Other articles in this series:

This series seeks to examine and discuss NDI and its place in broadcast infrastructures. It is not supported by NDI and doesn’t seek to promote the use of NDI, but since its launch in 2015 it has seen pragmatic adoption by a number of broadcasters despite its non-standards-based approach. Today, many broadcast vendors are also incorporating NDI alongside standards-based formats, and some are even adopting NDI as the primary IP infrastructure when creating products aimed at non-broadcast markets.

In part one we looked at how NDI earned its spurs in the pro-AV market, and how Covid brought it wider attention in broadcast. Covid was an especially innovative time, and broadcasters were forced to think outside of the box to get content to air. Public and virtual private cloud workflows became a highly disruptive technology, and NDI was one of the only field-tested, low-latency protocols suitable for fast adoption into private clouds.

These days there are more alternatives, like JPEG XS, but NDI has continued to develop support. This is partly down to its ease of use and expanding ecosystem of third party adoptions, but it also plays into how the concept of live broadcasting has changed. With broadcasters generating live on-air content in increasingly distributed production environments, many broadcasters have continued to exploit NDI’s easy connectivity for things like live contribution feeds despite the availability of other IP video protocols.

It is an opportunity that the company has taken advantage of, encouraging more adoption by building more broadcast support into its ecosystem. It has done this in two ways; firstly by continuing to make it easy for third party vendors to bundle NDI connectivity into their products, delivering interoperable IP equipment which fits nicely into a larger ecosystem.

Secondly, NDI has continued to develop its suite of tools. The first NDI tools were introduced in 2016 and since then its toolkit has grown to better support end users, across increasingly more environments and in increasingly more vertical markets.

Bundles Of Joy

Bundled up into packages that correspond to specific operating systems, the NDI toolkit for Windows is its most comprehensive, with 10 applications and four plugins including an NDI Access Manager, NDI Router, NDI Screen Capture, NDI Studio Monitor, NDI Test Patterns, NDI Webcam Input, NDI Remote and NDI Analysis app.

The Mac OS bundle shares the NDI Access Manager, NDI Router, NDI Test Patterns and adds NDI Scan Converter, NDI Virtual Input and NDI Video Monitor applications. An NDI HX Camera, which turns an iOS or android mobile device into an IP-ready live video source is also available to download on Google Play and the App Store.

Many aim to replicate traditional hardware processes, although some are less applicable to broadcast workflows. However, this cannot be said about NDI Bridge, a development that appears in both the Windows and Mac bundles and is a toolset that NDI seems to have been increasingly focusing on since the pandemic. Both NDI Bridge and NDI Remote are particularly noteworthy to broadcasters as both were introduced in June 2021 to support the uptake of NDI in remote production environments. The NDI Bridge connects physically remote NDI infrastructures to one another in a similar way to a VPN and by doing so it aims to provide exactly the same remote and distributed connectivity both locally and remotely.

The same year also saw the launch of NDI Audio Direct, another application that takes advantage of broadcasters’ adoption of distributed workflows. We will look at NDI Bridge, NDI Remote and NDI Audio Direct in more detail later in the series.

For now, let’s have a brief look at each tool and what it does within NDI’s ecosystem.

The Tools:

Windows & Mac: NDI Access Manager

NDI Access Manager is NDI’s interpretation of a stream manager. As all NDI systems are part of a public NDI group by default, allowing full access of any other NDI systems, Access Manager allows users more control. It provides the ability to manage local and remote NDI sources on a network, such as cameras or encoders, and to group, combine and organize these sources however they want.

It provides multiple layers of security by restricting access to specific computers on the network and enabling admins to restrict access at operator level. It enables users to define "Receive Groups" and “Send Groups” to determine which NDI sources are discoverable on the network for sources coming into the computer and for sources that the computer belongs to.

It can also specify preferred protocols for receiving packets, such as UDP and TCP, which can be useful when running a mix of NDI versions, and it provides customization of multicast settings, which could be beneficial in specific network topologies using compatible switches. Users can also specify additional subnets to scan for NDI sources, which is useful in complex network setups with multiple subnets.

Windows & Mac: NDI Router

The NDI Router aims to provide an alternative for people who may not have the budget for professional video switchers, routing NDI video and audio streams to different destinations in a similar way to a traditional video switcher. It can manage up to 64 sources and 64 destinations and can switch between multiple NDI sources as well as generate an NDI output that can be networked to a specific destination. Users can assign NDI streams to buttons, and preview the source assigned to any destination.

Windows & Mac: NDI Studio Monitor /NDI Video Monitor

While the NDI Router is geared towards the management of video sources across a network, the NDI Studio Monitor focuses on real-time viewing and monitoring of NDI channels. They work together in a complimentary way, with the Router enabling distribution and management of signals and the Studio Monitor providing an interface for real-time monitoring of these signals.

The NDI Studio Monitor provides the ability to distribute and manage multiple instances from a single device, and each instance can be independently configured for video source, overlay, and audio. It also supports remote control of PTZ cameras, multi-monitor video walls and signage installations and can act as a router and server for delivering NDI sources to multiple outboard displays.

NDI Video Monitor provides a similar feature set but is part of NDI’s Mac bundle.

Windows: NDI Screen Capture

This feature generates an NDI source from a user’s computer screen and shares it with any other device on the network. Its output can be customized according to production needs; it can capture multiple monitors, allowing the user to select which screen to output as an NDI source, and it can include mouse input for presentations or tutorials. Meanwhile the frame rate can be adjusted to meet production needs with options for 60p, 59.94p, 50p, 30p, 29.97p, or 25p.

It can capture and present a full-screen display, but it can also manage any combinations of windows, applications, players, webcams, or regions of interest from any computer. Users can also select different audio sources, such as system audio or a microphone input, to accompany the video output and NDI says the app ensures everything remains in sync. Screen capture can also be used with KVM to enable control of virtual machines over the NDI network.

Windows & Mac: NDI Test Patterns

NDI Test Patterns helps calibrate audio and video on NDI-enabled devices within a network with a variety of test patterns and audio tone.

Windows: NDI Webcam Input

NDI Webcam Input allows the use of any NDI video and audio signal on a network as a webcam source, which the company says can enhance platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype.

Windows: NDI Analysis

NDI Analysis is used to examine the performance of NDI network connections and debug problems in any workflow.

Mac: NDI Scan Convertor

Part of the Mac bundle, NDI Scan Converter shares some functionality with the Screen Capture application. Both facilitate video streaming over a network, but both cater to different needs. Scan Converter is much more versatile, allowing for the capture of various sources including live productions as well as multi-monitor environments.

Mac: NDI Virtual Input

With NDI Virtual Input, users can recognize NDI sources as traditional video and audio sources to allow them to be used as video inputs for software applications like Microsoft Teams, Skype and Zoom.

A Focus On Broadcast

With plugins to integrate Adobe’s Premiere Pro and After Effects, NDI is aiming to streamline processes for all levels of user, but as more broadcast vendors take up the mantle from NDI’s traditional core AV and streaming markets, it is notable how the company has expanded its toolkit to better cater for remote connectivity.

In the last article in the series we will discuss how NDI Bridge has developed to allow devices on different networks to exchange data and video streams. We’ll also look at how NDI Audio aims to change the perception of NDI as a video-only codec and apply the same approach to audio networks, transporting multiple audio channels on one single NDI stream.