NDI Router Tutorial: A Practical Guide to Easily Manage NDI Network Video Signal Routing

NDI Router is a software tool, part of NDI 6 Tools, that works as a virtual video router. You choose which NDI source feeds each destination from one screen, in place of a hardware routing switcher. In July 2025, NDI® released the Advanced SDK Version 6.2, which includes NDI Router. Magewell Pro Convert decoders work with it once their firmware is upgraded to V1.2.213. This article is a step-by-step guide to setting it up, using a test signal and one decoder so you can confirm it works before you route real sources.

What you need

You will need the following equipment, all on the same network:

• A PC with NDI 6 Tools installed. This article uses a Windows computer as the example. NDI 6 Tools are also available for macOS.
• A Magewell Pro Convert decoder on firmware V1.2.213. This article uses the Pro Convert for NDI to HDMI as the example (referred to below as the "decoder").
• An Ethernet switch and an HDMI monitor, to build the test network and see the result.
• Ethernet and HDMI cables, to connect the PC, the decoder and the monitor.

Step by step

Part 1: set up NDI Router on the PC

• Open the tools. In NDI 6 Tools, open the "Test Patterns" tool, which acts as the NDI sender, and then the "Router" tool. Test Patterns generates a test signal, so you have a known source to route and can check the result on the monitor later.

• Configure the Router. NDI Router can manage up to 64 sources and 64 destinations. To configure it, click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the application. This puts it into configuration mode.

In configuration mode you can add or remove sources, destinations and presets to match your system. Click the "+" icon to the right of each label to add one, and the "X" icon at the top right of a number to remove it.

• Set up the signal source. Hover the mouse over the "1" icon under "Source", then right-click and select "Configure". In the window that appears, set the name, font and font size for the source. Then, in the "NDI Source" drop-down, select the NDI stream sent from "Test Patterns".

• Set up the virtual outputs. Hover the mouse over the "1" and "2" icons under "Destination", right-click and select "Configure", and set the output name, font size and NDI output channel name you want. Next, click the "1" icon under "Destination", then click "Test Patterns". This routes the test signal to virtual output 1, which appears on the network as "Router Dest 1". Repeat the same two clicks to route any source to any output.

Part 2: select the routed output on the decoder

• Log in to the Web UI. Log in to the Web UI of the Magewell Pro Convert decoder and click "Source" → "NDI SOURCES" in the menu bar. You will see the virtual output channels you created in NDI Router, such as "Router Dest 1" and "Router Dest 2".

• Select the source. Click "Router Dest 1" or "Router Dest 2". The decoder now decodes the NDI signal from Test Patterns and sends it to the monitor over HDMI, so you can see the picture arriving from NDI Router and confirm the route works.

That completes the setup. The decoder stays on "Router Dest 1", and from now on you change what it shows by clicking a different source in NDI Router on the PC, with no need to log in to the decoder again. With several decoders, give each one its own Router destination and you can manage every screen from one place.

Related tutorial:

• Pro Convert Decoders Firmware Update: Enhancing NDI Discovery for Optimized Network Workflow.

It covers the NDI Discovery improvements in the same firmware release.

NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB.