End-user perspective on small office tools & technology

Exploring BirdDog NDI TV Monitor for Android

Birddog, the Australian purveyor of NDI products, recently introduced an application that allows display of an NDI stream on an Android TV. As along-time fan and user of NDI, I was curious to try this on devices around our home and office.

androidTVapp

Google’s Play Store informed me that the application would not load to my Pixel 6a mobile phone. We don’t have an Android powered TV. So, I loaded BirdDog NDI TV Monitor to a Tivo Stream 4K, which is basically a branded Android TV stick.

The free 25 MB application loaded quickly, appearing in the menu of available apps. Selecting the application, it scanned the local network for NDI sources, presenting a list of options. Thinking ahead, I had both vMix and NDI Test Pattern running on my desktop.

Selecting one of those sources, it immediately appeared on the TV. Alas, the image carried a very busy watermark. It was useful enough for confirming presence of picture, but useless for anything serious.

NDI TV Monitor for Android

There are precious few details about the app in the Play Store (pictured above.) What little is there describes it as “…free to receive and view direct BirdDog sources, with in-app purchase options for other NDI sources.”

Since my first set of sources were not “Birddog” sources, I fired up my Birddog Mini NDI encoder. This little device was purchased in advance of Cluecon 2019. It was used along with a couple of Birddog P200 cameras and Birddog Studio encoders.

Connecting an HDMI source (Chromebook output) to the Mini, and putting it into encode mode, it became a third NDI source on the network. The NDI TV Monitor app could see it, but it was still watermarked.

Heading over to the Birddog web site, I see that the app is offered for $49.99, with no details about free for use with Birddog sources.

BirdDog NDI TV Monitor on Vizio M50

Pictured above – Chromebook browsing the Birddog web site. Chromebook HDMI >> Birddog Mini >> selected as source in >> NDI TV Monitor >> Tivo Stream 4K connected to a Vizio M50 TV. Watermark still plainly in view.

Aside from the watermark, the app appears to do what is promised. NDI streams on the network can be displayed on the TV by way of low-cost Android hardware. So far, so good.

Testing for Frame Rate & Latency

Of course, I wanted to verify the ability to reliably present 1080p60 as that could be key to any real projects. Also, to ascertain any latency that might be involved. The whole reason for using full-bandwidth NDI is to keep latency to a minimum. This would require a reasonably careful test arrangement. No Wi-Fi allowed.

Laptop (source)

  • Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 7 with 1080p display
  • Connected by 1G Ethernet to 1 gigabit switch switch
  • Play a 60fps analog clock with a frame count and a sweep second hand
  • HDMI output fed to the Birddog Mini

Birddog Mini Encoder

  • Connected to 1G POE switch
  • Set to encode HDMI to full bandwidth 1080p60 NDI

Desktop Monitor (NDI stream verification)

    • Airtop PC (i7)
    • Connected by 1G Ethernet to 1 gigabit switch
    • Running NDI Studio Monitor
    • Displaying the NDI feed from the Mini to second output monitor

Tivo Stream 4K

  • Running NDI TV Monitor for Android
  • Connected to 1G Ethernet using a USB3-to-Ethernet adapter via its USB-C connector.
  • Set to display the feed from the Mini

All nicely arranged to be captured in real-time by an entirely separate camera (GoPro Hero 10 Black) recording 1080p60. This should allow us to see that the source is smooth, verify the NDI stream on the network is also smooth, and compare that to the Android app display.

At the outset you can see me navigating in the menu of Android TV to get to the NDI TV Monitor application. Once running, it prompts me to select a source. I choose the Birddog Mini.

This analog clock test clip from YouTube is exactly the kind of thing that we need to differentiate between p30 and p60 presentations. In the lower left you see it playing on my laptop. The movement of the sweep second hand is buttery smooth. The display of the laptop is mirrored to the HDMI port, which feeds the NDI encoder.

The Birddog Mini is in the lower middle. The blue light on its front indicates “encode” mode.

The smaller monitor in the lower right is NDI Studio monitor running on my desktop, set to display the NDI stream. Note that the sweep second hand is still buttery smooth and only very slightly behind the laptop.

In contrast, looking to the TV, the movement of the sweep second hand is very clearly in steps, definitely not as smooth as the others. This leads me to believe that the app on the Tivo Stream 4K is only delivering 1080p30. That said, it is utterly robust and the latency seems modest.

We know from past experience that Dicaffeine on a Raspberry Pi4 can only reliably display a 720p30 NDI stream. It chokes on 1080p30.

The Tivo Stream 4K Android device is merely something that I had conveniently available. It’s a few years old, so may not be an ideal choice for this application.

I think I’ll try to find a more powerful Android device to see exactly how useful the new program might be. It may be that it only makes sense when using an Android-powered TV.

Birddog Play NDI decoder

It may be that something like Birddog Play (pictured above) is more useful when adding an NDI interface device to an existing TV/monitor.

P.S. – I left my test setup running while I went about my workday. The app eventually hung. So, I power cycled the Tivo device and set the test running again. Some time later it hung again. I am presently running the test again, this time recording it to capture how long it takes to hang up. This I would hope might prove useful to the Birddog support team.

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