AJA Bridge NDI 3G

BRIDGE NDI 3G is a 1RU gateway offering high density conversion from 3G-SDI to NDI and NDI to 3G-SDI for both multi-channel HD and 4K/UltraHD. Designed to drop into any existing NDI or SDI workflow as a plug-and-play appliance, it's easy to deploy and administer.

BRIDGE NDI 3G brings immense conversion power and flexibility, fully controllable remotely for AV use, security and surveillance, broadcast, eSports, entertainment venues, and a wide range of other facilities needing high quality, efficient NDI encode and decode. Set and forget, or use more dynamically as project needs dictate.

Features

• 3G-SDI I/O supports 16-channels of SD/HD or 4-channels of 4K/UltraHD up to 60p as standard*
• Bidirectional encode/decode SDI to NDI, NDI to SDI, with a combination of HD or 4K/UltraHD video
• Confidence monitoring
• Supports NDI 6, NDI 5, and NDI 4
• Redundant Discovery Server Compatible
• Selectable NDI encode profiles for 8-bit and 16-bit, 4:2:2
• Buffer controls for low latency tuning
• Video and Key support
• Progressive and Interlaced video support
• 16-channel audio support
• Timecode support across VITC1, VITC2, LTC, and Time-of-Day
• Remote WebUI or local GUI for easy administration, control, and operation
• Turnkey 1RU rackmountable, enterprise-class form factor
• Dual 10GigE interface for media and control
• Dual power supplies for critical application redundancy
• Three year warranty
• *Ultimate performance based on network conditions, concurrent video processing, and other parameters

BRIDGE NDI 3G Video Overview

Learn more about the comprehensive feature set of the BRIDGE NDI 3G by watching the accompanying product video. BRIDGE NDI 3G supports running under either NDI 6, NDI 5, or NDI 4 as a selectable mode within the interface.

Remote or Local Control

BRIDGE NDI 3G is accessible remotely using a web browser. Alternatively, BRIDGE NDI can be controlled locally using a mouse and keyboard with the appropriate VGA-capable monitor. In either case, the same intuitive UI allows easy control of all BRIDGE NDI functionality.

NDI Network Discovery

BRIDGE NDI 3G has a dedicated Source/Destination interface for viewing and managing your NDI network and its available sources. BRIDGE NDI scans the network and enumerates NDI sources. Different discovery modes can be used to reduce the burden of updating in very busy environments.

This powerful toolset allows a birds-eye view across the NDI network, including searching, naming, and even favoriting. It is also at this place in the interface where users can choose to make use of an external discovery server. When doing so, the BRIDGE NDI Source/Destination interface will continue to update, but now based on the information flowing from a dedicated discovery server, which is best practice when dealing with high volume NDI networks.

Professional Video and Audio Toolset

SDI I/O: BRIDGE NDI 3G supports YCbCr, 4:2:2 10-bit video with up to 16 embedded channels of audio, up to HD and 4K/UltraHD 60p. 4K/UltraHD SDI I/O supports either Square Division or 2SI.

NDI I/O: BRIDGE NDI 3G supports UYVY, 4:2:2, 8-bit, or P216, 4:2:2, 16-bit (support for output only), again with up to 16 embedded channels of audio, and up to HD and 4K/UltraHD 60p.

Genlock: SDI outputs can Freerun or use an External Reference for timing.

Audio: System wide audio can be set for 2, 8, or 16-channels of audio across SDI and NDI I/O.

Timecode: Use Auto mode to make life easy, or dial in specifics if you are looking for VITC1, VITC2, LTC, or Time-of-Day.

Blackout/Disable: Individual video channels/groups can be blacked out (video mute)

Mute: Individual video channels/groups can have audio muted

Test Patterns: Send out test patterns during installation or studio setup

BRIDGE NDI 3G Supports Full Raster DCI 4K

BRIDGE NDI 3G supports up to the full 4K (4096x2160) DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives) raster dimension. The full DCI raster is important to cinema workflows and to anyone looking to get the highest quality out of every pixel.

DCI over SDI in BRIDGE NDI 3G is supported by maintaining the native raster/aspect ratio of a film and centering the image on black, ensuring the final raster size for a given digital cinema project will utilize either the full width or height of the DCI raster.

A few examples are 1.85 Flat @ 3996x2160 and 2.37 Scope @ 4096x1716, both of which are delivered as a 4096x2160 raster with black padding.

For more information about supported resolutions, please refer to the BRIDGE NDI 3G Video Format document available here:

Operational Flexibility

BRIDGE NDI 3G offers enormous flexibility in how all 16-channels can be utilized:

HD I/O

All HD channels can be used to encode from SDI to NDI or decode from NDI to SDI.

HD Video and Key I/O

HD channels can also be allocated into V+K groups enabling dual V+K SDI signals to be combined and encoded into a single NDI output with alpha channel. Conversely, a single NDI input with alpha channel will be decoded and output as dual V+K SDI signals.

4K/UltraHD I/O

HD channels can also be placed into 4K/UltraHD groups enabling dual or quad SDI signals to be used for 4K/UltraHD encode from SDI to NDI, or decode from NDI to SDI with support for both Square Division and 2SI.

Simultaneous Encode and Decode

BRIDGE NDI 3G is also able to encode SDI to NDI and decode NDI to SDI simultaneously, offering a gateway conversion that can connect SDI and NDI work areas with ease.

All Encode

BRIDGE NDI 3G can be configured so that it encodes all incoming SDI inputs to NDI outputs. This mode supports the following:

• Number of Simultaneous 3G-SDI Inputs
• 16x Simultaneous up to 60p YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
• Simultaneous Encodes for Individual HD Channels (1080p)
• 16x Simultaneous up to 60p
• Simultaneous Encodes for HD Video and Key Pairs (1080p)
• 8x Simultaneous up to 60p
• Simultaneous Encodes for 4K/UltraHD Groups (2160p)
• 4x Simultaneous up to 60p
• Supported Encoded Output via 10GigE
• NDI UYVY, 4:2:2, 8-bit, or P216, 4:2:2, 16-bit

BRIDGE NDI 3G can accept up to 16 incoming HD baseband video signals via 3G-SDI and apply NDI encode to each, allowing up to 16 individual HD NDI channels to be output via 10GigE. Those 16-channels of 3G-SDI can also be utilized to enable eight dual channel Video and Key Groups to NDI outputs or four quad or dual channel 4K/UltraHD Groups to NDI outputs.

All Decode

BRIDGE NDI 3G can be configured so that it decodes all incoming NDI inputs via 10GigE ports directly to the SDI outputs. This mode offers the following:

• Simultaneous NDI / NDI HX Inputs
• 4, 8, or 16x Simultaneous up to 60p, UYVY, 4:2:2, 8-bit
• Simultaneous Decodes for HD (1080p)
• 16x Simultaneous up to 60p
• Simultaneous HD Video and Key Decode Pairs (1080p)
• 8x Simultaneous up to 60p
• Simultaneous 4K/UltraHD Decodes (2160p)
• 4x Simultaneous up to 60p
• Supported Encoded Output via 10GigE
• YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit

Up to 16x NDI or NDI HX inputs can be decoded to uncompressed baseband HD video for output via 16x 3G-SDI outputs.

BRIDGE NDI can also decode up to 8x NDI streams plus alpha channel for conversion and output as 8x dual 3G-SDI HD Video and Key channels. And when decoding up to 4x 4K/UltraHD NDI streams, the 16x connections can support either Square Division or 2SI for SDI output.

Encode/Decode Combination

It’s also possible to utilize the BRIDGE NDI 3G to provide a combination of both decode NDI to SDI and encode SDI to NDI.

For an all HD workflow where both encode (SDI to NDI) and decode (NDI to SDI) are needed simultaneously, BRIDGE NDI 3G supports 8-channels in each direction.

 Hardware

BRIDGE NDI 3G is housed in a compact 1RU chassis and offers high density I/O with 16 bidirectional 3G-SDI connectors as compact DIN 1.0/2.3 spigots for all baseband video inputs and outputs. Included with BRIDGE NDI 3G are 18x DIN 1.0/2.3 to BNC connectors to make installation into an existing SDI infrastructure easy. BRIDGE NDI 3G boasts dual 10GigE ports for control and all NDI I/O, providing support for up to 16-channels of incoming or outgoing NDI streams.

Use Case: Education UltraHD Studio

The BRIDGE NDI 3G Education use case shows an UltraHD equipped College TV Studio. The four UltraHD cameras output Quad Link 3G-SDI to the SDI inputs of the BRIDGE NDI 3G. The BRIDGE NDI 3G encodes the video to NDI and shares this via the College LAN (Local Area Network). Within the College, LAN are various NDI compatible destinations/sources, including an NDI Video Production Gallery where the UltraHD NDI video feeds can be monitored and editorial decisions can be made in real time. There is also an NDI graphics suite that can receive NDI video from the studio for visual mixing of screen graphics that can be delivered back to the NDI Video Production Gallery via the LAN as an NDI source. The program content output of this pipeline can be shared to multiple NDI points within the College, including classrooms and auditoriums, allowing lectures, presentations, and other large scale events to be shared easily and in real time at high quality. Finally, the AJA BRIDGE LIVE takes the program NDI content output and provides another share point, this time for internet streaming in UltraHD in high quality H.265. Embedded audio is used for the TV studio UltraHD video feeds. BRIDGE NDI 3G offers a compact, always-on solution for sharing even the most demanding video formats and audio on a standard LAN infrastructure.

Use Case: eSports Studio

The BRIDGE NDI 3G eSports use case shows a BRIDGE NDI 3G at the heart of a busy studio setup. Two studios are providing video feeds from a four player competitive event. Studio 1 provides each of the four gamers with two video outputs, one for a headshot HD camera and one output from a video game console converted from HDMI to SDI using AJA's HA5 Mini-Converters. A total of eight video feeds are provided to the BRIDGE NDI 3G, which is, in turn, encoding these feeds to NDI. Studio 2 features a head to head contest with a video feed headshot for each player as well as their video console output which has been converted from HDMI to SDI. The four SDI video feeds are connected directly to the 3G-SDI ports on the rear of BRIDGE NDI 3G. The commentary studio has four presenters who are covered by four HD cameras. These 3G-SDI camera feeds are also connected to the BRIDGE NDI 3G. The BRIDGE NDI 3G provides real time encoding of NDI feeds for each of the 16 video sources, which are shared via the NDI production facility LAN. Studio 1 and 2 video feeds can be folded back from the LAN to the commentary studio. The final mixed output from the NDI Production Gallery can be shared to any NDI destination, in this case, taking the mixed, edited output to a streaming service via AJA BRIDGE LIVE. Embedded audio is used for each SDI video feed to BRIDGE NDI 3G. BRIDGE NDI 3G offers an easy way to connect NDI live production to SDI cameras and converted game console feeds, offering high quality encoded NDI outputs derived from 16 varied SDI sources.

Use Case: TV Production Studios

Here we can see a large scale TV channel camera system, four HD-SDI cameras per studio, in this case, covering shopping channel content. Two presenters' audio is embedded per studio. The sixteen total studio feeds are connected directly to the 3G-SDI ports on the rear of the BRIDGE NDI 3G. These 16 feeds are encoded as NDI sources in real time for the LAN connected suites within the NDI enabled production facility. All feeds are accessible from each NDI suite, allowing them to contribute to the final mixed outputs for each studio across the LAN. These mixed NDI outputs are then passed to the transmission facility via the SDI outputs of another BRIDGE NDI 3G, which decodes the NDI sources directly.

Use Case: Live Event with Studio

This BRIDGE NDI 3G use case shows how BRIDGE NDI 3G can be the central hub for encode/decode simultaneously, providing a backbone of conversion to serve both as an NDI to SDI converter and also for SDI to NDI. Three field cameras are positioned at a sports event, with SDI cabling connecting them to the BRIDGE NDI 3G. At the same time, a Studio at the stadium is also providing five NDI sources that include three NDI cameras, Studio on screen graphics as an NDI source, and also studio NDI playback. The BRIDGE NDI 3G encodes the three SDI cameras to NDI, which are, in turn, passed to an NDI switcher. This NDI switcher also receives the five NDI sources from the studio. BRIDGE NDI 3G encodes the switched program output of the NDI switcher, and alongside Studio Playback and Studio Camera A, these are passed via SDI to an AJA BRIDGE LIVE, which handles encoding of the sources to H.265 via SRT. These are then passed via the public internet to the SDI postproduction facility, where another AJA BRIDGE LIVE provides SDI outputs for all three streams and a final return feed from the facility to the live event of the final program. BRIDGE NDI 3G responds to the need for an always-on encode/decode device that can be trusted to deliver high quality results no matter what the combination of tasks it is set up to perform. BRIDGE NDI 3G also makes the perfect partner to BRIDGE LIVE for those workflows that need to reach beyond the facility or event.