Magewell NDI Encoders & Decoders
This year at the 2019 NAB Show, Magewell was displaying some of their latest professional video production capture devices for the NewTek NDI. The NewTek NDI is a low latency IP video standard for sending and receiving production quality video over a local area network. Magewell is well known for their professional capture devices for HDMI and SDI, so their foray into the IP world is of great interest to production experts using NDI.

Magewell Pro Convert 4k
Magewell Pro Convert 4K
The first product we look at is called the Magewell Pro Convert which can act as both an encoder or decoder using their latest firmware. An NDI decoder will allow users to output an NDI video source from their local area network via HDMI. This is an easy way to power an LCD monitor or project with a low-latency NDI video feed. This particular Pro Convert HDMI Plus 4K, supports 4K video and features a tally light option, PTZ camera control for analog 8-pin mini cameras (like the PTZOptics cameras) and an HDMI loop-through. The HDMI loop-through on this product is of particular interest because it allows users to quickly add NDI functionality to an existing HDMI or HD-SDI workflow without breaking the existing signal path. This device can be used as an NDI decoder or NDI encoder. This device easily be connected and powered to a Power Over Ethernet (PoE) network switch.
In this demonstration, we have a second generation PTZOptics SDI camera connected to the Magewell Pro Convert 4k via HDMI and 8-pin mini-din for PTZ camera control. Over the local area network connection, Magewell is showing the NewTek NDI Studio Monitor being used to display the low-latency video with PTZ camera controls. This is one specific case study that is ideal for camera remote camera operators. This also allows older SONY style PTZ camera to add NDI functionality easily with this device.
Magewell Ultra-Stream Encoder

Magewell Ultrastream
The next product featured in this video from the 2019 NAB Show is the Magewell Ultra Stream. This product allows users to take an HDMI video and audio stream from their production computer and encode that video for live streaming. This encoder is used to off-load the processing power it would take to live stream from a regular computer and put that processing on a dedicated device. The Ultrastream is the first of its kind in the $299 price point allowing users the ability to quickly live stream to multiple CDN destinations. The included smartphone app allows users to quickly configure where they would like to be live streaming and/or recording. The device is incredibly simple to use and includes 2 simple buttons on the top one for streaming and one for recording.
Magewell NDI Bridge

Magewell Bridge for NDI
The brand new Magewell NDI bridge is a software application now available for Windows which can convert any Magewell product into an NDI encoder. The software includes many of the features that you may have seen in the NDI studio monitor but also allows users to interface directly with Magewell PCIe cards and other capture devices. With this software, Magewell users with Pro Capture devices can run this software to efficiently convert all of the SDI or HDMI sources directly into NDI IP video sources.
Learn more about the NewTek NDI for live streaming PTZ Cameras
- Are you using the NDI Studio Monitor yet? Here's everything you need to know. Here.
- Learn how to quickly set up your PTZOptics NDI camera here
- Check out our guidelines for choosing the best network switch for NDI here.
- How to upgrade your PTZOptics camera to support the NewTek NDI here.
- More on Troubleshooting with the NewTek NDI here.
- Optimizing your RTSP, RTMP and NDI settings for live streaming. Learn more here.
- 2018 NAB Show interview with Dr. Andrew Cross on the future of NDI here.
- Check out test results from NDI Cameras with wirecast, vmix, xsplit and Livestream here.
- NDI HX is the new “High Efficiency” version of the NewTek NDI. Learn more here.
- Your NewTek NDI questions answered from Dr. Andrew Cross here.
- 20 Minutes on the NewTek NDI w/ the chief engineer here.
- The world of video conferencing w/ IP Video & the NewTek NDI here.
- All your questions about the NewTek NDI cameras answered live here.
- PTZOptics releases four NDI compatible PTZ camera models here.
- H.265 Streaming, VLC integration and the NDI plugin here.
- How to add cameras to the Newtek Connect Pro App here.
- How to use NDI Transmit for video conferencing with the Newtek NDI here.
- Using NewTek NDI with Multicast here.
- Learn how to use NDI & RTSP streaming cameras with OBS here.
- Posted by Paul Richards
- 3G SDI, 4K, Broadcast, Magewell, NDI, Videos
- Magewell, Magewell Bridge, NewTek NDI, PCIe
- 0 Comment