Zowietek 4K Video Encoder/Decoder, ZowieBox, SRT/RTMP(S)/RTSP, Live Streaming, Pass-Through Video Capture, HDMI Extender, UVC Converter, HDMI only

This product was basically my first step into the complicated world of NDI, and I'm happy overall. This thing is a Swiss Army knife - it does just about everything, but not perfectly. BUT having a great quality 1080p real-time livestream of our camera feed, as long as you have a network connection to one of our campus network switches (which in turn powers the device with POE), is a game changer. Has no trouble displaying on 4K TVs and audio passthrough via HDMI works great. Makes for a super clean setup. Two gripes. This device has issues with frame rate conversions which might be solved in a future firmware update. For example, we run everything at 59.94 which the zowiebox detects as 60.00 (or at least that's the highest fps option in video settings, and no 59.94 option). Within a couple minutes there is a SEVERE delay to the audio channel. This effect appears to be caused by the Zowiebox "speeding up" the video channel to convert it from 59.94 to 60, but does not speed up the audio channel simultaneously, so for every second the audio gets behind the video channel by 0.06 seconds. So after 16.66 seconds the audio becomes 1 whole second behind the video, and after a minute it's approximately 3 seconds behind. The two options to solve this are to convert our video infrastructure to 60 (headache) instead of 59.94 which removes the conversion the Zowiebox is performing, or force the Zowiebox in video settings to 30fps. Somehow this fixed the audio issues and now everything is real-time. I've also had issues getting Multicast NDI to work properly which might be user error, but I've tinkered with this for many many hours. I have dreams of using our SDI-Zowiebox as our "transmitter" with a small army of HDMI-Zowieboxes as receivers for hallway TVs, classrooms and overflow rooms, and I'll need multicast with this. I'll have to tinker with this some more. Overall highly recommend. As I said, Swiss army pieces of hardware.

These ROCK. I have two. I would like eight more. I have successfully configured these in so many awesome ways. Each of mine are currently setup to broadcast their input as an NDI source over the network, regardless of what else the box is doing. Even when I set them up to receive a camera's NDI signal and output that signal over HDMI to a switcher, each Zowiebox itself is also available over the network as an NDI source ... which IS convenient, because I can then remotely confirm that the appropriate box is receiving the correct signal, before enabling the HDMI output which itself can also be independently disabled/enabled. I have tested an OBSBOT Tail Air w/ NDI license » both WiFi and Wired w/ official adapter » my network » Zowiebox connected via ethernet » NDI source as input » HDMI output to ATEM switcher. + a StreamDeck to control the cameras PTZ functions. Oh yeah and you can't use an ATEM switcher's 1st HDMI port, oddly enough. ALL the other HDMI ports are fine, but literally just the first HDMI port is limited to something like YUV color mode? If I recall correctly? Anyways. 1st input will be green and wonky, you can't park there. SRT Server is working great! I really didn't want to buy more $100 NDI licenses for my last 2 Tail Air cameras and THIS HAS DONE THE TRICK! H.265 encoding SRT mode on the OBSBOT Tail Air using Listener mode * make sure to add the Stream ID.* It is probably: pusher/live/av + add the IP address of the Tail Air in the Zowiebox SRT settings, setting it up in Caller mode. BOOM SRT server is now working with HDMI output to my ATEM switcher. Have also successfully configured RTSP/RTMP mode between these same devices. Since starting this testing, I've had these cameras and Zowieboxes running nonstop for several days inside my house. Not sure how they'll hold up elsewhere, but so far nothing has shutdown or frozen. Highly recommend. DARY

I'm using this item connected to a Sony ZV1 camera for the purpose of transmitting video over NDI wirelessly to OBS studio then to Twitch stream. The product works well and provides a lot of control over video and audio quality. It is a fairly economical way to do so, considering you typically have to pay $99 just for an NDI license for each product you use, and that fee is included in the $150 price. The quality is good, and I'm hoping in the future they will support even faster transmission rates at higher resolutions over wireless NDI. NDI requires a lot of bandwidth, so a strong wifi is required. I'm only taking one star off, because I feel like the transmitter could be stronger, especially considering the antenna is inside a metal box, which isn't a great location for an antenna. It makes the unit streamline, which is nice, but reduces effectiveness a bit. I think they should consider adding an external antenna port, which would help improve the distance covered. The only other negative was the unit seems to be a bit sensitive to swapping wifi network. I was on one wifi, then switched to another, and when I did this, the unit started acting very erratic. I was getting choppy video and couldn't figure out why. I had to do a factory reset to fix the issue. Also, I run a pretty mobile setup, and it didn't seem to like being handed off from one wifi access point to another. It would lock up during the handoff and I would have to restart the system. Pretty good technical support, other than having to wait a day since I think the support team, for me, is overseas and on a different time zone. Overall a good product, and I'd recommend, but I could see them making a few tweaks to improve even further.

Encode and decode both work while powered by POE. Interface is fairly straightforward, and has a couple of features that were not on my “must haves” but are handy regardless (like disabling Tally lights, and the gui on the unit) I have only tested on a fast and simple network but everything worked well.

Purchased to convert an hdmi camcorder source into NDI. The box has performed that job perfectly, along with a few other random tasks when required. Super versatile problem solver for video streaming setups. Streamed a full football season with no issues.

no 4k video. i plug graphics card which supports 4k into hdmi input. i plug 4k monitor into hdmi output. i power on encoder. the only option is 1080p. there is no option to select 4k. i connect to encoder with browser. login. no option for 4k. it reports 1080p. i connect graphics card to monitor. it displays 4k. product does not work for 4k. i click through amazon to vendor support page. it displays page not found. no product support help.

Works until it doesn't. Running a live presentation in front of large audience, and the Zowie decided to fail: the bottom third of the image was flickering, and its webserver stopped responding. Temperature was only 43°C Most embarrassing. Had to reboot the unit to continue. I would strongly recommend to the manufacturer to update the firmware so this cannot happen. Picture quality, response time is all great. But that is pointless if the unit unexpectedly glitches.

I have my SDI output from my Sony PXW-Z90V camera going into this device and into my managed switch and it works perfectly