Bringing in any data or media signal wirelessly poses challenges but also has their benefits.  With the creation of NDI, transmitting video wirelessly is now possible.  NewTek developed the Connect Spark NDI Converters to have an easy-to-use and less expensive option to introduce this technology to new and possibly skeptical users.  With one connection to the Connect Spark from your SDI of HDMI camera, you have the ability to send your video wirelessly to any NDI-equipped switcher or live production system.

NewTek has many resources to help you find and use the right device for you.  With the addition of the new Connect Spark Pro into their NDI converter family, customers may be interested in what makes it different from the others and if it would be a better device for them.  This comparison chart to the right breaks down the different features and also the similarities of the units to make it easy for their customers to understand them and now they have the knowledge to make a better purchase.

There are still other factors with formats and IP workflows that you may have to configure using any NDI products and luckily NewTek has “The Tip Jar” which are a series of videos that provide useful information for new and experienced users.  In this video, NewTek’s Kane Peterson discusses the differences between the two Connect Spark devices and the new Connect Spark Pro and about how each one can benefit your production.  These videos are from NewTek, by NewTek and should be anyone’s go-to source for assistance with any NewTek device.  It’s advised even to watch these videos for a device you migth be interested in before you purchase and should be referenced in their set-up and first uses as well.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

The NewTek Connect Spark is a simple tool that does a whole heck of a lot. Not only will it transmit an HDMI or SDI signal wirelessly over existing network infrastructure to an NDI enabled switcher, but it will also loop record to an SD card or USB hard drive.

Network Device Interface, or NDI, is an open standard that enables products to communicate, deliver and receive broadcast quality video with low latency and frame-accuracy for switching in a live production. What kind of video you transmit is up to you — the applications are near endless.

Using NDI, it delivers video at up to 60 frames per second (fps) in HD over Wi-Fi or ethernet.

This evaluation is of the HDMI version, but the SDI option is no different outside of the input and loop connectors and its cost.

With its two USB ports, it will capture video to an external storage or to a micro SD card. It will either capture in loop record mode — always recording and deleting the oldest video when full — or it can be set up to stop when storage is full. Moreover, you don’t even need a storage device to be physically connected to the Spark. You can record the signal from any NDI enabled system you have connected to it…read more

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

NewTek Connect Spark

Powers recommends that users devote a dedicated 1Gb Ethernet LAN to the video production suite to ensure that there isn’t other traffic to compete with and potentially slow down network sources such as the Spark. In particular, if you want to use the wireless option, a dedicated wireless router is a wise choice to ensure performance. Competition for bandwidth can increase latency and/or the compression applied to the video by Spark to preserve the required frame rate. (We would note that these are prudent recommendations for any production environment operating on an IP workflow.)

Click here to watch the video on YouTube

Click here to read the full article on NewTek

Inside NewTek: Sparks and Cameras Fly!

August 30, 2017

For those anxiously awaiting NewTek NDI® PTZ Cameras and NewTek Connect Spark™ SDI-to-NDI and HDMI-to-NDI converters, good news: our first stocks have arrived from manufacturing and are being processed into inventory and prepared for shipping!

If you have ordered, our staff will be processing those orders and getting them out as quickly as we can over the coming days, and getting your products on the way to you. And if you haven’t ordered yet – now is a great time!