NAB 2026, Via LA, and the Future of NDI|HX

Why It Matters

The licensing overhaul could increase costs for NDI‑based equipment, potentially slowing adoption and forcing the industry to consider more open or alternative video transport standards.

Key Takeaways

• Via LA tiered fees top out at $4.5 million for largest platforms.
• HP and Dell disabled HEVC after a 4¢ per‑device fee rise.
• NDI|HX’s reliance on H.265 now faces uncertain licensing costs.
• Existing NDI licenses are grandfathered, but new hardware must pay.
• Open Media Transport emerges as a potential codec alternative.

Pulse Analysis

The NewTek‑driven NDI ecosystem celebrated a decade of innovation at NAB 2026, positioning NDI|HX as a low‑bandwidth solution that can push multiple 4K streams over modest IP networks. By leveraging H.265 compression, NDI|HX offers broadcasters a cost‑effective alternative to SMPTE 2110, which demands extensive infrastructure upgrades. This efficiency has driven adoption in schools, churches, and mid‑size production houses, making it a cornerstone of modern live‑stream workflows.

However, the Via Licensing Alliance’s recent restructuring of H.264/AVC and HEVC fees throws a wrench into that model. The new tiered licensing scheme, capping at $4.5 million for the largest platforms, replaces the previous $100,000 flat rate and raises the per‑device HEVC charge from 20¢ to 24¢. The modest increase prompted major OEMs like HP and Dell to ship laptops with HEVC disabled, illustrating how sensitive hardware manufacturers are to marginal cost shifts. For NDI|HX, which encodes with H.265, the change translates into higher royalty obligations for camera makers, encoder vendors, and software providers such as Vizrt, potentially inflating product prices and slowing market momentum.

Faced with this uncertainty, industry players are evaluating alternatives to protect their investments. Open Media Transport, introduced in 2025, offers a royalty‑free codec that could serve as a fallback if H.265 licensing becomes prohibitive. While its compression efficiency trails H.265, the trade‑off may be acceptable for organizations prioritizing cost predictability and long‑term sustainability. The licensing shake‑up underscores a broader trend: as video standards mature, the balance between technical performance and licensing economics will increasingly dictate adoption curves across the broadcast and streaming sectors.