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FAQ and troubleshooting

The filters do not appear in GraphEdit / in the host application

  • the registration must be run as administrator,
  • the bitness of the host application must match the bitness of the registered build: a 32-bit application only sees Datastead_NDI_x86.ax,
  • when the binaries are deployed without registration, they must sit in an x86 / x64 folder beside the application executable, or in the folder given to ExtraDLLPath. See Installation.

The graph does not run, or no frame is received

  • check that the NDI Runtime is installed: the filters load Processing.NDI.Lib.x86.dll / Processing.NDI.Lib.x64.dll from the runtime folder, and can do nothing without it,
  • check that the source name is right, including the parentheses: COMPUTERNAME (STREAMNAME). See NDI source names,
  • check that the sender is really visible on the network, for example with the NDI Studio Monitor of the NDI Tools, or by listing the sources with GetNDISessionsList.

The connection takes a long time, or fails on a busy network

The default connection timeout is 2500 ms. Raise it with SetNDIConnectionTimeoutMs when the sender and the receiver start at the same time, or when the discovery is slow. Disabling the streams that are not needed (EnableDisableStreams, or AudioDeviceRendering = false in TVideoGrabber) also shortens the connection.

NDI sources are not discovered between two machines

NDI discovery uses mDNS on the local subnet. Across subnets or through a restrictive firewall, the automatic discovery does not work: the NDI Access Manager (NDI Tools) allows declaring remote machines explicitly.

A "Datastead" marker is drawn over the video

The filter is running in evaluation mode. In the licensed package, check that the license key is passed as described in License key. The licensed version is available from our online store.

Which video formats are supported?

The sink accepts RGB32, ARGB32, UYVY, YV12, NV12 and I420 on its video pin, and PCM on its audio pin. The source delivers UYVY, NV12, I420, RGB32 or ARGB32, depending on the format of the received stream, and PCM audio. See NDI Sink filter and NDI Source filter.

Can the filters be used without TVideoGrabber?

Yes: they are standard DirectShow filters, usable from any DirectShow application (C++, DirectShow.NET, and so on). See the Interface reference.

Should I buy one license per end user?

No: the license is a royalty-free developer license. See https://www.datastead.com/purchase/, or ask contact@datastead.com.