NDI
NDI (Network Device Interface) is Vizrt's proprietary SDK/certification ecosystem for video, audio, metadata, discovery, and control over IP. It enables sources such as cameras, computers, capture devices, software tools, and media systems to publish and receive live streams over Ethernet with software-controlled routing and built-in discovery. NDI High Bandwidth is the higher-bitrate SpeedHQ branch; NDI HX2 and NDI HX3 use H.264 / H.265 for lower bandwidth at the cost of codec latency and implementation variability. Do not treat "NDI compatible" as sufficient IT language: the format tier, discovery method, stream count, transport mode, multicast requirement, and firewall ranges all matter.
Scope: NDI — select the deployed product/version; optional services require separate selection.
protocol · Catalog reviewed 2026-10-21
Related requirements
Review these entries for the services used in your design.
By Vizrt/NewTek
Infrastructure Requirements
- 1 GbE minimum for ordinary endpoint work
- 10 GbE uplinks/backbones for stream fanout or High Bandwidth density
- mDNS/Bonjour for small flat-LAN discovery or NDI Discovery Server for segmented/subnetted designs
- IGMP snooping/querier only when multicast mode is enabled
- standard-MTU, full-duplex switching
- flow control commonly recommended by NDI switch guidance
Network & Physical Requirements
| Port / allocation | Transport | Connection / signal flow | Feature and requirement | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5353 | UDP Multicast: 224.0.0.251; ff02::fb | NDI endpoint → Local peers | Profile requirement · Core Local mDNS discovery NDI local discovery | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| 5959 | TCP | NDI endpoint → Discovery Server | Optional · Discovery Server NDI Discovery Server NDI Discovery Server | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| 5960 | TCP | NDI receiver → NDI sender | Profile requirement · Core Remote source query NDI remote source query | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| 5961+ (set ceiling) | TCP | Selected NDI process → Peer NDI process | Profile requirement · TCP media TCP media allocations NDI published start-at allocation No universal fixed upper bound. Confirm implementation, process count and configured/observed upper bound before approving a firewall range. Reliable UDP can share one port across process connections. | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| 5960+ (set ceiling) | UDP | Selected NDI process → Peer NDI process | Profile requirement · Reliable UDP (NDI 5+) Reliable UDP allocations NDI published start-at allocation No universal fixed upper bound. Confirm implementation, process count and configured/observed upper bound before approving a firewall range. Reliable UDP can share one port across process connections. | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| 6960+ (set ceiling) | TCP/UDP | Selected NDI process → Peer NDI process | Profile requirement · Receive connections Receive connection allocations NDI published start-at allocation No universal fixed upper bound. Confirm implementation, process count and configured/observed upper bound before approving a firewall range. Reliable UDP can share one port across process connections. | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| 7960+ (set ceiling) | TCP/UDP | Selected NDI process → Peer NDI process | Profile requirement · Send connections Send connection allocations NDI published start-at allocation No universal fixed upper bound. Confirm implementation, process count and configured/observed upper bound before approving a firewall range. Reliable UDP can share one port across process connections. | Source checked 2026-09-27 NDI-related network ports table |
| Configured | UDP Multicast: Sender-selected groups from configured netprefix/netmask pool; no universal group | Multicast-enabled NDI sender → Joined NDI receivers | Optional · Multicast media Optional sender-configured multicast media NDI SDK multicast send/receive configuration; enabled at sender and receiver, subject to product/version support SDK documentation confirms configurable multicast address pools and TTL, with multicast sending disabled by default. Receivers also use a unicast TCP metadata connection (NDI white paper: Multicast). The related-network-ports table documents 7960+ send allocations. No fixed project port or group is implied here: obtain the actual endpoint allocation before approving bounded firewall rules. IGMP snooping and a querier are needed for managed multicast distribution. | Source checked 2026-10-21 Multicast send/recv settings: enable, netprefix, netmask and TTL; sender chooses multiple groups |
Gotchas & IT Notes
- ⚠Select NDI edition, SDK/device version and negotiated transport. HX, Bridge and embedded products may add separate services.
- ⚠Start-at allocations are planning requirements, not single fixed ports or a recommendation to allow through 65535. Establish a bounded project rule.
- ⚠Size bandwidth for actual format, compression, frame rate and simultaneous send/receive streams; ports do not count audio/video channels.