Magewell Pro Convert IP to HDMI 4K

About this product

The Pro Convert IP to HDMI 4K is a standalone decoder that takes video from the network and puts it on an HDMI display at up to 4096×2160 at 60 frames per second. It decodes a single 4Kp60 stream full-screen, or up to four HD streams at once, arranged as picture-in-picture or a quad-view multiview on one screen.

It accepts the formats used across broadcast, professional AV and IT networks: NDI® High Bandwidth, NDI HX, HX2 and HX3 (NDI 6.3), plus SRT, RIST, RTMP, RTSP, HLS, MPEG-TS and Zixi, carrying H.264, H.265, SpeedHQ or MPEG-2 video. The output is HDMI 2.0 with HDR10 and HLG support, BT.2020 colour and eight channels of embedded audio, with a separate 3.5mm line output.

The unit is powered over PoE+ or from the included USB-C power adapter, so a single Ethernet cable is often all it needs. Set it up from the browser-based Web UI, from the on-board rotary button and on-screen menu, or with a USB keyboard and mouse plugged into the device. Larger installations can register every unit with Magewell Control Hub or Zixi ZEN Master for centralised remote management. Front-panel tally lights show when an NDI source is live or in preview.

Multiview: what you can put on screen

The decoder has three screen layouts, and you can move between them without touching a cable.

• Single screen. One stream fills the display, at up to 4096×2160 and 60 frames per second.
• Picture-in-picture. Two streams at up to 1080p60 each: a main picture with a second one inset. You can swap the two, drag the inset to any position and change its size.
• Quad split. Four streams at up to 1080p60 each, one in each quarter of the screen.

Layouts are saved as profiles. A profile stores the layout and which source sits in each window, and the decoder holds up to nine of them. Applying a profile takes one click, so an operator can go from a four-camera quad view to the programme feed full-screen, or to a presenter with slides inset, without rebuilding anything.

Each window takes either a source you have saved as a preset or an NDI source found on the network. The output carries one audio programme at a time: by default it follows the first window, and you can switch it to the source in any other window.

Two limits are worth knowing before you plan a layout. Quad split works with H.264 and H.265 sources (NDI HX, HX2, HX3, SRT, RTMP and the other IP protocols) but not NDI High Bandwidth. In picture-in-picture, only one of the two sources can be NDI High Bandwidth or MPEG-2.

What that means in practice

• One box in place of several. A single unit can stand in for four separate decoders plus a multiviewer, which means fewer devices to buy, mount, power and manage.
• No computer behind the screen. It is a self-contained decoder with an HDMI output, so there is no PC to boot, update or log in to. Connect it to any HDMI display or projector.
• Room for four full HD pictures. A 3840×2160 screen has exactly the pixel area of four 1920×1080 pictures, so a 4K display has room for a quad view with every source at full HD size.
• Mixed sources on one display. An NDI camera, an SRT feed from a remote site and an RTMP stream can share the same screen.
• One cable where PoE+ is available. Network and power arrive over the same Ethernet cable; the USB-C power adapter is in the box for switches without PoE+.
• HDR-ready. HDR10 and HLG output with BT.2020 colour for displays that support it.

Setting it up and keeping an eye on it

• NDI sources on the network are found automatically. For anything else, paste the stream address and the decoder recognises the type: RTSP, RTMP pull or push, HTTP and HLS, MPEG-TS over UDP, RTP, SRT or RIST, and Zixi pull. Sources are saved as named presets.
• The Web UI dashboard shows a live preview of the output alongside the decoded resolution and frame rate, dropped video and audio samples, jitter, CPU load, device temperature and network send and receive rates — the figures you need when a remote feed is misbehaving.
• If a source carries PTZ control data, the camera can be steered from the preview window. Tally (programme and preview) is supported for NDI sources and shown on the front-panel lights.
• On site, the rotary button and on-screen menu, or a USB keyboard and mouse, let you change settings at the display without a laptop.

Where it sits in the range: if QHD output is enough, the Pro Convert IP to HDMI is the lower-cost multiview decoder; if you need 12G-SDI alongside HDMI, see the Pro Convert IP to AIO 4K.