Connect an NDI|HX source

Applies to: Pearl Mini, Pearl Nexus

Device differences

• Pearl-2 supports full NDI (including Alpha channel) in addition to NDI|HX, with different input limits and bandwidth figures, and is documented separately.
• Pearl Nano does not support NDI or NDI|HX inputs or streaming at all.

NDI® lets you transmit and receive low latency video over Gigabit Ethernet networks. This device supports ingest of high efficiency NDI|HX and does not support Alpha channel. Any mention of using NDI with this device in this user guide refers to NDI|HX inputs.

Video and audio can come from a variety of NDI|HX sources, including:

• Remote NDI|HX enabled PTZ cameras
• Any NDI|HX unaware HDMI/SDI source using an NDI|HX converter
• NDI|HX output from IOS and Android mobile devices running the NewTek NDI camera app

The device discovers and lists all available NDI|HX resources on the same network. Simply choose which NDI|HX source you want from a list. Optionally, you can search for specific NDI|HX sources by name and NDI|HX group. You can also discover specific NDI|HX devices installed on different networks, subnets, and on networks that have mDNS disabled. The device also supports adding an NDI discovery server to the network configuration to help discover NDI|HX sources on the network.

Important considerations

• For NDI|HX to work properly, network ports 49152 to 65535 need to be open for two-way traffic. Contact your network administrator for assistance.
• The network discovery port 5557 on the device must be enabled (default).
• The device supports up to three 1920×1080@30 fps inputs simultaneously. Up to two of those 1080@30 inputs can be from an NDI|HX source.

To connect an NDI|HX source:

• Log in to the Admin panel as admin.
• From the Inputs menu, click Add input. The Add input page opens with all available NDI|HX resources listed.
• Do one of the following:
  • If the NDI|HX resource is listed, select Add beside it. The new NDI|HX input details page opens.
  • If the NDI|HX resource is assigned to an NDI|HX group, enter the group name and click Discover to see available resources in that group, then select Add.
  • If a remote NDI|HX resource is on a different network/subnet, or mDNS is disabled, enter its IP address in the Extra source IP addresses field and click Discover. Use a comma to separate multiple IP addresses, then select Add.
  • Alternatively, if the device is configured with the IP address of an available NDI|HX Discovery server, it will query the discovery server for available NDI|HX sources.
  • To add an NDI|HX input without selecting a resource, click Add NDI input. A blank NDI|HX input details page opens; you can search for and assign a resource later.
  • (Optional) On the NDI|HX input details page, check Ignore timecode to have the device ignore any timecode information in the NDI|HX signal — useful if the source doesn't send a timecode or its timecode is unstable.
• Click Apply.

After your NDI|HX source is connected, you can view basic video and audio signal information and packet loss statistics under the Status header at the top of the page. Any warnings or errors associated with the NDI|HX signal are also displayed there.