BirdDog NDI Encoder/Decoder - STUDIO NDI

The one that started it all.

Studio NDI is the world’s flagship NDI® Encoder and Decoder. Built around BirdDog’s custom NDI® silicon chip and housed in an aircraft grade aluminium case, Studio NDI has been engineered from the ground up for real-world users. Featuring SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs, built-in cross converter, active loop outs, audio intercom system, NDI® tally system, PoE, and compatibility with BirdDog’s Comms and Central Apps, Studio NDI is the perfect addition to any live producers toolkit.

Built with total flexibility in mind Studio NDI can be configured as an NDI® Encoder or NDI® Decoder with a simple click of a button. Studio NDI is the World’s Only NDI® Hardware capable of Encoding resolutions up to 1080p60 SDI and HDMI to NDI® and Decoding NDI® resolutions up to 1080p60 to SDI or HDMI.

In the world of NDI® there are two flavours, NDI® and NDI|HX. NDI® is a variable bit rate, I-Frame codec that is reaches around 140Mbits at 1080p60 and is visually lossless. NDI|HX is a compressed, long-GOP, H.264 variant that reaches around 12Mbits at 1080p60. Studio NDI hardware only Encodes and Decodes Full YUV422 NDI®.

BirdDog’s revolutionary custom silicon chip is what drives the best NDI products on the planet. Only BirdDog’s hardware can do line-based processing to give the fastest possible NDI® Encoding or Decoding technically possible.

Download the free BirdDog RESTful API and program your own automation for all BirdDog hardware endpoints, including cameras.

Full NDI® is a variable bit rate codec. In normal circumstances BirdDog recommends allowing around 140Mbps in HD, or 6 streams per 1GbE cable with some headroom. In 4K it is recommended to allow around 300Mbps or 3 streams with some headroom to allow for any unforeseen spikes. With BirdDog’s tools you can select the bit rate to suit your bandwidth and requirements. In both HD you can slide between 80-180Mbps and in 4K you can select the data rate to be anywhere between 60 and 360Mbps.

Studio NDI is the World’s Only NDI® hardware Encoder/Decoder featuring both SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs.

Studio NDI’s unique video processing engine allows for the ultimate flexibility to fit your needs. Use as a standalone cross converter to convert SDI to HDMI and HDMI to SDI. When cross converting the loop out is also still active.

The world’s first NDI® Tally system is built right into Studio NDI and it requires zero configuration. Includes a built-in large Tally display for your on-air talent to easily see which camera is live, plus user selectable Tally borders on loop out, and an external Tally output.

Studio NDI can be powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE) or D-Tap from your camera battery. No need for a power adapter, although there is one in the box if you need it.

When the fingers first touch the sensuous anodised aluminium case housing the multi-layered PCB board, it’s easier to imagine Studio NDI on display within the Louvre in Paris than on a live video production set, but that is where the deception of the senses first takes place. The perfectly finished casing is actually aircraft grade aluminium and designed to withstand the rigours of life on the road.

A ¼-20” thread top and bottom allows for easy mounting on magic arms and other traditional camera mounting gear whilst the 7mm diameter through holes can be used for mounting on cheese plates. The optional camera mount adds a ¼-20 thread to the bottom for an elegant method of mounting in a hot or cold shoe with a ballhead.

BirdDog are pleased to offer free Central Pro and Comms Pro worth $1490 to all our Educational, House of Worship, and Not for Profit customers.

Studio NDI includes free Audio Intercom software, Comms Lite. Comms Lite supports four BirdDog devices and one Director. Need a more powerful Audio Intercom solution? Comms Pro gives you all the amazing features of Comms Lite plus allows you create you up to five groups, adds additional push to talk buttons for the director, ability to change groups on the fly, plus more. Comms Pro is just $495.

BirdDog Central is a software platform set to redefine the way we think about driving content to TV screens. By teaming up Central with any NDI® source, including all BirdDog hardware capable of creating NDI® sources, you can now drive your NDI® streams to any BirdDog Studio NDI or Mini to decode NDI® back to SDI or HDMI.