Introducing NDI 5.6 Core Tech Update

EDIT – 22nd February: Maintenance update 5.6.1. Click here to learn more.

Today, we are releasing the latest update to our Core Technology, NDI 5.6, which brings a set of optimizations and advancements to our SDKs and reinforces the NDI Bridge tool. This release is designed to facilitate hardware integration and upgrade the connectivity features in NDI-embedded products, empowering users with greater options, flexibility, and security when capturing, managing, and sharing video. 

The updated versions of our SDKs can be downloaded now and are ready to be integrated into software and hardware products.

Let’s dive into some of these updates and the value they create for NDI-enabled devices, applications, and video production workflows.

SDK Updates

With NDI 5.6, our SDK receives significant enhancements, opening up new avenues for interoperability, integration, and expanding options for users. Here are some key highlights:

1. Expanded Hardware Integration: We’ve updated our hardware compatibility with support for Intel Arria-10 FPGAs. This addition unlocks new integration possibilities, empowering developers to leverage the full potential of NDI in their FPGA-based solutions.

2. Alpha Channel Support for FPGA-based NDI Decoding: FPGA-based NDI decoders can now utilize the alpha channel information from NDI streams, enabling advanced video mixing and graphics integration.

NDI Bridge Updates

We’ve also supercharged NDI Bridge, our powerful tool for seamless streaming across networks. Here’s what NDI users can now find in this tool:

1. Encryption: updated encryption (TLS 1.3) means NDI over WAN is more robust and secure than ever (note that compatibility requires all NDI Bridge nodes to use version 5.6 or better). 

2. Configurable Stream Buffer: NDI Bridge now allows fine-tuning the streaming experience with configurable stream buffer settings down to the millisecond. Users will be able to strike the perfect balance between stream quality and latency, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted streaming experience.

These updates to NDI 5.6 — both to our SDK and NDI Bridge — bring upgraded value to users of our ecosystem of NDI-enabled products and anyone taking advantage of NDI-based workflows. They enable products to deliver superior video quality, provide enhanced interoperability, and offer a streaming experience with increased reliability and security.

FPGA updates

• Minor performance improvement to NDI encode logic when targeting Altera devices;
• Fix pattern generator mode when running in 4K 4:2:0 for Intel Altera; 
• Fixed cache coherency issue with Zynq 7000 examples; 
• uSD example images migrated from Debian Stretch to Bullseye; 
• Encode and Decode examples added for the Arria-10 SoC Development Kit;
• Altera projects migrated to Quartus 20.1.1 and Quartus Pro 22.2.0;
• Alpha channel support was added to the NDI decoder.

Note: for a full list of changes and updates, including bug fixes, consult the change list on NDI Tools Launcher or read the “NDI Changes.pdf” file, which can be found within the SDK package.

Maintenance update: 5.6.1 

As of 22nd February 2024, we have updated our core technology to address some issues present in the NDI 5.6 release. The highlights are:

• Important fix for Android developers solving a problem with mDNS in Android 14. Available on the NDI SDK and with NDI Advanced.
• New reference designs to support device manufacturers using the Kria KV260 development board by AMD. Available only with NDI Advanced.
  

Complete release notes:

SDK

• Bug fix in NDI genlock, where the genlock connect API call could get blocked.
• Updated the NDI library for Android to use an embedded version of mDNS for compatibility with newer Android OS.
• Fixed a potential crash in NDI library when destroying the NDI sender instance on Windows.

Updates specific to NDI Advanced

• Xilinx projects migrated to 2022.1 tools.
• Added reference design for Kria KV260 development board by AMD.
• Buf fix in the clear-text FPGA logic.
• Zynq 7000 HDMI Rx logic improved.
• uSD images migrated to Debian 12 (Bookworm).

NDI Tools

• Bug fix in NDI Test Patterns for Windows where the NDI send pattern would appear green when changing the frame rate of imported stills.
• Bug fix in NDI Screen Capture for Windows where options were not correctly restored on system reboot/restart.
• Bug fix in NDI Bridge when displaying calculated bandwidth in the Ul.
• Fixed an issue in NDI DirectShow filter to preserve the aspect ratio.

The latest release notes are always available for consultation in our online documentation.

Upgrade to NDI 5.6.1

Experience the updated features of NDI 5.6.1 by upgrading your video connectivity and unlocking even more flexibility, both in integration possibilities and workflow configurations. Whether you’re a product developer, AV system integrator, or overall technology enthusiast, you can now start integrating or using the most advanced version of our core technology.

Thank you for connecting with NDI.