About streaming NDI

NDI® (Network Device Interface) is used to transmit low-latency video content over Gigabit networks at broadcast quality with no audio compression. The quality of the video transported over the network is virtually lossless.

Pearl-2 can output any configured channel over the network as a unicast NDI stream. You setup the NDI stream for the channel using the Admin panel. NDI grouping is supported to allow for organizing of individual NDI resources.

You can use NDI on wired and wireless networks; however, NDI video is bandwidth intensive. Depending on the video content, a single 1920×1080@30 fps NDI video source needs about 125 Mbps of dedicated bandwidth.

For NDI to work properly, network ports 49152 to 65535 need to be open for two-way traffic. Contact your network administrator for assistance.

The unicast NDI stream can be ingested by other NDI devices on the network. You can start and stop the NDI output stream using either the Admin panel, the touch screen, or Epiphan Live, see Start and stop streaming to a CDN.

Important considerations

  • Pearl-2 can unicast up to four1920×1080 @ 30 fps NDI output streams at the same time. However, NDI allows receivers to request a lower quality stream. If that happens, Pearl-2 will send two streams: one at the original resolution and a second one at the requested resolution. This can impact the CPU performance of Pearl-2, see Optimum System Load.
  • Pearl-2 does not output NDI|HX.
  • We recommend having at least 125 Mbps Ethernet for a single 1920×1080 30 fps NDI stream, and between 8 to 20 Mbps for a single 1920×1080 30 fps NDI|HX stream. Keep in mind that a Gigabit Ethernet network will only have between 600 Mbps and 700 Mbps available for practical use. If multiple NDI receivers connect to an NDI stream on Pearl-2, the bandwidth needed for each NDI receiver adds to the total bandwidth consumption.
  • After you start an NDI stream on Pearl-2, if NDI detects there are no receivers connected to the stream, Pearl-2 stops broadcasting to conserve bandwidth and resources. However, the Pearl-2 stream can still be discovered on the network.

Pearl-2 can ingest up to three multicast or unicast 1920×1080@30 fps NDI video inputs, up to six 1920×1080@30 fps NDI|HX video inputs, or up to one 4K NDI input to Pearl-2. For more information about NDI inputs, see Connect an NDI source.