Kiloview N40 UHD HDMI / NDI Bidirectional Converter

The Kiloview N40 (often cataloged as KIL-N40 or N40 Plus) is a professional, pocket-sized 4K UHD HDMI to NDI bidirectional hardware converter. Driven by an internal FPGA chip, it functions as a switchable, half-duplex transceiver. This means it can either act as an Encoder (compressing a raw 4K HDMI camera signal into a low-latency IP network stream) or a Decoder (pulling an IP stream from the network and outputting it via physical HDMI to a display, project, or legacy switcher).

Unlike Kiloview's multi-codec Gen 2 transceivers, the N40 focuses heavily on processing premium, high-bandwidth Full NDI (SpeedHQ) at up to 4K UHD at 60 frames per second, delivering visually lossless images with sub-frame latency.

Core Engineering and Operational Features

• True Bidirectional Versatility: The unit provides two distinct operational workflows chosen through its local menu or web interface. In Encoding Mode, it ingests a 4K60 HDMI feed and broadcasts it onto the NDI network. In Decoding Mode, it pulls any designated NDI source off the network and outputs it cleanly to a physical HDMI destination.

• Prinstine Image Performance: Equipped with an HDMI 2.0 pipeline, the N40 natively handles resolutions up to 3840 × 2160 pixels at 60fps. It processes professional YCbCr 4:2:2 color profiles, ensuring highly accurate color tracking and clean, artifact-free edges—critical for live green-screen keying or graphics rendering.

• Lag-Free Local Loop-Through: When configured as an encoder, the second HDMI port acts as a physical, zero-latency loop-out. This allows camera operators to feed a local on-camera confidence monitor while sending the compressed NDI packet down the network line.

• Lagless Decoder Stream Switching: When acting as a decoder, the N40 uses Kiloview’s specialized frame-buffer management technology. Operators can preset up to 9 network NDI stream addresses. Switching between these channels via the dashboard triggers instantly without black frames, signal lag, or frozen macroblocks.

• Flexible Wide-Voltage Power Array: The unit is highly adaptable in the field. It can run on standard Power over Ethernet (PoE) via its Gigabit port, or draw power across a wide 5V to 18V DC spectrum through its USB-C terminal. This allows it to be powered by a basic phone power bank, a USB port on a laptop, or an on-camera D-Tap battery link.

• Oversized Production Tally Light: Built straight into the face of the rugged casing is a large, highly visible LED Tally block. It communicates bi-directionally with NDI-compatible production switchers (like NewTek TriCaster, vMix, or OBS), glowing Red for Program (PGM) and Green for Preview (PVW) to guide on-camera talent.

• PTZ Control and Voice Intercom: The N40 supports bi-directional 3.5mm analog audio loops for voice intercom connections when coupled with a USB headset and the Kiloview Intercom Server (KIS). It also natively routes remote PTZ camera commands over IP or via a USB-to-serial expansion cable using standard VISCA, Pelco-D, and Pelco-P telemetry.

Hardware Technical Specifications Matrix

💡 Operational System Tips for the N40 Converter

The Full NDI Multi-Cam Switch Calculus: Because the N40 operates exclusively in high-bandwidth Full NDI, it places immediate data demands on your network switch gear. Since a single 4K60 stream requires 250 Megabits per second of continuous throughput, running just three N40 units at full resolution will hover around 750 Mbps. This safely approaches the real-world threshold of a common 1GbE copper switch bottleneck. If you plan to scale a multi-cam live venue beyond three 4K lines, always backhaul your edge switches to a core switch network utilizing high-capacity 10GbE SFP+ fiber optic links to protect against dropped frames or packet losses.

• Deploying the USB Keypad Source Preset Switcher: If you are using the N40 in decoding mode to drive a projector or a large display wall at a live event, you can connect a standard, inexpensive USB numeric keypad into the converter's USB expansion slot. Map your favorite network NDI camera streams to the 0–9 keys inside the web UI. Once configured, you can shift your physical display between ten completely different production cameras with a single keypress, creating a localized, lightweight hardware switching terminal.

• Physical Mechanical Rigging: The lightweight aluminum chassis features standard internal 1/4"-20 threaded mounting options alongside lateral grooves on the frame body. This allows you to attach a cold-shoe mount to fix the converter directly on top of an on-field camera handle, or lock up to four N40 units side-by-side inside Kiloview's specialized 1RU passive rack enclosure inside a central control room.