Check whether your network carries your NDI streams with headroom, and work out the bandwidth and latency to set for an SRT link from the packet loss and round-trip time you measured.
For NDI HX and other compressed streams, enter the bitrate your devices are set to, or one you measured.
With unicast, every extra receiver pulls its own copy of the stream, so receivers multiply the load. Multicast avoids this where your network supports it.
Headroom is the share of the link you keep free. 25 % is a common starting point, so change it to match your own rules.
Measure loss and RTT over a test stream on the real link, not a guess. Settings below follow the SRT Deployment Guide bands for loss up to 10 %.
IP video fails in two ways: the link is simply too small, or it is big enough on paper but has no room left for bursts. This planner checks both. Enter how many streams you have, how many receivers pull each one, the speed of the link and how much headroom you want to keep, and it tells you the load, the utilisation and how many streams would still fit.
NDI publishes about 130 Mb/s for a 1080p60 NDI High Bandwidth stream and about 250 Mb/s for 2160p60. Its white paper quotes up to 150 Mb/s for a typical 1080p60 stream, so we offer that as a conservative preset. Real bitrates vary with picture content. NDI HX bitrates depend on the device and its settings, and published numbers differ widely, so for HX and other compressed sources you enter your own figure.
With unicast, a stream sent to three receivers is sent three times. A source going to a multiviewer, a recorder and a vision mixer is three streams on the wire, not one. NDI also notes that gigabit is the realistic baseline for production, and that larger systems often need 10 GbE.
SRT recovers lost packets by asking for them again, and that costs bandwidth and time. The SRT Deployment Guide ties both to the packet loss you measure: for loss up to 1 % use an RTT multiplier of 3 and about 33 % overhead; up to 3 %, 4 and 25 %; up to 7 %, 5 and 20 %; up to 10 %, 6 and 17 %. SRT latency is the multiplier times the round-trip time (with RTTs below 20 ms treated as 20 ms), and the link must carry at least the stream bitrate times one plus the overhead.
If you measure more than 10 % loss, no setting will rescue the stream. Fix the path first.
NDI figures: NDI documentation (High Bandwidth ~130 Mb/s at 1080p60 and ~250 Mb/s at 2160p60; white paper up to 150 Mb/s per typical 1080p60 stream). SRT settings: SRT Deployment Guide loss bands, as published in vendor documentation such as Haivision SRT.
NDI documents about 130 Mb/s for 1080p60 and about 250 Mb/s for 2160p60 in NDI High Bandwidth, and up to 150 Mb/s for a typical 1080p60 stream in its white paper. NDI HX uses far less, but the figure depends on the device and its settings.
For a handful of 1080p streams, yes. NDI itself calls gigabit essential for production. But each 1080p60 High Bandwidth stream can use over 10 % of a 1 GbE link, so larger systems quickly need 10 GbE.
Headroom is the part of the link you deliberately leave unused so traffic bursts and other devices do not cause drops. We default to 25 %, a common starting point, and you can set your own.
Measure round-trip time and packet loss on the real link, then use the RTT multiplier for your loss band (3 to 6 times RTT, with RTT taken as at least 20 ms). The planner does this for you.
About 33 % at up to 1 % loss, 25 % up to 3 %, 20 % up to 7 % and 17 % up to 10 %, according to the SRT Deployment Guide. Plan the link for the stream bitrate plus that overhead.
No. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Yes. CGRoll plays out broadcast graphics over NDI or SDI fill and key, driven from Excel/CSV or your rundown. There is a free 7-day trial.
CGRoll plays out data-driven broadcast graphics over NDI or Decklink SDI fill and key, with a real template editor and live data from Excel/CSV or your rundown. Free 7-day trial.