Teams provides two options for broadcasting Teams meeting content: NewTek NDI® (Network Device Interface) and SDI (serial digital interface) 

Newtek NDI® technology allows you to broadcast the audio and video streams from a Teams meeting to your local network. When using NewTek NDI® technology in a Teams meeting, you will have unique video streams on the network that can be used in your own production.

SDI has been used in broadcast productions since 1989 and is supported on most legacy studio hardware devices. Hardware devices from AJA Video Systems and Blackmagic Design provide connectivity to legacy broadcast devices that use SDI.

Turning on NDI® technology in Teams

To start using NDI®, your admin will need to enable the broadcast production policy. Once the policy is turned on, NDI® will be available. 

To start using NDI® in Teams:

  1. Select Settings and more  Microsoft Teams more options icon in Teams.

  2. Select Settings  Settings button > App permissions Permissions icon.

  3. Under Production tools, select Download Link to install the latest NDI® binaries.​​​​​​​

  4. After installing, turn on the Production tools toggle. You can't turn on this toggle while you're in a Teams meeting.

Important: 

  • You'll need to complete these steps after every Teams update. We recommend completing them before an event using NDI® in case you need to re-download the latest binaries.

  • To learn more about the Teams update release schedule, see Version update history for Teams.

After enabling NDI® technology in Teams,  join a meeting and select More actions More options button in your meeting controls. Then, select Streaming Broadcast over NDI.

All meeting attendees who are subscribed to that NDI stream will be notified thatbroadcasting capabilities are turned on.

NDI®-out features

Once NDI® technology is turned on, the following streams will be available:

  • Primary speaker: A stream will be generated that automatically switches to whoever is actively speaking from all of the incoming streams. (Audio/video from your own computer won't be included.)

  • Local: A stream will be generated of the audio/video that is being sent to the meeting from your computer. (This allows you to have the same audio/video in both the meeting and in your local NDI® production.)

  • Individual users: Each user will have a stream available over NDI®. The incoming audio for a meeting is mixed together and will be the same for all individual user streams. These streams will display the video at the same quality that is being received by the client.

    Note: If no video is available, you'll see a simple screen with the Teams logo. But the stream is still being received by your NDI® software/hardware.

  • Screen sharing: Any incoming screen sharing will be available as an NDI® stream. 

  • Large gallery and Together mode: Both of these modes will have their own NDI® stream available. 

SDI hardware-out devices 

Just as with NDI®-out capabilities, SDI hardware-out capabilities must have the NDI/Broadcast policy enabled by your admin. You must also be using either Blackmagic Design (BMD) or AJA Video Systems hardware.

Once your admin has enabled you to broadcast, you'll need to go to Settings and more Microsoft Teams more options icon next to your profile picture in Teams. Then select Settings > App permissions > then enable the toggle next to Production Capabilities. If you have any SDI devices connected, you'll see them under Video hardware out.

Note: SDI hardware devices may need additional configuration outside of Teams. Check the manufacturer's documentation for more information.

If the hardware-out option is available, when you're in a meeting you'll have the option to Send video to Hardware in More options Teams more options icon  next to a meeting participant's name.

If there is more than one kind of device available, they'll be listed alphabetically. If a device can output more than one A/V stream, then you'll see a list of output options to choose from.

To stop streaming a particular video, go back to More options Teams more options icon  next to the person's name and select Stop sending to.

Note: If the hardware device is in use by something other than Teams, the option will still display but will be disabled.  

Technical limitations

These are some common technical issues to consider when using NDI® Technology in Teams:

  • Broadcasting NDI® signals from Teams is limited by the number of streams and quality of the streams your Teams client receives.

  • A good strategy is to first "pin" a video stream in Teams to ensure that particular video stays connected during the meeting. Under that meeting participant's name, select More actions Select to see more options  and then choose Pin.

     Teams-Pin stream button-circled

  • Try limiting the number of NDI®-out video streams to two or three on any single computer. This is another good strategy that'll help ensure stability and performance for most users.

  • Changing to a different meeting layout such as Together Mode or Large Gallery will stop the video streams of other people in the meeting from coming to your computer. Your machine will then only be able to stream the selected layout via NDI®. (Returning to the Gallery layout will restore the video streams.)

  • Apple Macs with BlackMagic devices aren't currently supported for Hardware-Out.

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