to have very low latency and allows multiple streams to be stacked together on a single Gigabit network. Even so, a production environment may require more capacity based on a simultaneous number of NDI streams required.

The following tables are intended to calculate bandwidth needs based on video resolutions and frame rates. It should be noted, however, that NDI is not deterministic. The bandwidth needed for NDI should be based on the determination of the average utilization required.

As a technology designed to connect video, ensuring interoperability across all NDI products—both hardware and software—is one of the fundamental principles that NDI strives to uphold for its growing user community.

In this guide, we will explore how NDI can connect video while maintaining interoperability and consistent performance at the heart of any workflow. We will cover some of the basics of digital video and explain the various ways NDI-enabled devices and NDI formats can work together to create a seamless networking environment.

Contents

1. Digital Video Basics

NDI offers a range of plugins designed to integrate our powerful connectivity technology seamlessly into popular creative applications. These plugins include NDI for After Effects, Premiere Pro, Output for Final Cut Pro, NDI for VLC, and Audio Direct. Each plugin enhances the flexibility and efficiency of your production pipeline, bringing the power of NDI directly into the tools you use every day.

Our certified devices are tested to ensure interoperability with all other certified produces. Please check the Product Finder on our website to search for products that have been certified.

SpeedHQ Compression

NDI uses compression to enable the transmission of many video streams across existing infrastructure, specifically discrete cosine transform (DCT), which converts video signals into elementary frequency components. This method of compression is commonly used in encoding formats and mezzanine codecs within the industry.

One of the most efficient codecs in existence, NDI achieves significantly better compression than many codecs that have been accepted for professional broadcast use. On a typical, modern Intel-based i7 processor, the codec can compress a video stream to the following benchmarks:

The NDI codec's peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) exceeds 70dB for typical video content.

Uniquely and importantly, NDI is the first ever codec to provide multi-generational stability. This means there is no further loss once a video signal is compressed. As a practical example, generation 2 and generation 1000 of a decode-to-encode sequence would be identical.

NDI supports multicast-based video sources using UDP with forward error correction. Multicasting allows a single NDI source to be delivered to multiple receivers by replicating the NDI packets from the sender to any number of receivers.

For successful multicasting,

Annex-B

This format specifies that each NAL unit must be prefixed with a start code (usually a sequence of bytes like 0x000001). This start code helps the decoder identify the beginning of each unit.

Audio over IP refers to the transmission of digital audio across IP networks. This technology enables high-quality audio streams to be sent between devices and locations with minimal latency. AoIP can be used for broadcasting, live sound reinforcement, recording studios, and more.

Key concepts

The NDI Glossary provides clear definitions and explanations of key terms and concepts related to NDI technology as well as more general industry standard terms for AV over IP. We provided this to serve as a reference to help you navigate and understand the terminology used throughout the NDI ecosystem.

Today, millions of professional and amateur users leverage NDI-enabled devices and software to maximize IP for audio and video connectivity. In addition to developing the core technology that provides the connectivity features and infrastructure for this ecosystem of products, we recognized the importance of facilitating the operation of NDI workflows and setups.

Hence, we created NDI Tools: a collection of simple yet powerful free software applications designed to introduce anyone, from end users to professional installers, to the world of NDI connectivity and video over IP.

NDI tools work on most computers and are . Our team is committed to improving all our tools by releasing that make each tool even more powerful and valuable. This space contains all documentation and educational content related to NDI Tools. We continuously review it to reflect the most recent developments and updates.

NDI Scan Converter is an application designed to effortlessly share your computer's desktop video and audio with any other device on your network through an NDI stream.

Whether you're conducting broadcasts and presentations, collaborating on projects, creating tutorials, or engaging in media playback, Screen Capture provides a valuable solution.

An NDI Bridge executable can also be launched using the following command line arguments:

/verbose Generates extensive log entries in Windows Event Logs, with the event source labeled as "NDI Bridge."

/host Initiates Bridge in host mode.

/join Launches Bridge in join mode.

/local Starts Bridge in local mode.

/autorun Minimizes Bridge window upon startup.

NDI Studio Monitor is a tool that allows you to effortlessly view video and audio signals transmitted over your network through an NDI stream.

Studio Monitor is a valuable tool for anyone involved in video monitoring, digital signage, KVM control, recording, PTZ operation, or more.

Looking for the OBS plugin? While NDI does not have an official OBS plugin you can download the unofficial one following the directions from our guide.

NDI is designed to enable successful video transport using the default configuration of network interface drivers; however, most recent network interface drivers do support the configuration of advanced properties that can help optimize NDI transmission.

Consider the following adjustments but note that adjusting individual adapters can significantly affect performance and reliability positively and negatively. It is important to consider testing performance with a network analyzer before and after each setting change. The following adjustments are intended to help; however, performance will depend on network and usage (names and available settings vary between vendors, adapter models, and even between different driver versions):

Speed and Duplex

This setting allows for the selection of the desired speed and duplex of the network adapter. Usually, this is set to Auto Negotiation. If supported, this setting should be set to 1 Gbps Full Duplex or higher to ensure the maximum available throughput.

Audio is at the heart of countless applications, from media production to live broadcasting, and understanding the principles behind its digital transformation is key to unlocking its full potential.

This guide explores how NDI leverages digital audio technology to enable seamless, high-quality audio transmission over IP networks. Beginning with the fundamentals of digital audio, we'll delve into the technical aspects of NDI audio, its real-world use cases, and the innovative products driving this revolution. Whether you're an audio engineer or a curious enthusiast, this guide will provide a comprehensive look at the role of NDI in reshaping modern audio workflows.

Contents

What is digital audio?

Digital audio refers to the representation of sound in a digital format, wherein audio signals are converted into a series of binary numbers that can be stored, transmitted, and manipulated by electronic devices such as computers and audio processors.

Unlike analog audio, represented by continuously varying electrical signals, digital audio breaks down sound into discrete samples at regular intervals, typically measured in thousands of samples per second (expressed as KHz). Each sample captures the amplitude of the audio waveform at a specific point in time, allowing for precise reproduction and manipulation of sound.

Digital audio has revolutionized how we record, edit, transmit, and reproduce sound, enabling unprecedented levels of fidelity, flexibility, and convenience in a wide range of applications, from music production and broadcasting to telecommunications and multimedia entertainment.

Conversion process

Recording or converting sound into a digital format involves two primary steps: sampling and quantization.

Sampling

Sound is a continuous analog wave. To digitize this sound, it is sampled at discrete intervals. The sampling rate, measured in Hertz (Hz), defines how many times per second the sound is sampled. A common sampling rate for CD-quality audio is 44.1 kHz, meaning the audio is sampled 44,100 times per second.

In broadcast video production, the sample rate is 48 kHz; for high-quality audio recording and mastering, the sample rate can be up to 768 kHz.

Quantization

Once sampled, each snapshot of the sound's amplitude is converted into a digital value. This process is known as quantization. The bit depth determines the resolution of this conversion, with higher bit depths allowing a more precise representation of the sound's amplitude. Common bit depths include 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit.

Audio formats

In addition to the fundamental concepts of sampling and quantization, understanding digital audio involves familiarity with various audio file formats. These formats can be categorized into two main types: uncompressed and compressed.

Uncompressed Formats

These formats store digital audio data without any compression, preserving the original quality of the audio. Common uncompressed audio formats include:

WAV (Waveform Audio File Format): Developed by IBM and Microsoft, it's a standard format for storing audio on PCs.

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format): Developed by Apple, similar in quality and structure to WAV, commonly used on Mac computers.

Compressed Formats

Compressed formats store audio data using algorithms that eliminate redundant or less audible information to reduce file size. Compressed formats can be lossless or lossy.

Lossless Formats: These compress audio data without losing any information, allowing the original audio to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data. Examples include FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec).

NDI transmitters and receivers do not require any specific synchronization method to connect and function. An NDI infrastructure can operate “sync-free”, avoiding the complexity and cost of network systems that support synchronization layers. However, for specific use cases, developers and hardware manufacturers have several approaches to achieve synchronization.

When processing multiple video streams in production workflows, it may be necessary to synchronize all video streams to the same frame rate, with their frame start times aligned.

For physical video sources (e.g., cameras or video output cards) that have a fundamental native video timebase, synchronization is achieved through genlocking the internal video timebase to a reference signal, typically a blackburst signal.

For software-only implementations (e.g., character generators, DDR playback, graphics rendering engines) that lack an inherent internal video timebase, multiple platforms can maintain the same frame rate by locking system clocks using NTP, PTP, or similar protocols. However, even with locked system clocks, frame start times will not align across different applications since each application initializes its frame processing independently.

NDI Genlock

NDI Genlock provides a solution for software applications that lack an internal video timebase by allowing them to use an NDI signal as a timing reference. The Genlock instance connects to any visible NDI sender on the network and synchronizes the frame rate and frame start times to the selected source. The NDI source can reside on a local network, a remote network, or in the cloud.

To ensure proper operation of an NDI source as a Genlock reference, the following conditions must be met:

NDI Version Compatibility

It is strongly recommended that the NDI source stream originates from NDI version 5 or higher, which includes significant enhancements for genlock support. Older NDI streams may not fully comply with NDI genlock operations.

Network Bandwidth

The NDI source must have sufficient network bandwidth to provide the genlock stream to all NDI receivers. Configuring the source with multicast may help optimize bandwidth usage.

Cross-Frame-Rate Locking

NDI Genlock supports cross-frame-rate locking, where, for instance, a 60Hz signal can synchronize to a 30Hz sender. However, this is not a recommended workflow and should be avoided if possible.

Irregular Frame Streams

Some NDI sources, like the Test Pattern Generator and NDI Screen Capture, may not send a regular frame stream. These sources optimize CPU usage and save network bandwidth by skipping frames, making them unsuitable as genlock references.

Fallback Mechanism

If the NDI Genlock clock cannot successfully synchronize with the NDI sender, it will automatically fall back to using the system clock. While this fallback is not as precise, it allows video processing to continue with reasonable performance.

Live Streaming and Broadcasting (Sports, News, etc.) commentary and comms

There are several use cases in the production of live events, such as sports and news, where NDI Audio can be utilized with great benefits. In sporting events, for example, the entire audio flow for commentary, where neither latency nor synchronization represents a real problem, could be managed using NDI with the advantage of distributing all the service video signals using the same technology. Another example of its use is audio communications like Intercoms. In this case, NDI also offers the advantage of infrastructure simplicity and, above all, the ability to be supported by software applications rather than dedicated hardware. Moreover, NDI works on wireless networks, thanks to NDI Bridge over WAN.

Webinars and Remote Training

In these use cases, neither latency nor synchronization are blocking issues. What's essential are the ease of use and the ability of NDI to operate over the internet and wireless networks. NDI-based devices, such as the Mackie DLZ Creator, are excellent examples of products designed for these markets.

Remote Production (REMI) and Cloud Production

In these use cases, the features of NDI are of immense value:

• With , multichannel audio streams can be distributed and shared over the Internet. NDI is natively unicast, which is the perfect solution for the cloud.

• NDI does not require strong synchronization technology; PTP cannot operate over the Internet or in the cloud.

Even in these use cases, a technology allowing software-only solutions represents a significant advantage over competing technologies.

Furthermore, NDI also supports video and metadata, enabling the creation of a complete workflow with a single technology.

Public Address (PA) System

In this case, NDI's achievable latency does not represent a problem, and thanks to multicast's support, NDI can be easily implemented to provide audio streams to many receivers.

Another immense advantage of NDI in this market is its operation over wireless networks, a unique feature compared to other technologies that allow for the distribution of audio signals where a wired infrastructure is not possible.

Home Entertainment (High Fidelity Audio)

NDI is extremely plug-and-play. The audio quality is perfectly compatible with high and very high-quality digital entertainment systems.

Discovery and Registration, especially based on the NDI Discovery Server, are much more efficient and reliable than other mDNS solutions.

In NDI, the receiver defines which source to use, which is exactly like a radio tuned to a broadcasting station. This is consistent with the normal user experience. Furthermore, no transmitter can unexpectedly connect to a receiver, a very common problem with AoIP for home entertainment solutions used today.

Wireless Audio

NDI Audio represents a winning solution in all applications with a wireless connection. Compared to other Audio Over IP technologies, NDI is less sensitive to the Wi-Fi network jitter and does not require a synchronization like PTP that can’t work over wireless connections.

With NDI, multiple audio channels can be multiplexed into a single transmission while maintaining synchronization. This is a huge advantage over other AoIP technologies.

The NDI Launcher is a platform where you can access all the tools you have installed on your computer. By clicking on any card, you'll open that specific tool. Alternatively, you can find all the tools within your selected folder (by default, they will be installed in the Applications folder).

Register your NDI Tools

Upon opening the NDI Launcher for the first time, you'll be prompted to register your NDI Tools.

This helps us keep improving your experience as a user. You can also subscribe to our mailing list to keep receiving exclusive updates and news about community initiatives by checking the box at the bottom.

Group Privacy

By default, your NDI channels are public. This means they will be available for anyone to access as long as they are connected to the same network as you. Group privacy can be enabled in two simple steps:

1. Click the Privacy box at the top right corner of the launcher.

1. Replace "Public" on the NDI Group Name field with a personalized group name to enable privacy for your group.

You can then share this name with others so they can enter your private group.

Automatic Start at (Windows only)

In the NDI launcher for Windows, you can set up some tools to be launched automatically every time you start your computer. This could save you some time when setting up workflows.

Check the boxes to select which tools you want to launch automatically.

NDI for Adobe Premiere Pro is a powerful plugin that accelerates live-to-air editing workflows with real-time renderless playback and preview over your network via NDI. (Available for Windows and Mac)

By enabling you to send an NDI stream directly from your Premiere Pro timeline, it simplifies the review and approval process, streamlines collaboration between remote teams, and accelerates live-to-air editing workflows.

Installation and setup

• Ensure that Adobe Premiere Pro is installed on your machine.

• Install on your machine.

• Open or start a new project in Adobe Premiere Pro.

• Go to the top of the screen, select Edit

Real-time output

• Click play or scrub through your Premiere Pro timeline.

• Your project's video and audio output will be displayed in real-time across your network.

Viewing with NDI Studio Monitor

• Use NDI-enabled software, such as , to view these sources.

• Right-click on , choose the transmitting device's name and select Adobe After Effects.

The following guides provide detailed information about our suite of NDI Tools for Mac, including their features, capabilities, and practical applications. From setup instructions to advanced tips, these resources are designed to help you maximize the potential of NDI technology in your workflows.

NDI Audio Direct is a collection of VST audio plugins for MS Windows designed to integrate seamlessly with virtually any audio software application, allowing you to harness the power of NDI. (Available for Windows only)

This innovative tool empowers users to select, receive, and generate multichannel audio with exceptional quality and minimal latency.

It facilitates easy Audio over IP, supporting workflow both on-premises and in virtual or cloud environments, and it's compatible with any digital audio workstation through VST plugins.

Accessing NDI Audio Direct

. After installing it, access NDI Audio Direct from any digital audio workstation program.

Using the NDI Plugin With DAW

In your DAW application, look for the VST plugin settings menu (the location is specific to each DAW) and check if the VST3 path is correctly configured, then perform the plugin re-scan. This will load the NDI Plugin in the DAW application.

Here is the Plugin Management interface in Ardour:

NDI Input settings

When you load the NDI Input plugin in your DAW, you'll see a menu to configure the following settings:

• NDI source

• Number and configuration of Audio Channels: NDI Audio Direct supports up to 16 audio channels in different configurations.

• Audio Level: You can adjust the source level to match your DAW level setting.

NDI Output settings

When you load the NDI Output plugin in your DAW, you'll see a menu to configure the following settings:

• The NDI Output

• Number and Audio Channels configuration: NDI Audio Direct supports up to 16 audio channels in different configurations.

• Audio Level: You can adjust the source level to match your level destination.

The ways in which NDI is currently utilized — and can continue to be utilized — to connect are virtually limitless. This is primarily due to two factors: (1) our ongoing development of the features and capabilities of our Core Technology and (2) our community of users exploring and implementing NDI-based solutions. From professional broadcast studios to homemade streaming setups, NDI can be applied in any situation where a multimedia connection is needed. Despite the wide range of scenarios, users are consistently seeking certain performance standards, such as high-quality audio and video, low latency, and plug-and-play setups.

Learning how to use multicast is one of the most frequently explored topics within our community. To support this interest, we've gathered a collection of resources to learn more about implementing multicast with NDI. Whether you're just starting to explore multicast or looking to refine your existing setup you can check out the Multicast section in our White Paper, the Multicast Testing guide for NDI Certification, or our articles on how to use NDI multicast with other devices offer in-depth information and practical advice. You can also ask questions in the forums or take our NDI basics course via the NDI Connected Community. These resources are tailored to help you achieve optimal performance, ensuring high-quality audio and video, minimal latency, and seamless integration into your workflows.

This space includes a variety of reference guides, best practice documents, and step-by-step tutorials for using NDI. Our goal is to offer valuable information for anyone looking to connect their setups and workflows with NDI. We are committed to continuously updating this resource and adding new educational content to reflect the latest developments in our technology and its application within our community.

If you find any inconsistent or unclear information, you can always

NDI Access Manager is a tool designed to give you control over the visibility and discoverability of NDI sources within your network. This tool allows you to manage precisely who can see specific NDI sources through the utilization of send and receive groups.

Accessing NDI Access Manager

and run NDI Access Manager from the or your applications list.

Creating Groups

In the "Groups" tab, create different NDI groups (by clicking the plus sign icon) to determine which devices can send or receive specific NDI signals.

Example Scenario:

In this screenshot, the group "Public" can both receive and send, meaning any device can see the output NDI signals of this computer, and it can also see any other device in the same group "Public".

To configure a group, you should attribute it to a name. You can also add a small memo/note with additional information about the group.

By entering group names, you restrict NDI sources to only those devices that have the corresponding Group in their Receive Groups list.

Configuring Devices

External Sources

• Use the External Sources tab to reach NDI-enabled devices on subnets that are not on your current network.

• Add external sources by specifying IP addresses, providing easily identifiable names, and managing settings.

Advanced Settings

Explore advanced settings in the "Advanced" tab to address specific network challenges:

• Configure transport modes, multicast ranges, network mapping, and more.

• To streamline the management of NDI signals, particularly in larger networks, designate an NDI discovery server, set preferred NICs, and define device aliases.

NDI Access Manager settings are saved into a specific file in the computer's operating system. All NDI applications will look for this file when they first start to get the NDI configuration data. If this file is updated while an NDI application is running, it will continue to use the previous information. To refresh the settings for an NDI application, restart it again which will make it read the file and get the new settings.

The NDI Access Manager configuration file is stored in the following location:

%programdata%/NDI/ndi-config.v1.json

The following guides provide detailed information about our suite of NDI Tools for Windows, including their features, capabilities, and practical applications. From setup instructions to advanced tips, these resources are designed to help you maximize the potential of NDI technology in your workflows.

NDI Router is a tool that enables the routing of NDI video and audio streams to a diverse array of destinations. This tool enables users to:

• assign NDI sources to named router outputs quickly.

• create presets for recalling router layouts for different shows or sites with just one click.

• provide user-friendly controls for ease of use.

Accessing NDI Router

and run NDI Router from the or your applications list.

Interface Overview

The NDI Router interface comprises four main components:

1. Preview Pane: Located in the center, it displays the source routed to the selected destination.

2. Source Buttons: On the left of the preview pane, these buttons can be easily assigned to any NDI stream.

3. Destination Buttons: To the right of source buttons, these identify router outputs.

Routing Configuration

NDI Router can manage up to 64 sources and 64 destinations. To configure it, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the application to activate configuration mode.

Once configuration mode is activated, sources, destinations, and preset buttons can be added by clicking on the icons highlighted below.

After exiting configuration mode, it is possible to define sources and destinations.

Additional Configurations

Sources can be managed and configured by right-clicking over a Source button. In this configuration panel, you can select the NDI sources that will be routed to the destination and define some extra settings like the button label, the text, and the background color.

Destinations can be managed and configured by right-clicking over a Destination button. In this configuration panel, you can define the NDI Virtual Stream name that will be received by the destination and some extra settings like the button label, the text, and the background color.

Routing Process

NDI receivers will be connected to the NDI Router's virtual output. Subsequently, in the NDI Router, select the destination button followed by the source button. The NDI stream will then be sent from the sources to the NDI receivers, which are virtually connected to the router.

NDI High Bandwidth

NDI HX 1

(1) An SoC, or System on Chip, is an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It may include a central processing unit (CPU), memory (RAM, ROM, and flash memory), input/output ports, and secondary storage – all on a single substrate or microchip. It can also contain other components such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), a network interface for communications, and specialized hardware accelerators for specific tasks like digital signal processing (DSP), encryption, or A/V Codecs.

NDI HX 2 - 3

NDI Router is a tool that enables the routing of NDI video and audio streams to a diverse array of destinations. This tool enables users to:

• assign NDI sources to named router outputs quickly.

• create presets for recalling router layouts for different shows or sites with just one click.

• provide user-friendly controls for ease of use.

Accessing NDI Router

and run NDI Router from the or your applications list.

Interface Overview

The NDI Router interface comprises four main components:

1. Preview Pane: Located in the center, it displays the source routed to the selected destination.

2. Source Buttons: On the left of the preview pane, these buttons can be easily assigned to any NDI stream.

3. Destination Buttons: To the right of source buttons, these identify router outputs.

4. Preset Buttons: Positioned at the far right, these buttons enable the effortless recall of complete router layouts.

Routing Configuration

NDI Router can manage up to 64 sources and 64 destinations. To configure it, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the application to activate configuration mode.

Once configuration mode is activated, sources, destinations, and preset buttons can be added by clicking on the icons highlighted below.

After exiting configuration mode, it is possible to define sources and destinations.

Additional Configurations

Sources can be managed and configured by right-clicking over a Source button. In this configuration panel, you can select the NDI sources that will be routed to the destination and define some extra settings like the button label, the text, and the background color.

Destinations can be managed and configured by right-clicking over a Destination button. In this configuration panel, you can define the NDI Virtual Stream name that will be received by the destination and some extra settings like the button label, the text, and the background color.

Routing Process

NDI receivers will be connected to the NDI Router's virtual output. Subsequently, in the NDI Router, select the destination button followed by the source button. The NDI stream will then be sent from the sources to the NDI receivers, which are virtually connected to the router.

NDI Virtual Input is a tool that enables you to use any NDI video and audio signal on your network as a webcam source.

This is particularly beneficial for enhancing your video conferencing experience on platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and more. By replacing your conventional webcam with professional video production NDI-enabled equipment and software, you can bring graphics, virtual sets, and other visual enhancements to your virtual meetings.

After installing NDI Tools, access NDI Virtual Input from the NDI Launcher or your applications folder.

Setting up NDI Virtual Input for the first time

While launching NDI Virtual Input for the first time, you will be prompted to install the NDI Virtual Camera extension before using the application. This is a needed step for macOS to recognize the application as a virtual camera you can access system-wide.

Source Selection

Hover over each source to select any channel being sent from that device. Sources can be previewed on the area above the dropdown selector.

Using it with Conferencing Applications:

By selecting an NDI channel, it will become available as a source in conferencing applications. In your conferencing software's video input settings, choose NDI Virtual Camera, and you're ready to go.

The NDI VLC Plugin enables you to present video content and other supported multimedia to the network as IP sources directly from VLC Media Player. (Available for Windows and Mac) It encodes the output from each instance of the free player to NDI in real-time, making media files of virtually any format available for use in your live production.

Installation and setup

• Install on your machine.

• Launch VLC Media Player, an open-source media player that supports various sources and codecs.

• Click on Tools at the top of the window and select Preferences.

Sharing Video:

• Click on Media and choose from various options to start sharing your video.

• You can open multiple instances of VLC Media Player to share different sources simultaneously.

Playback on NDI-Enabled Devices:

• Click play on VLC Media Player to start sharing a video across your network via NDI.

• You can view these sources on another NDI-enabled device using software like NDI Studio Monitor: Right-click anywhere on the screen, then select the broadcasting computer's name and choose VLC.

Control Virtual PTZ Positioning

Setup PTZ Control PTZ:

• Right-click on the screen, select Settings, and choose PTZ Settings.

• Check the box next to Show PTZ Controls.

Manipulate Virtual Positioning:

• Use the controls on the right side to pan or zoom within your video.

• You can also create preset shots to recall as needed.

NDI Test Patterns is a tool designed to facilitate precise audio and video calibration on NDI-enabled devices within your network.

With a range of test patterns and audio tones, this tool ensures accurate color properties and optimal sound levels.

Accessing NDI Test Patterns

and run NDI Test Patterns from the or your applications list.

Immediate NDI Signal Sharing

Upon launching, NDI Test Patterns will instantly share an NDI signal across your network, viewable on other NDI-enabled devices using software like Studio Monitor.

Viewing the NDI Signal

To receive the signal from NDI Test Patterns, right-click on the tool, select the device's name, and choose Test Patterns.

Test Pattern Variety

Explore a variety of test patterns by scrolling down the page and selecting the one that best suits your calibration needs.

Custom Image With Embedded Alpha

Click the plus button at the bottom of the screen to add custom images to the list of patterns in NDI Test Patterns.

NDI Test Patterns supports images with embedded alpha, allowing you to load most 32-bit image file formats and use them as sources for overlays in your program.

Audio Calibration

Enable a one-kilohertz tone accompanying the NDI test pattern signal to test your audio equipment. Choose from various decibel levels to suit your audio calibration requirements.

NDI is designed to work within your existing network as seamlessly as possible, but we understand that there are still instances where a network administrator would like to see specific settings to employ to get the best possible video in their network. The following are various settings we recommend as a general rule on a managed network:

1. Network Switch Specifications

   1. Gigabit Ethernet: Ensure all network switch ports support Gigabit Ethernet at least. High Bandwidth NDI can easily use up 250mbps for a single stream at 4K60, and even HX3 can be around 100mbps at the same resolution and framerate

   2. Full Duplex: All ports should be set to full duplex (bi-directional communication).

   3. Backplane Capacity: Ensure the switch backplane supports the full throughput capacity required. Capacity = Number of ports x Speed x 2.

2. Managed Switch Settings

   1. Quality of Service (QoS): Disable QoS to prevent any potential delays.

   2. Jumbo Frames: Disable Jumbo Frames to avoid fragmentation issues.

   3. Flow Control: Enable Flow Control (Symmetrical or On) for TCP data transfer.
3. Firewalls & Ports

   1. mDNS/Bonjour: Ensure mDNS/Bonjour is accessible for automatic discovery of NDI devices.

   2. NDI Messaging Server: Manual discovery requires access to port 5960 for the NDI messaging server, and subsequent ports starting at 5961 for NDI video streams.

4. Cabling

   1. Cabling Grade: Use a minimum of CAT5e cabling grade for GigE performance.

   2. Cabling Length: Ensure proper cabling length requirements are met. Network cable can run up to about 100m before the signal starts to degrade simply due to the physics involved.

5. DHCP Configuration

   1. DHCP: Enable DHCP to simplify setup and network configuration.

   2. Power over Ethernet (PoE): Ensure the switch supports PoE if required by devices. Typically, smaller converter boxes will use POE, or about 15w of power, whereas a camera can use POE+ (~ 25-30w) or even POE++ (up to 100w). A switch may state it’s POE-capable, but only deliver a a certain amount of total power wattage that’s shared across all of the ports.

6. Additional Tips

   1. Network Latency: Minimize network latency by optimizing the network layout. Additional ‘hops’ can add a non-zero amount of delay

   2. Bandwidth Requirements: Ensure sufficient bandwidth for NDI video streams. When using unicast/TCP, the NDI stream is multiplied by the number of concurrent receivers (e.g., if a single camera NDI HX stream is 100mbps, but is being requested by 3 instances of Studio Monitor, then that’s 300mbps total)

7. WIFI Considerations

   1. While NDI works as a general idea across a network and makes no bearing on the type of network it’s used on, the nature of wifi can impact video performance. While not always recommended, if a device will be on wifi, you’ll want to consider at least a WIFI6 or WIFI7 capable device and infrastructure to get the best possible result with higher bitrates and resolutions. Follow the typical best practices for radio interference.

These settings will help optimize your network switch for NDI, ensuring smooth and reliable video transport. Always test performance with a network analyzer before and after making any changes to ensure the best results. Using a network analyzer to test NDI settings can help you optimize your network performance. We offer a tool called NDI Analysis which is free to download and use and we have a separate page for it on our docs and guides. When using NDI Analysis, the key metric to look for is consistency across the SEND, RECV and MIN/MAX results. If there’s video but those numbers vary greatly, there’s most likely some network delay occurring that could impact performance at some point.

NDI Utilities are standalone applications designed for specific purposes within NDI-based workflows or for integrating our technology into products. Unlike the NDI Tools, which feature a closed user interface (UI), these Utilities are meant for more flexible uses and exploration. Some of them may only be operated through a command-line terminal.

NDI Discovery is a tool that enables you set up and manage Discovery Servers within workflows. We cover the capabilities of Discovery Service in depth in our White Paper.

Accessing NDI Discovery

. After installing it, access NDI Discovery from the or your applications folder.

Once you've installed Discovery check out our guide. For high level introduction on how Discovery works read on Receiver Discoverability, Monitoring, and Control.

Senders

Displays all NDI sources (“senders”) that have registered with the Discovery Server. Each sender entry shows its device name/hostname, the network address, and port it is streaming from. Devices appear grouped by hostname. This tab helps you quickly see which NDI devices are currently available to provide streams on your network.

Receivers

Shows all NDI receivers (endpoints listening for NDI streams) recognized by the Discovery Server. Devices are also grouped by hostname under receivers. This is especially useful when troubleshooting or confirming which machines are actively listening for NDI streams.

Settings

You can configure or change the Discovery Server IP and port. You can also see whether the application is connected to a Discovery Server and at which IP/port.

Overview

In modern networked media environments, efficient discovery and management of NDI® audio and video sources are essential for scalable, low-latency workflows.

The NDI Discovery Service is an OS-managed background process that runs the NDI Discovery Server the centralized registry for NDI sources and receivers and exposes its proprietary API for client access.

It provides a more predictable and scalable method for registering and locating NDI sources and receivers. It is especially valuable in networks where multicast traffic is restricted or discouraged, such as cloud-hosted or enterprise environments.

Why Use Discovery Service?

Traditional NDI discovery uses mDNS, which works well on smaller networks but can cause congestion or fail in multicast-restricted environments. The Discovery Service introduces a centralized registry model that:

• Reduces unnecessary network chatter.

• Enables reliable operation across subnets and firewalled segments.

• Offers real-time updates and visibility into connected NDI sources and receivers.

• Supports enhanced monitoring and control features introduced in NDI 6.2.

Flexible Deployment

Discovery Service is flexible. You can run it as a background service on Windows or Linux or run the Discovery Server as a standalone command-line application. All with minimal resource usage.

Additionally, it can be run on a local machine or hosted remotely to serve multiple clients.

It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit environments (64-bit recommended). Installation packages are available from .

Client Configuration

NDI clients, including senders, finders, and receivers, can be configured to use the Discovery Service in place of or alongside mDNS. This ensures broader compatibility across different segments of the network. It also means users will have greater control over which sources are visible to specific devices. As part of the 6.2 update, seamless integration using Access Manager or the new NDI Discovery Tool, are both included in the NDI Tools suite.

Developer Integration

The NDI SDK includes new APIs that allow developers to query available NDI sources via the Discovery Service and subscribe to real-time updates. You can now also monitor and control receiver connections.

These capabilities unlock tighter integrations with third-party applications and more sophisticated media control workflows. For implementation details, see the SDK documentation under NDI-Recv Discovery, Monitor, and Control.

Click here to view the full documentation in our SDK which includes instructions, configuration options, and command-line usage on both Windows and Linux.

Discovery Server vs Discovery Service

The NDI Discovery Service is designed to allow you to replace the automatic discovery NDI uses with a server that operates as a centralized registry of NDI sources. The NDI Discovery Server is a command-line application available for Windows, macOS, and Linux which provides the NDI Discovery Service. Multiple instances of the NDI Discovery Server can be used to provide redundancy.

This can be very helpful for installations where you wish to avoid having significant mDNS traffic for a large number of sources. It can also be useful when multicast is not possible or desirable. It is very common for cloud computing services not to allow multicast traffic. When using the Discovery Service NDI can operate entirely in unicast mode and thus in almost any installation. The Discovery Service supports all NDI functionality, including NDI groups. Clients should be configured to connect with the Discovery Server(s) instead of using mDNS to locate sources.

When the Discovery Service is available, NDI applications will use both mDNS and the Discovery Server(s) to find and receive sources on the local network that are not on machines configured to use discovery.

Apple has turned off a feature called "legacy camera support" however it can be re-enabled in Recovery Mode by following these steps from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213969

When you restore these legacy settings, the camera privacy indicator won't display in the menu bar while a camera with older software is in use.

1. Restart your Mac into Recovery Mode:

   • Use macOS Recovery on a Mac with Apple silicon

2. Click the Options button, then click Continue.

3. From the Utilities menu, choose Terminal.

4. Enter this command: system-override legacy-camera-plugins-without-sw-camera-indication=on

5. Press Return. Depending on your system configuration, you might be prompted to complete additional steps.

6. Quit Terminal.

7. From the Apple menu, choose Restart.

To change back to the default settings, follow the steps again and enter this command:

system-override legacy-camera-plugins-without-sw-camera-indication=off

NDI Access Manager is a tool designed to give you control over the visibility and discoverability of NDI sources within your network. This tool allows you to manage precisely who can see specific NDI sources through the utilization of send and receive groups. Ideal for enhancing content-sharing workflows, NDI Access Manager is available for free as part of the NDI Tools package.

Accessing NDI Access Manager

and run NDI Access Manager from the or your applications list.

Creating Groups

First, select the Receive Groups or Send Groupstabs to determine if you are creating NDI groups that allow devices to send or receive specific NDI signals. Them, create a new NDI group by clicking New.

To configure a group, you should attribute it to a name. You can also add a small memo/note with additional information about the group.

By entering group names, you restrict NDI sources to only those devices that have the corresponding Group in their Receive Groups list.

Configuring Devices

External Sources

• Use the External Sources tab to reach NDI-enabled devices on subnets that are not on your current network.

• Add external sources by specifying IP addresses, providing easily identifiable names, and managing settings.

Advanced Settings

Explore advanced settings in the "Advanced" tab to address specific network challenges:

• Configure transport modes, multicast ranges, network mapping, and more.

• To streamline the management of NDI signals, particularly in larger networks, designate an NDI discovery server, set preferred NICs, and define device aliases.

NDI Access Manager settings are saved into a specific file in the computer's operating system. All NDI applications will look for this file when they first start to get the NDI configuration data. If this file is updated while an NDI application is running, it will continue to use the previous information. To refresh the settings for an NDI application, restart it again which will make it read the file and get the new settings.

The NDI Access Manager configuration file is stored in the following location:

Mac $HOME/.ndi/ndi-config.v1.json

Linux $HOME/.ndi/ndi-config.v1.json

On Mac

1. You will first need to insure that you have installed the NDI SDK. By default it will install to Library

2. If you did not change the install location, open Terminal on MacOS and enter the following command:

open -a "Terminal" "/Library/NDI SDK for Apple/bin/Application.Mac.NDI.DirectoryService"

1. A separate Terminal window will open with NDI Discovery Service running. If a different directory was chosen to install the NDI SDK to, replace 'Library' with your chosen directory path.

1. On the NDI Sender, open , and enter the IP address of your Mac and the Port Number

1. Download and Install OBS Studio

   1. Install OBS Studio version 30.0.0 or later (Qt6, x64/ARM64/AppleSilicon) on all relevant machines from https://obsproject.com.

2. Install the NDI plug in for OBS

   1. Download the DistroAV NDI plugin from .

   2. Before installing, remove any old versions of the OBS-NDI plugin to prevent conflicts.

   3. Install the plugin after OBS Studio is installed.

   4. Restart your computer after installation to ensure proper loading.

3. Install NDI Runtime

   1. Download and install the NDI Runtime version 6 or later as shown here: .

4. Enable NDI Output in OBS (on the source computer)

   1. Open OBS Studio

   2. Navigate to Tools > Distro AV NDI® Settings

   1. Check Main Output and/or Preview Output

Download and install a utility from Panasonic called EZ IP + and follow the instructions below:

1. Download the NDI Tools pack for Windows at ndi.video

2. Download the EZ IP+ software from Panasonic from here

3. Purchase the Panasonic upgrade from for the camera from here.

1. Use the Panasonic EZ IP+ software to find your camera on the network.

2. Identify your camera, and press the Activation button on the lower menu, as shown here:

3. When prompted, enter your serial number, NOT your coupon code

4. Congratulations- your camera is now activated.

Some cameras may require you to to enable NDI first going into their UI and selecting the Video IP method as NDI. Also, some cameras may require a firmware upgrade first that must be installed prior to these steps.

NDI Apps bring the power of NDI technology directly to your everyday devices. From mobile phones and tablets to desktop computers, these applications make it possible to capture, send, and receive high-quality video and audio across standard networks without the need for specialized hardware.

Whether you’re streaming a live event, collaborating remotely, or extending the reach of your production setup, NDI Apps are designed to make professional-grade connectivity accessible anywhere. By turning consumer devices into fully functional NDI sources and receivers, these apps help bridge the gap between professional broadcast environments and everyday creative workflows.

Camera

Capture (coming soon)

NDI HX Camera Release Notes 3.1

Fixes

• iPhone 17 startup crash

• Low quality NDI stream not restarting after format change

• iOS26 Liquid Glass UI fixes and updates

• Locked white balance controls on lenses that do not support it

Features

• Added PAL and Cinema frame rate support (24, 25, 48, and 50)

• Added video rotation override

Starting in NDI version 5, this lists all the network adapters that will be used for network transmission.

One or more NICs can be used to transmit and receive video and audio data. This capability can be used to ensure that the NDI primary stream data remains on a particular group of network adapters, for instance, allowing you to ensure that dedicated audio is on a separate network card from the NDI video. It is generally preferred that you let NDI select the network adapters automatically, which can smartly select which to use and how to choose the ones that result in the best bandwidth.

While in some modes, NDI can automatically balance bandwidth across multiple NICs, it usually is better for you to use NIC teaming at a machine configuration level which can result in much better performance than what is possible in software. If this setting is misconfigured to specify NICs that might not exist, then NDI might fail to function correctly.

Also, please note that the operation of computer systems that are separately on entirely different networks with different IP address ranges is often not handled robustly by the operating system, and NDI might not fully function in these configurations.

In MacOS and Linux, the NIC Selection can be manually added in the NDI configuration file located in the home directory of the effective user: "ndi-config.v1.json"

Here is the way to manually setup NIC Selection in the configuration file:

}, "adapters": { "allowed": [ "192.168.30.8,10.10.122.123" ]

Using the NIC selection, in combination with the Discovery Server, is ultimately the best solution for controlling the NDI network.

Here are additional steps operators can take to help direct NDI traffic through a preferred NIC:

1. Access Manager: While Access Manager sets preferences, combining it with the following methods can give the selection more weight.

2. NIC Metrics: Adjust the metrics for each NIC in the network settings. Lower metrics will prioritize that NIC for traffic.

3. VLANs can assist with managing NIC traffic in the following ways:

   1. Traffic Segmentation: VLANs segment network traffic, ensuring that specific types of traffic are isolated and routed through the desired NIC.

Introduction to NDI

NDI stands for Network Device Interface. It is a widely adopted video connectivity standard based on proprietary IP networking specifications. NDI enables multimedia systems to identify and communicate with one another over IP and to encode, transmit, and receive many streams of high-quality, low latency, frame-accurate video and audio, and exchange metadata in real-time.

NDI operates bi-directionally, with many streams on a shared connection. Its encoding algorithm is resolution and frame-rate-independent, supporting 4K resolutions and beyond, along with unlimited floating-point audio channels and custom metadata. NDI can be integrated and/or supported by any network-connected product, including video cameras, graphics systems, video mixers, capture cards, multimedia players, video editing applications, and many other devices and software. NDI is not a codec. NDI supports many different video codecs, like our proprietary SpeedHQ, found on the NDI High Bandwidth format,

Includes Alpha Channel

In more complex networking cases, ports may need your attention.

To extend beyond the local network, applications (such as NDI Bridge) use network communication ports. Connecting to a local application from an external network requires targeting the correct port, and that your network router is set up to accept traffic at that port.

This is much like an office with one main telephone number, but many extensions. On a WAN like the Internet, the ‘public IP number’ corresponds to the main telephone number. Your firm provides a list of extension numbers, each matching one phone. Likewise, your network router exposes certain ports for external access. Connecting to a network router is impossible if it doesn’t expose a port.

The NDI Bridge Host finds your public IP address automatically and listens for traffic arriving at the port you specify in its configuration app. It cannot, however, automatically configure the router to allow traffic from the WAN to reach that port. (By default, routers expose a limited set of common ports, and are manually configured to use other ports for specific purposes.)

NDI Screen Capture is an application designed to effortlessly share your computer's desktop video and audio with any other device on your network through an NDI stream.

Whether you're conducting broadcasts and presentations, collaborating on projects, creating tutorials, or engaging in media playback, Screen Capture provides a valuable solution.

This guide will explain how to get set up with NDI Tools application, Discovery Server and Studio Monitor on a Windows machine

NDI Output for Final Cut Pro is a groundbreaking plugin that seamlessly integrates your laptop or workstation into your live production workflow. (Available for Mac only) By enabling you to send an NDI stream directly from your Final Cut Pro timeline, it simplifies the review and approval process, streamlines collaboration between remote teams, and accelerates editing workflows.

NDI Webcam Input is a tool that enables you to use any NDI video and audio signal on your network as a webcam source.

This is particularly beneficial for enhancing your video conferencing experience on platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and more. By replacing your conventional webcam with professional video production NDI-enabled equipment and software, you can bring graphics, virtual sets, and other visual enhancements to your virtual meetings.

Historically, NDI functionalities have been available as an upgradeable add-on for specific manufacturers and device models. This guide details how to upgrade your camera for NDI HX support on Windows and macOS.

The following list presents some products that make use of NDI connectivity technology for Audio over IP networking. It will be updated over time, as more relevant products enter the market.

MacOS System Audio not Captured via NDI Scan Converter

1. Install or update:

   • OBS Studio 30 or newer

   • Distro AV NDI plug‑in for OBS

Installing NDI Tools is easy: it requires only a couple of simple actions. In case you are not sure how to do it, follow this step-by-step guide to install and run the most updated collection of NDI Tools as fast as possible. Before you know it, you'll be using NDI to connect your video workflows.

1. Navigate to the NDI Tools page on the NDI website

Just open your preferred web browser and type in your address bar. This will take you to our NDI Tools page, where you can explore and dive into the complete collection of NDI Tools we have to offer.

NDI for Adobe After Effects is a groundbreaking plugin that seamlessly integrates your laptop or workstation into your live production workflow. (Available for Windows and Mac)

By enabling you to send an NDI stream directly from your After Effects timeline, it simplifies the review and approval process, streamlines collaboration between remote teams, and accelerates live-to-air editing workflows.

Digital video involves capturing, processing, compressing, storing, and transmitting moving visual images in digital form. Understanding digital video requires knowledge of several key concepts, including chroma subsampling, bit depth, and color spaces such as YCbCr and RGB. These elements are crucial for balancing video quality with bandwidth requirements, particularly in video transmission.

Color Space: YUV vs RGB

Color space refers to the method of representing the range of colors. YUV and RGB are two primary color spaces used in digital video.

RGB is based on the primary colors of light (Red, Green, and Blue) and is used primarily in devices that emit light directly, like computer monitors, TVs, and cameras. It represents colors by combining these three colors at various levels of intensity, suitable for applications where precise color representation is crucial.

Color space refers to the method of representing the range of colors. YUV and RGB are two primary color spaces used in digital video.

In the YUV color space, the Y component represents the luminance, or brightness, of the color, which is essentially a grayscale representation of the image. The U and V components represent the chrominance, or color information, separate from the luminance. Specifically: U (Chrominance-B): The U component indicates the difference between the blue component and the reference luminance (Y). Essentially, it represents the blue projection of the color minus its luminance. This helps in determining how blue or how opposite of blue (which can be interpreted as yellowish) the color is. V (Chrominance-R): The V component indicates the difference between the red component and the reference luminance (Y). It represents the red projection of the color minus its luminance. This component helps determine how red or how opposite of red (which can be interpreted as greenish) the color is.

The U and V components do not directly correspond to specific colors but rather to the chromatic difference from the luminance. By adjusting these components, you can shift the hue and saturation of a color. The Y component ensures that the brightness of the color is maintained independently of its hue and saturation, which is particularly useful in broadcasting and video compression technologies where luminance is more critical to the perceived quality of the image than color details. This separation allows for more efficient compression by reducing the resolution of the U and V components relative to the Y component, exploiting the human visual system's lower sensitivity to fine details in color compared to brightness. To make it simple the U component in the YUV color space essentially represents the color spectrum between blue and its complementary color, which can be seen as a range from blue to yellow-green. This range is not about moving directly from blue to red but rather moving from blue towards green and red, where the midpoint might represent less saturation or a neutral point where the blue influence is minimized. Similarly, the V component represents the spectrum between red and its complementary colors, moving from red towards blue and green, where its midpoint could represent a neutral point with minimized red influence, potentially leaning towards cyan or green.

In essence, the U component controls the blue-yellow balance, while the V component controls the red-cyan (or red-green) balance. By adjusting these two components along with the Y (luminance), you can navigate through the color space to represent a wide range of colors.

The choice between YUV and RGB in a digital video workflow depends on the application's requirements. YUV is typically used for video compression and transmission, where bandwidth efficiency is paramount. In contrast, RGB is used in contexts where accurate color representation and direct control over each primary color are needed, such as in content creation and display technologies.

Chroma Subsampling

With YUV color space it is possible to use the chroma subsampling as a method to spatially reduce the color information in a signal while retaining the luminance data. This technique leverages the human visual system's characteristic of being more sensitive to variations in brightness (luminance) than to color (chrominance). By reducing the amount of color information, chroma subsampling significantly lowers the bandwidth and storage requirements for video data without substantially impacting perceived image quality. Video signals consist of luminance information, which represents the brightness levels, and chrominance information, which represents the color. Chrominance is further divided into two components, U and V Chroma subsampling is expressed in a notation like 4:2:2, 4:2:0, 4:4:4, etc. where the first number (4 in these examples) refers to the reference number of luminance samples in the first row of a 2x2 block of pixels.

The second number indicates the number of chrominance samples (U and V) in the first row of pixels, showing how many color samples are taken compared to the luminance samples. The third number indicates the number of chrominance samples in the second row of pixels.

4:4:4 subsampling means that no chroma subsampling is applied. Every pixel has its own color information, resulting in the highest quality but also the largest bitrate.

4:2:2 subsampling reduces the color information by half horizontally but keeps full-color information in the vertical direction. It's a common compromise between quality and bandwidth used in professional video environments.

4:2:0 subsampling reduces the color information by half both horizontally and vertically, which is widely used in consumer video formats (e.g., Blu-ray, DVD, streaming media PTZ and Prosumer Cameras) because it significantly reduces the bitrate with minimal visible loss of quality.

4:1:1 subsampling reduces the color information by a quarter of the horizontal resolution and keeps full-color information in the vertical direction.

Alpha Channel:

The YUVA color space is an extension of the YUV color space that includes an Alpha channel. In color spaces, the Alpha channel represents the opacity of a color, allowing for varying levels of transparency and compositing images over one another.

The alpha channel sampling is usually the same as the luminance and is expressed in a notation like 4:2:2:4, 4:2:0:4, 4:4:4:4, etc.

Bit Depth

Bit depth, also known as color depth, refers to the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a digital video. Higher bit depth allows for more colors to be displayed, resulting in more detailed and nuanced images. Common bit depths include:

8-bit: Capable of displaying 256 shades per channel (YUV), resulting in 16.7 million colors in total.

10-bit: Can display 1,024 shades per channel, offering over a billion colors. This greater range allows for finer gradients and more detailed color representation, reducing banding in video images.

NDI 6.1 provides a new version of NDI Bridge that allows for additional settings and a new logging feature that allows you to get even greater insight into the capabilities of your NDI Network.

Buffer Test

Since NDI 5, it’s been possible to set a buffer when connecting to or hosting a Bridge network that will store up frames of data up to a certain amount before sending them to the rest of the NDI Network. While this does increase latency, it also allows a seamless viewing experience where the viewer shouldn’t notice a drop of signal or frames that can naturally occur when video is transmitted over the public Internet. Previous version of NDI Bridge would allow the user to define their own size of that buffer as a trial an error, but with NDI 6.1’s new Bridge, there is a “Test Buffer" application that can recommend buffer size.

To use it, follow the steps below:

1. Launch NDI Bridge 6.1

2. Connect to your Bridge host if your the Join, or have a remote connection connect into your Bridge application if you’re the Host

3. Once connected, click on Start Test. Packets will be sent and received, and the recommended buffer will be shown.

4. Run the test for as long as necessary, then click Apply to use their recommended buffer size.

System Stats

One of the most powerful aspects of NDI is it’s ability to be flexible in it’s installation requirements, it doesn’t need a purpose-built machine. NDI Bridge, like all other NDI applications, is as powerful as the system it’s installed on, but until now there hasn’t been an easy way to determine how much system resources it uses. With NDI 6.1 Bridge, a user can now get a number of helpful stats that may pinpoint potential bottlenecks in a workflow. To access the system stats to see a live view of NDI Bridge’s resources, click the gear labeled Settings and Diagnostics and choose Statistics.

Clicking this will open a new window that can be positioned and resized anywhere, with helpful graphs and stats for the current connection. Each graph can be expanded to show a greater detailed view of the current resources.

Send Bps: Usually measured in mbps but depending on how much traffic is sent it can be kbps, this is the amount of data that’s being sent from the current machine to the destination. The graph measures only the last 60 seconds of data in a rolling, live view.

To see the current metric, the right hand-side column also displays the current bitrate of the sending device.

Receive Bps: This graphic shows a 60 second view of the amount of traffic being received by the system it’s installed on. Usually measured in mbps, it will give the user an idea of how much bandwidth that Studio Monitor or another NDI receive is receiving from the Bridge network.

This is also shown on the right hand side metric under Receive, where it shows a live view of the incoming bitrate.

If the Send and Receive numbers vary too greatly, there’s probably packet loss or connection issues which can result in poor performance. Increasing the Buffer size or using the recommended buffer settings may alleviate these issues

RTT: Round Trip Time is the measure of how long it takes a packet to be sent from the host to the receiver and back again. The graph shows a live view of the past 60 seconds and the right hand column shows a live view of the current RTT.

The RTT value may be high, but the key aspect to look for is consistency- a RTT value that fluctuates often indicates a poor connection and poor video performance

Packet Loss: Much like RTT, the key aspect here is consistency. Have a video stream with 0 packet loss would be ideal but in a world where video is transmitted over the public internet it can happen.

0 packet loss is preferred, but if the number grows over time or fluctuates, there’s an issue with the incoming stream or receiving PC dropping packets. Increase buffer size may be one way to alleviate that.

Bridge GPU: NDI Bridge provides 3 metrics for the GPU that the connected Bridge system (either host or join) is running on, GPU Encode, GPU Decode, and 3D Compute. This measures the amount of GPU usage that the Bridge service is using by itself to send an encoded signal.

These are a measure of the Bridge’s utilization only, not of the entire utilization of the engines of the PC. If packet loss occurs or the RTT is high and the buffer can’t resolve it, the Bridge system’s GPU may be at maximum and unable to render frames as quickly as necessary, resulting in poor video performance. Unfortunately, there’s not a way to resolve this outside of upgrading the PC or lowering the demand of other applications on that PC.

System GPU: Like the Bridge GPU, the System GPU must also decode frames of video for viewing and playback. If the System GPU is at maximum for resources but the connection is fine, the viewer will still notice dropped frames and other apparent issues they may cause them to incorrectly assume the network or NDI Bridge is at fault.

On the right hand side, there are a number of stats also available at any given time.

CPU and Memory refer to the percentage of CPU that is used by the system at the time. Memory refers to amount of RAM that the Bridge application is taking up by itself. As Bridge is software, we recommend you make sure those numbers stay under 50% utilization, the lower the better. This may mean closing out other open applications and shutting down other services that are taking processing cycles and using the RAM. If the Memory measurement creeps up, it could indicate a memory leak or a process that is stuck running and not shut down properly.

Under System are the same three metrics, GPU Encode, GPU Decode, and 3D Compute, which measure available metrics as reported by the system. GPU Encode is if the system is encoding from High Bandwidth to HX, and GPU Decode is used for receiving a signal and displaying it on Studio Monitor. 3D Compute is the overall usage of the GPU of that system. It’s important to note that 3D Compute is variable depending on the system. Sometimes it’s the 3D Compute engine is used to encode/decode, and sometimes it’s used for color conversion. If the system Bridge is running on has two different GPUs, the tasks will be spread out to reduce load. As a general rule keeping those values low will show improved performance.

Introduction

Running Dante and NDI in different networks or VLANs is always the recommended choice but this sometimes requires complex network infrastructure that is not always feasible.

As IP-based audio and video solutions become standard in live production and broadcast environments, a common question arises:

Can NDI and Dante coexist on the same network?

The answer is yes, but only under the right conditions.

Understanding the Protocols: NDI vs Dante

NDI (Network Device Interface)

NDI is a video-over-IP protocol optimized for ease of use and versatility. Its key characteristics include:

• Uses various transport methods: TCP, UDP, Multi-TCP, and R-UDP.

• No centralized synchronization mechanism.

• Audio and video are embedded together and rely on best-effort delivery.

• Can be bandwidth-intensive, especially full-bandwidth NDI (100–300 Mbps per stream).

Dante Audio

Dante, developed by Audinate, is designed for professional, low-latency audio transport over IP. Its key characteristics include:

• Ultra-low latency (typically <1 ms)

• Uses PTP (Precision Time Protocol, IEEE 1588) for tight synchronization between all devices

• Each audio stream is typically mono, point-to-point

• Highly sensitive to jitter and network congestion

NDI and Dante on a 1G Network: Real-World Observations

Scenario 1: A Single Computer Running NDI and Dante

A single computer (e.g., running vMix or TriCaster) receives NDI streams and handles Dante audio via the same 1G NIC. As long as it only receives NDI streams, Dante works fine. Once the computer transmits NDI streams, Dante experiences:

• Increased latency

• Audio glitches

• Eventually, Dante devices may mute audio completely due to PTP sync loss

Why does this happen?

NDI video streams can flood the NIC and switch buffers. Since Dante relies on highly predictable packet timing and synchronized clocks (via PTP), any jitter or delay in network delivery, especially in PTP packets, can cause the system to desynchronize, leading to audio dropouts.

Scenario 2: 10G Backbone with 1G Endpoint

The main NDI+Dante computer is connected via 10G to a core switch. A second switch, connected via 1G uplink, serves a Dante commentary station. Everything runs smoothly until an NDI decoder is added to the second switch and starts receiving a video stream from the main computer. Suddenly, the Dante commentary position experiences PTP errors and intermittent audio mute. Replacing the second switch with a 10G model and using a 10G uplink immediately resolves the issue.

Why does this happen?

Traffic from an NDI receiver saturates the uplink. Simply having an NDI transmitter alone doesn't cause this traffic surge. NDI streams are unicast and only begin flowing when a receiver connects. When the receiver is on the 1G switch and pulls full-bandwidth NDI from the 10G host, the 1G uplink becomes a bottleneck. This bottleneck causes latency and jitter, especially affecting:

• PTP clock sync packets

• Time-sensitive Dante audio packets

Consequently, sync is lost and Dante audio mutes. By contrast, if the NDI transmitter is on the 1G switch without an active receiver, the traffic isn't triggered, and Dante remains unaffected.

NDI Transport Protocols and Network Behavior

NDI supports multiple transport types, but not all are equally suitable in mixed environments.

Flow Control must be enabled on all switches for stable coexistence.

Best Practices for NDI + Dante on the Same Network

To make it work reliably: 1. Use a 10G network backbone for any shared segments carrying both Dante and NDI. 2. Avoid Multi-TCP mode in NDI, especially in mixed Dante environments. 3. Enable flow control on all switch ports. 4. Use managed switches that support IEEE 802.1p traffic prioritization (to prioritize PTP and Dante audio) 5. Monitor the Dante Clock status and latency metrics on all endpoints. 6. Avoid 1G uplinks where video and audio traffic are mixed.

Conclusion

NDI and Dante can coexist on the same network, but only if the network is properly designed to handle their demands. Dante's strict timing requirements make it particularly vulnerable to congestion and jitter, while NDI’s high-bandwidth nature can easily monopolize links if not carefully managed.

Proper switch configuration, bandwidth planning, and protocol awareness are essential to ensure stable, high-performance operation in mixed NDI + Dante environments.

This guide will explain how to get set up with NDI Tools application, Discovery Server and Studio Monitor on a Windows machine

NDI Discovery is a tool that enables you set up and manage Discovery Servers within workflows. We cover the capabilities of Discovery Service in depth in our White Paper.

Accessing NDI Discovery

. After installing it, access NDI Discovery from the or your applications folder.

Once you've installed Discovery check out our guide. For high level introduction on how Discovery works read on Receiver Discoverability, Monitoring, and Control.

Senders

Displays all NDI sources (“senders”) that have registered with the Discovery Server. Each sender entry shows its device name/hostname, the network address, and port it is streaming from. Devices appear grouped by hostname. This tab helps you quickly see which NDI devices are currently available to provide streams on your network.

Receivers

Shows all NDI receivers (endpoints listening for NDI streams) recognized by the Discovery Server. Devices are also grouped by hostname under receivers. This is especially useful when troubleshooting or confirming which machines are actively listening for NDI streams.

Settings

You can configure or change the Discovery Server IP and port. You can also see whether the application is connected to a Discovery Server and at which IP/port.

For first time set up, when using with for the first time be sure to select the Allow Receiver Advertising and Allow Receiver Control from the settings

NDI Test Patterns is a tool designed to facilitate precise audio and video calibration on NDI-enabled devices within your network.

With a range of test patterns and audio tones, this tool ensures accurate color properties and optimal sound levels.

Accessing NDI Test Patterns

and run NDI Test Patterns from the or your applications list.

Immediate NDI Signal Sharing

Upon launching, NDI Test Patterns will instantly share an NDI signal across your network, viewable on other NDI-enabled devices using software like Studio Monitor.

Viewing the NDI Signal

Right-click on the tool, select the device's name and choose Test Patterns to receive the signal from NDI Test Patterns.

Test Pattern Variety

Explore a variety of test patterns by scrolling down the page and selecting the one that best suits your calibration needs.

Custom Image Support

Click the plus button at the bottom left of the screen to add custom images to the list of patterns in NDI Test Patterns.

NDI Test Patterns supports images with embedded alpha, allowing you to load most 32-bit image file formats and use them as sources for overlays in your program.

Audio Calibration

Enable a one-kilohertz tone accompanying the NDI test pattern signal to test your audio equipment. Choose from various decibel levels to suit your audio calibration requirements.

NDI Studio Monitor is a tool that allows you to effortlessly view video and audio signals transmitted over your network through an NDI stream.

Studio Monitor is a valuable tool for anyone involved in video monitoring, digital signage, KVM control, recording, PTZ operation, or more.