Is this the replacement for NDI?

Here is a detailed comparison:

1. Licensing & Ownership (The Big Difference)

• Open Media Transport (OMT):
  • Open Source: It is released under the MIT License, meaning it is completely free to use, modify, and distribute.
  • No Royalties: Hardware and software developers can implement it without signing agreements or paying fees.
  • Community Driven: Development is hosted on GitHub, allowing anyone to contribute to the code.
• NDI:
  • Proprietary: Owned by Vizrt (formerly NewTek).
  • Restricted SDK: While the SDK is free to download, it is not open source. Developers must adhere to Vizrt’s license agreement. Commercial implementations often require commercial licenses.
  • Closed Ecosystem: You cannot modify the core NDI libraries or see how the underlying codec works.

2. Video Codec & Quality

• OMT:
  • Codec: Uses the VMX Codec (originally developed for vMix). It is designed to be extremely fast for software encoding/decoding.
  • Quality: Supports 8-bit and 16-bit video, 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, and Alpha channel support.
  • Bandwidth: Bandwidth is user-selectable (Low, Medium, High). For example, a 1080p60 stream can range from ~43 Mbps (Low) to ~260 Mbps (High).
• NDI:
  • Codec: Uses the SpeedHQ codec (based on MPEG-2/SHQ).
  • Quality: Typically 8-bit 4:2:2 (though newer versions support higher bit depths).
  • Bandwidth: NDI High Bandwidth manages bitrate automatically (approx. 125 Mbps for 1080p60). NDI also offers NDI|HX (H.264/H.265) for low bandwidth, which OMT does not currently have a direct equivalent for.

3. Network Transport

• OMT:
  • Protocol: Exclusively uses TCP.
  • Discovery: Uses mDNS (Bonjour/Avahi) for automatic discovery, similar to NDI.
  • Philosophy: Focuses on simplicity and reliability on local networks. TCP ensures packet delivery but can introduce slight delays if the network is congested (though OMT is optimized to minimize this).
• NDI:
  • Protocol: Defaults to Reliable UDP (R-UDP) in newer versions (NDI 5+), but can fall back to TCP or Multi-TCP.
  • Philosophy: Prioritizes low latency and smoothness. UDP is generally preferred for video over IP because dropped packets don't stop the stream, but NDI adds a reliability layer on top.

4. Ecosystem & Compatibility

• OMT:
  • Status: Very new.
  • Support: Currently supported by vMix (v29+), Nimble Streamer, Sienna, and Central Control.
  • Hardware: Very little native hardware support (cameras, converters) exists yet.
• NDI:
  • Status: The industry standard for software IP video.
  • Support: Supported by virtually every major video software (OBS, vMix, Wirecast, Zoom, Teams, Skype, Premiere Pro, etc.).
  • Hardware: thousands of PTZ cameras, hardware encoders, and switchers support NDI natively.

Summary Table

Which one should you use?

• Stick with NDI if: You need to connect to existing PTZ cameras, use OBS (until an OMT plugin is mainstream), or need to send video between many different software applications that don't yet support OMT.
• Look at OMT if: You are a developer building a video product and want to avoid NDI licensing fees, or if you are working in a purely vMix-to-vMix or vMix-to-Server workflow where you want total control over the bandwidth and open-source transparency.