Most professional PTZ cameras offer several simultaneous outputs, which is useful but also means you have to decide what actually reaches the switcher. Here is the honest comparison.
SDI — the broadcast default
Rock solid, essentially zero latency, runs hundreds of feet over coax. Downside: it needs a BNC on the receiving end, which most software-only setups do not have.
NDI — full-fat IP video
Very low latency over gigabit Ethernet and every device on the network can subscribe to the stream. It also carries power, control and tally on the same cable with PoE+. The catch is bandwidth: full NDI runs roughly 120-200 Mbps per stream, so anything beyond four cameras needs a managed switch and VLAN discipline.
NDI|HX — compressed IP video
Around 10-20 Mbps per stream with slightly more latency. For talking-head content over a modest network this is usually indistinguishable in practice and far gentler on infrastructure.
What we recommend
Run SDI or NDI for the program feed, and use USB or NDI|HX for the confidence monitor and the recording feed. Our OK-4K12X outputs HDMI, SDI, USB and IP simultaneously, so you can do exactly that.
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