A Brief History of NDI

NDI’s story over the past decade has been one of rapid evolution and industry-wide adoption.

It all began in 2015, when NewTek first introduced NDI as a practical, software-driven alternative to traditional SDI workflows. Overnight, video professionals saw a way to move high-quality video over standard networks without massive infrastructure costs.
As the years rolled on, NDI Tools expanded the ecosystem—free utilities that made it easy for anyone to connect cameras, computers, graphics systems, and more into one seamless workflow. From OBS streamers to top-tier broadcasters, NDI quickly found a home.
By the late 2010s, industry adoption took off. Broadcasters, live event producers, educators, and corporate AV teams embraced NDI, finding that it was not only scalable but also future-proof.

And now, in 2025, NDI celebrates its 10th anniversary with its largest ecosystem showcase ever at IBC, complete with the debut of NDI 6.3 and expanded partner innovations. A decade in, NDI has gone from a bold experiment to a global standard for IP-based video.

See also: 

- IBC 2025: NDI Marks 10 Years of Innovation with Expanded Ecosystem, New Partner Launches and Product Showcase, Sports Video Group News
- NDI will unveil expanded ecosystem at IBC2025, ProVideo Coalition

Where is NDI used?

Here’s where the NDI magic shines:

Live productions: NDI lets you switch between camera feeds, graphics, and other sources seamlessly for professional-looking streams or presentations.
Corporate Collaboration: Transforms meeting rooms into dynamic multimedia hubs.
Video editing: Import footage from multiple devices and cameras into your editing software, over the same network.
Hybrid Education: Seamlessly brings remote learning and classroom interactions together.
Remote collaboration: Teams in different locations can work together on video projects by sharing video feeds remotely.
Content Creation: Lets creators level up home studios without busting the budget.

 

KitPlus talked with Judy from Kiloview at IBC 2025 to learn about their latest progress with NDI 6.3 as well as what's new with the RF02 media platform. 

Highlights from the conversation: 

Unified media platform — RF02 integrates a built-in network switch and powerful processors, supporting encoding, decoding, transcoding, and cross-conversion all in one 2RU unit with 18 card slots. 

New cards unveiled — FN-7/FN-8 all-in-one conversion cards, FD-360 multi-view decoding card, and more. 

Compute Card breakthrough — the new FXC-A8600 Compute Card, powered by AMD CPU + GPU, enabling applications like vMix, streaming, graphics, and even full studio workflows directly inside RF02.

With this expansion, RF02 evolves into a truly modular and future-ready production hub — from broadcast workflows to customized IP-based studios.

Key takeaways from the conversation:

Ultra-low latency — bringing performance down to less than one frame, a major step forward for AV-over-IP.

Broader applications — opening new opportunities in live sports, medical imaging, and broadcast workflows.

Product readiness — Kiloview N50 and N60 are the first to support NDI 6.3, paving the way for future ecosystem expansion.