User's Guide

11
NDI Network Settings
PLAY operates with the latest NDI® Libraries. There
are several options to congure it's behavior in an
NDI® network. Each conguration has its benets,
however it is recommended to utilize the default TCP
transmit method unless you have reason to change.
Receive Preferred Method
TCP
TCP is the default method of transmission for NDI®.
It operates well within local networks with predictable
latency and limited jitter. BirdDog recommends that
TCP be used for typical applications, and only using
alternative transports for specic reasons.
UDP
UDP is recommended for networks where there is extended latency from one end to the other. The nature of
UDP means that it does not receive a conrmation of each packet being successfully received – vastly improving
performance on busy networks. UDP can have some consequences if there are other issues on the network such
as jitter or lost packets as it will not inherently re-sent a lost packet.
R-UDP (Reliable UDP)
This protocol bridges the performance of TCP and UDP. Compared to TCP, it reduces overall network load (allowing
more NDI® streams) by not requiring every packet to be ‘acknowledged’ by every receiver – has error correction
built in for smoothness and reliability.
Multicast
Multicast is especially useful for use-cases that require a single source to be received on multiple receivers
simultaneously. Utilizing Multicast ooads the distribution of the NDI® A/V packets to the network infrastructure.
You should take care to ensure your network is specically congured to support Multicast as using it on an ill-
prepared network can create unintended network problems.
NDI Discovery
If you choose to use a NDI® discovery server, you can congure it in this tab. By default, NDI® utilizes mDNS
(multicast Domain Name System) to create the zero conguration environment for discovery. Unless the network
is specically congured to not allow mDNS, NDI® sources will be discovered.
The NDI® discovery service is designed to replace the automatic discovery NDI® uses with a server that operates
as an ecient centralized registry of NDI® sources that requires much less bandwidth. Multiple servers can be
specied for failover reduntancy. NDI® discovery server also helps with location of devices that reside on dierent
subnets. The NDI® Discovery Server is available in the NDI 5.5 version of the free NDI Tools (C:\Program Files\NDI\
NDI 5 Tools\Discovery\NDI Discovery Service.exe).
1. If you are using one or more NDI® Discovery Servers, click the ON button.
2. Enter a comma delimited list of the IP address(es) of your NDI® Discovery Server(s).
3. Click the APPLY button to save your changes.