Magewell Pro Convert HDMI Plus

About this product

For HD productions built on NDI, the Pro Convert HDMI Plus is the way to bring in an HDMI camera or a presentation laptop without running long HDMI cables. It takes one HDMI source and puts it on your network as an NDI stream. NDI is a way of sending live video between devices and software over an ordinary Ethernet network. The box is a standalone HDMI to NDI converter that works on its own, with no computer, and passes the HDMI signal on to a local monitor at the same time. It converts an HDMI signal into Full NDI for HD production, and its input is happy with a 4K source too.

What goes in

• HDMI input. HDMI 1.4 or DVI-D. It accepts up to 4096×2160 at 30 frames per second with 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 colour sampling, or at 60 fps with 4:2:0.
• HDMI loop-through. A second HDMI socket passes the same signal on, up to the same limits, for a monitor or projector. The room’s display keeps working while the stream goes out, so you can do without a splitter.
• Audio. Up to 8 channels of audio embedded in the HDMI signal.
• Colour formats. RGB and YUV (BT.601, BT.709 and BT.2020). The EDID can be customised, which lets you hold a computer source to the format you want.

What comes out

• NDI High Bandwidth. This is the full-quality form of NDI, also called Full NDI. Encoding goes up to 2048×2160 at 120 fps, 4:2:2 8-bit.
• Typical outputs. 2048×1080p and 1920×1080p at up to 60 fps, 1280×720p at up to 120 fps, 1080i, and standard-definition formats.
• Audio. 8 channels embedded in the NDI stream.
• NDI version. NDI 6.2 is supported.
• Resolution and frame rate. The output can match the input or be set to a custom resolution. The frame rate is the same as the input, or one half, one third or one quarter of it.
• Where it can be used. NDI Studio Monitor, OBS, vMix and any other NDI-enabled product.

Built for full NDI

• NDI High Bandwidth throughout. This model is dedicated to full-quality NDI. For NDI HX, SRT, RTMP, RTSP, HLS, H.264 or H.265, look at the Ultra Encode range.
• Audio from the HDMI signal. Audio comes from the HDMI signal only: all 8 embedded channels travel with the picture, so one cable from the source carries everything.
• 4K in and through, HD on the network. The input accepts 4K and the loop-through passes it on to a local screen, while the NDI stream is encoded at up to 2048×2160. For a 3840×2160 or 4096×2160 NDI stream, choose the Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus.

Power, control and mounting

• Power. Standard PoE (IEEE 802.3af) through the network cable, or 5 V through the USB 2.0 Type-B port using the supplied 5 V / 2.1 A adaptor. Maximum consumption is about 8 W, so an ordinary PoE switch is enough.
• Tally. A tally light is supplied. It plugs into the Mini-DIN 8 socket. Status LEDs on the unit also show preview and programme.
• PTZ camera control. A pan-tilt-zoom camera can be controlled through NDI using the VISCA, VISCA over UDP, PELCO-P or PELCO-D protocols, which saves a separate control cable.
• Mounting. An L-bracket is supplied, and there is a ¼-20 threaded hole, the thread used on camera accessories, so you can mount it on the camera rig.
• Size. 117.5 mm × 66.7 mm × 23.4 mm.

Setting it up

• It detects the input format automatically and takes its network address by DHCP.
• Settings such as de-interlacing, EDID, scaling, frame rate and aspect ratio are changed in the Web UI from a browser, so there is nothing to install.
• Units can be registered with Magewell Control Hub and managed together. HTTP APIs are provided for control systems.
• Latency is very low, which suits live production.

Where it sits in the range

If you need the NDI stream itself to be 4K, the Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus has an HDMI 2.0 input and encodes up to 4096×2160 at 60 fps. The Pro Convert HDMI TX is the smaller model, a single-input encoder for sources up to 2048×1200. All models are on the Pro Convert encoders page.