NewTek Announces NDI – Open Protocol for IP Production Workflow

NewTek Announces NDI – Open Protocol for IP Production Workflow

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2015


NewTek Announces NDI – Open Protocol for IP Production Workflow

—Expected to be the widest adopted IP standard on the market at launch in Q4—

SAN ANTONIO, September 8, 2015NewTek today announced Network Device Interface (NDI), a new open standard for live production IP workflows over Ethernet networks. NDI allows multiple video 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 in real-time. This new protocol can benefit any network-connected video device, including video mixers, graphics systems, capture cards, and many other production devices. NDI connectivity will be available in Q4 as a royalty free software developer kit (SDK) for anyone wanting to enable IP workflows in their facilities, or in production devices and systems they manufacture.

“The move to IP for professional video production will unquestionably be among the most revolutionary and transformative changes of the decade. We are very excited to be opening our network protocols so that the entire industry can benefit from them,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, NewTek’s president and CTO. “At launch, NDI will work with applications from almost every major vendor and virtually every I/O card on the market, meaning that it will be broadly available for real-world production use starting in Q4 this year.”

NDI’s superb performance over standard GigE networks makes it possible to transition facilities to an incredibly versatile IP video production pipeline without negating existing investments in SDI cameras and infrastructure, or costly new high-speed network infrastructures. Leveraging more than a decade of NewTek experience with IP in the context of computer-based live video production workflows, NDI support at launch extends to well over 100,000 compatible systems already deployed worldwide, making it by far the most prolific IP video transfer method in the production market.

NewTek worked closely with a large number of top manufacturers and developers to allow IP connectivity between devices. NDI’s backwards compatibility means that along with NewTek products and systems from Brainstorm, CasparCG, CharacterWorks, ChyronHego, ClassX, Compix, EasyWorship, Gnural Net, Graphics Outfitters, LiveXpert, Media 5, PlayBox Technology, Teradek, Vizrt, Wasp3D and many more will be NDI-enabled on the day of launch. NewTek has also collaborated with AJA, DELTACAST and Matrox to enable their capture cards to act as NDI senders or receivers; support for Blackmagic Design cards will also be provided. Boland, JVC, LiveU, NewsMaker, Panasonic, PESA, Sienna and Wowza are also working on providing NDI-based solutions.

"IP-based workflows are without a doubt the future of video production, and we are excited to work with NewTek on opening the standards to allow any company or customer to change their workflow,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, chief technology officer of Vizrt.

"IP-based workflows represent a very important arm of the future of video production and the prospect of a unified IP video system as represented by NewTek’s open NDI protocol is very exciting," said Nick Rashby, president, AJA Video Systems. “We're pleased that NewTek will be supporting NDI on all our KONA, CORVID and Io product lines, opening up opportunities for their customers and ours to use existing infrastructure to rapidly engage in new workflow opportunities almost immediately.”

Typically, SDI systems and other IP workflows that utilize point-to-point network connections are heavily dependent on expensive high-speed infrastructures. In contrast, NDI is a bi-directional standard that can operate over a GigE local area network, with many video streams on a shared connection. Its encoding algorithm is resolution and frame-rate independent, supporting 4K (and beyond) along with 16 channels (and more) of floating-point audio. The protocol also includes tools that implement video access rights, grouping, bi-direction metadata and IP commands.

Sending, finding and receiving any number of streams are supported through the NewTek SDK, which will be available license-free allowing anyone to use it. NewTek is collaborating with current and new customers, manufacturers and developers on the NDI standard. All interested parties are encouraged to contact NewTek directly via email at [email protected] or visit ndi.newtek.com.

For more information on all NewTek products, please visit www.newtek.com.


About NewTek

NewTek is transforming the way people create network-style television content and share it with the world. From sporting events, Web-based talk shows, live entertainment, classrooms, and corporate communications, to virtually any place people want to capture and publish live video, we give our customers the power to grow their audiences, brands and businesses faster than ever before.

Clients include: New York Giants, NBA Development League, Fox News, BBC, NHL, Nickelodeon, CBS Radio, ESPN Radio, Fox Sports, MTV, TWiT.TV, USA TODAY, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and more than 80% of the U.S. Fortune 100.

NewTek is privately owned and based in San Antonio, Texas.  For more information on NewTek please visit: www.newtek.comTwitterYouTubeFlickr or connect with us on Facebook.
  • TriCaster, TalkShow, and LightWave 3D are registered trademarks of NewTek, Inc.
  • NDI, 3Play, LightWave, ProTek, and Broadcast Minds are trademarks and/or service marks of NewTek, Inc.
  • All other products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

NewTek NDI Supporting Partner Quotes

AJA
"IP-based workflows represent a very important arm of the future of video production and the prospect of a unified IP video system as represented by NewTek’s open NDI protocol is very exciting. We're pleased that NewTek will be supporting NDI on all our KONA, CORVID and Io product lines, opening up opportunities for their customers and ours to use existing infrastructure to rapidly engage in new workflow opportunities almost immediately.”

– Nick Rashby, President, AJA Video Systems

ChyronHego
“IP is a true game changer in video infrastructure. ChyronHego is very proud to have been pioneering graphics/switcher integration over IP together with NewTek since 2012 and to continue to push forward with NewTek in this space.”

– Sören Kjellin, Chief Technology Officer, ChyronHego

Vizrt
"IP-based workflows are without a doubt the future of video production, and we are excited to work with NewTek on opening the standards to allow any company or customer change their workflow."

– Petter Ole Jakobsen, Chief Technology Officer, Vizrt

Video profesional de JVC
“We are excited to be working with NewTek to make video over IP happen now. This collaborative move between JVC Professional Video and NewTek opens up opportunities for our customers, many of whom are now enjoying the benefits of IP video.”

- Lon Mass, Vice President, JVC Professional Video

Wowza Media Systems
“NewTek’s innovative NDI standard and unified IP video systems are completely aligned with Wowza’s vision for broadcaster production and delivery. NewTek’s approach will help complete the end-to-end digital workflow and simplify the creation and distribution of HD quality production video and delivery over the Internet. Together Wowza and NewTek provide a seamless streaming experience to any device, anywhere.”

– Carlos E. Perez, Chief Revenue Officer, Wowza Media Systems

CharacterWorks
“NewTek’s vision for a standard, simplified IP video system is unlike any other being proposed today. It promises to move the industry towards IP faster than most might expect. CharacterWorks is excited to be participating in this effort with NewTek as it gives customers a new form of creative freedom that’s unique and unprecedented.”

– Gökhan Sönmez, Chief Creative Officer, CharacterWorks

PESA
“PESA has a long history of integration and interoperability with many of the NDI partners. Our recent collaboration with NewTek has had a positive impact on both of our customer bases as we have worked to make our products operate seamlessly together. We look forward to expanding that partnership along with the others that are part of this new development.”

– John Naylor, VP Global Sales & Distribution, PESA

LiveXpert
“We were among the first to use NewTek IP connectivity with our graphic solution dedicated to sport and live production. This collaborative move between our companies clearly opens up opportunities for our customers and for us to work with others on making this technology available today.”

– Franck Lafage, Chief Executive Officer, LiveXpert

Gnural Net
"IP-based workflows will advance the art of video production in ways the industry is just starting to appreciate. With IP technologies being core to our products, Gnural Net is excited to be working with NewTek and their partners in pushing that boundary even further with NDI. We definitely look forward to the exciting new capabilities it will let us bring to our clients."

– John Mahoney, CEO & Founder, Gnural Net

MEDIA 5
“We believe in the coming years, all video will be transferred by IP. MEDIA 5 is proud to be associated with NDI, which unlike other IP protocols will be supported by many thousands of devices already in use today. Our collaboration with NewTek opens up new opportunities for our customers and for our company.”

– Moisés Martini, Chief Executive Officer, MEDIA 5

LiveU
“IP-based workflows are the future of our industry. We are excited to work with NewTek on NDI to open a standard that allows any company or customer to take advantage of the flexibility and power that it brings to our solutions.”

– Samuel Wasserman, Chief Executive Officer, LiveU

ClassX
"ClassX is a proud early adopter of the iVGA protocol. NDI will leverage IP-based workflow and will allow us to raise the bar of the graphics productivity of our products in the world of NewTek solutions."

– Alessandro Messineo, ClassX

DELTACAST
“The vision for a unified IP video system that is easy to work with and goes beyond just piping video around is truly exciting to DELTACAST and we are excited to be working with NewTek and the huge number of other companies that are looking to fundamentally change this space.”

– Christian Dutilleux, Chief Executive Officer, DELTACAST

Brainstorm Media
“NewTek’s NDI protocol will greatly benefit and complement Brainstorm’s latest developments of our virtual studio and on-air graphics products as well as simplify the hardware requirements, resulting in cost reductions. A feature of NDI that we particularly like is that it facilitates the long distance transmission of content with embedded data. This capability is extremely useful for our TrackFree and augmented reality technology whereby a presenter can be ‘teletransported’ to a remote location and integrated into a live event.”

– Ricardo Montesa, Founder and CEO, Brainstorm Multimedia

NewsMaker
“This is an exciting time for the industry and working with NewTek and their partners on NDI is truly exciting because it presents a vision for the future of IP-based workflows that is not just an extension of what we have now.”

– Dean L. Kolkey, President, NewsMaker

Matrox Video
“We are pleased to partner with NewTek to enhance our VS4 multi-channel input card with support for NDI. Any VS4-equipped system can now be used as remote IP-based inputs to NewTek’s live production and streaming systems or as a frame-accurate multi-channel ISO ingest solution with our VS4Recorder Pro software. NDI is the type of innovation Matrox enthusiastically supports as we promote productivity, creativity and new opportunities for our customers.”

– Alberto Cieri, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, Matrox Video

Teradek
“Teradek is proud to continue developing to the NDI standard, in conjunction with NewTek, to streamline solutions for creating a more capable production environment. Our integration with NewTek has been worth it since we have seamlessly incorporated our Cube, Bond and other IP-based Teradek encoders as networked sources using our Stream Reader plug-in. In addition, our latest collaboration has allowed NewTek TriCasters to receive zero-delay wireless video over USB 3.0 with Teradek Bolt's GRAB engine.”

– Nicol Verheem, Chief Executive Officer, Teradek