Formula X adopts NDI for seamless live stream on race day

Formula X Racing Weekend organizers deployed a full IP-based video workflow and low-latency solution running NDI HX, ensuring the live stream kept pace with the high-speed action on the race track.

Challenge

Formula X Racing Weekend is an Italian motorsport championship that takes place at top race tracks across Italy. With limited time to set up video production at each event as Formula X Racing Weekend travels from city to city, the organization needed a plug-and-play solution that was easy to use and seamless to operate. While simplicity was the goal for set up, the races required high-efficiency video production to broadcast the real-time action to its fans without being constrained by cables and bandwidth.

Solution

Formula X Racing Weekend worked with ADCOM and Kiloview to deliver a full IP-based live-streaming solution using Kiloview products to make the most of the NDI HX format.

Six Kiloview P1 and P2 4G Bonding Encoders were located on different cameras. With optimized technology, Kiloview P series encoders offer an ultra-low latency video delivering less than one-second delay for remote production. Kiloview’s MG300 Media Gateway was selected to transcode the SRT from the cameras directly into NDI HX to be input into the video switcher, making a full IP workflow possible.

NDI HX harnesses codecs H.264 and H.265 with reduced bitrates and no visible compression artifacts for visually lossless images. With very low glass-to-glass latency and a rapidly growing ecosystem of devices, NDI HX is removing the limits to video connectivity. It’s the perfect video connectivity format for challenging environments where bandwidth might be limited.

The client wanted to have a full IP workflow, so instead of using standard SDI decoding for each camera, we moved to a total NDI solution.

Simone Messina, Technical Consultant of Formula X Racing Weekend.

Outcome

Broadcast of the Formula X Racing Weekend kept fans up to speed on the action in real-time, and Kiloview’s setup using NDI as the backbone of the livestream fully met the needs of the organization.

By deploying everything on the cloud using VPS technology, the team had great flexibility to handle every part of the setup without adding weight to their production, and it also reduced the overall number of physical computers needed. Preparation, set up, and rehearsal time for the event was reduced from a few days to just a few hours with the designed broadcast solution.

Kiloview provided all IP workflow for this event, reducing the need for hardware and staffing compared with the standard-based broadcasting events. To some extent, it lowers production prices overall. The applied technology fully meets our needs. This IP workflow opens many possible solutions for event direction setup. From the most complex outside broadcast solution to a single workstation.

Luca Panizzi, CEO of FX Master Racing Weekend