NDI is a network interface protocol, a high-quality, low-latency, multi-channel IP video transmission standard pioneered by NewTek. After performing NDI encoding, the audio and video sources can transmit and receive multiple broadcast quality real-time signals through the network, and have the characteristics of low delay, accurate frame video, mutual recognition and communication of data streams.

Now there are two versions of NDI: NDI® and NDI | HX. All NDI ® is an I-frame high bit rate protocol with ultra-low latency (1 frame or less) and almost no loss of quality, which can replace complex SDI/HDMI connections, but requires a certain bandwidth, such as a single 1080p60 An NDI stream may require 140 Mbps, and a single 4Kp60 NDI stream requires 250 Mbps. For high quality video transmission, NDI ® is required for encoding and transmission. If you want to stream multiple NDI sources at the same time, it is limited by the bandwidth of the local network. For example, Gigabit Ethernet can only transmit several NDI sources at the same time.

NDI|HX is a low-bandwidth version of NDI, a compressed version of the long GOP H.264 variant with the advantage of low bandwidth requirements, allowing a simple Gigabit network to carry multiple video streams without consuming large amounts of network traffic, such as A single 1080p60 NDI stream requires only about 10 Mbps. The low bandwidth advantage allows the NDI|HX to be deployed with a WiFi wireless connection or a network link that is less than a gigabit speed. It should be noted that NDI|HX will produce a little delay compared to all NDI®, but it is still acceptable and still better than the existing RTSP transmission delay. The amount of delay depends on the device used, frame rate, video resolution, and network conditions.

With the popularity of NDI technology, many real-time streaming software and devices support NDI, such as Wirecast, vMix, LiveStream Studio, OBS, xSplit, StreamStar and NewTekTricasters. There are also many NDI coded transmission front-end products available on the market (convert SDI/HDMI signals to NDI streams) to help you quickly and efficiently join video IP production and transmission systems. For example, NewTekSpark code series, Changsha Qianshi NDI wireless video encoder (NDI|HX version) and 4KNDI codec (full NDI® version), etc., and more NDI-capable cameras are available, such as Lumens, Newtek, Panasonic. Both NDI|HX and PTZOptics cameras are supported.