The difference between NDI and NDI HX

NDI, a network interface protocol, is a high-quality, low-latency, multi-channel IP video transmission standard pioneered by NewTek. After NDI coding, audio and video signals can be transmitted and received through IP network in real time, and have the characteristics of low delay, accurate frame video, data stream recognition and communication.

Today, there are two versions of Ndi world, all 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 in quality, which can replace complex SDI / HDMI connections, but requires some bandwidth, such as 140 Mbps for a single 1080p60 NDI STREAM A single 4Kp60 NDI stream requires 250 Mbps. For video transmission has high-quality requirements, need to use the full NDI coding and transmission. If you want to stream multiple NDI sources at the same time, the local network bandwidth is limited, such as the 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 that has the advantage of low bandwidth requirements, allowing a simple gigabit network to host multiple video streams without consuming a large amount of network traffic, For example, a single 1080p60 NDI stream requires only about 10 Mbps. The low bandwidth advantage allows NDI | HX to be easily deployed using WiFi wireless connections, or network links that are slower than gigabits. Note that NDI | HX has a bit of latency compared to full Ndi, but it is still acceptable and still better than the existing RTSP transmission latency. The delay depends on the device used, frame rate, video resolution, and network conditions.

With the popularity of NDI, much real-time streaming software and devices already support NDI, such as Wirecast, vMix, Livestream Studio, OBS, Xsplit, Streamstar, and NewTekTricasters. There are also many NDI encoding transfer front-end products available on the market (converting SDI / HDMI signals to NDI streams) to help you quickly and effectively join video IP production and transfer systems. For example, the NEWTEKSPARK CODING SERIES.