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BirdDog PLAY is the industry’s smallest HD and 4K NDI player 

Written by RedShark News Staff | Oct 18, 2022 8:00:00 AM

Want to monitor NDI networks?  Featuring full support for NDI 5, BirdDog PLAY is so small it needs magnets or rubber grippers to keep it in place…

The first customer shipments of BirdDog PLAY, the industry’s newest and smallest HD and 4K NDI player (with handy full support for NDI 5) are now underway. It’s a neat little device and makes it disarmingly simple for users to connect to, and monitor, global NDI networks using any standard HDMI monitor or television. 

And it is little. BirdDog PLAY measures 85mm x 85mm x 19mm and weighs just 97 grams, which is why it has a magnetic base and a non-slip grip ring to hold it in place. 

It supports all the new and rather cool NDI 5 functions including high bandwidth NDI and NDI HX2; supports 4K UHD and HDMI 2.0; can receive NDI in resolutions up to UHD60p (to clarify: full NDI max 1080p60, NDI|HX max UHD60p); is powered by standard USB-C; and features built-in CEC control for use with any standard remote to browse and play NDI sources. It supports RESTful API, Crestron control module, Zoom API, and Q-SYS API, and, as is the goal of any NDI device, it automatically scans the network for NDI sources and immediately brings them up on the TV screen.

Also agreeably little is the price, $149 or local equivalent.