BirdDog Unveils Ultra-Low Latency NDI Hardware Decoding

BirdDog announced the immediate availability of ultra-low latency NDI Decoding in FPGA via a free firmware update for Studio NDI and Mini.

Decoding NDI in FPGA gives the highest possible video quality and ultra-low latency of just 1 frame from NDI input back out to baseband video.

NDI Decoding opens up many more possibilities for NDI as a content distribution platform and propels BirdDog into new markets such as digital signage, IMAG, video distribution, classrooms, and many more.

“Adding NDI Decoding feature to the already feature rich Studio NDI and Mini opens up so many more possibilities for our customers to use our products,” says Dan Miall, co-founder and CEO, BirdDog. “We’ve always been able to do NDI Encoding in a single frame and now with NDI® Decoding we complete our vision of NDI® from glass to glass. By that we mean from camera lens to television screens.”

To coincide with the launch of NDI Decoding in Hardware, BirdDog is launching a February only celebration sale.

“NDI Decode is a massive achievement from our engineering team and we are super excited to celebrate it with our customers,” says Miall. “For the month of February all our customers globally can save substantial money when purchasing Studio NDI or Mini and all they have to do is contact their local dealer.”

This release of NDI Decoding opens up new opportunities for BirdDog in the AV market, Digital Signage, Esports, and any application where content is needed to be routed to a screen. With PoE standard on Studio NDI and Mini one cable carries video, audio, and power so a single Ethernet cable is all that is needed.

BirdDog is also developing an NDI routing application called Central to make the content delivery even easier. Central is due for release in Q2, 2019.

“Central allows our customers to push NDI content from any device, including our encoders, laptop computers, and NDI enabled live production systems to screens with just two clicks of a button,” says Miall. “When you team up Central and BirdDog NDI Decoding function you have a very easy to use, but very powerful, content distribution system. We can see this being of enormous benefit to customers across many markets.”

“It’s also important to note that this release of firmware has been thoroughly field tested for the past 3 months by select BirdDog customers and the feedback has been super positive. We’ve had one extremely high profile customer running NDI Decode 24 hours a day, for 12 continuous days without a hiccup,” says Miall. “We’re extremely proud of this release and we can’t wait to see how our customers put it into action.”