NDI: Connection without complication

TVBEurope sits down for a Q&A with Tarif Sayed, president and GM of NDI Global, to discuss his background, his path to NDI, and what makes it a great fit for content creators of all sizes

By TVBEurope Staff

Published: August 11, 2022

TVBEurope sits down for a Q&A with Tarif Sayed, president and GM of NDI Global, to discuss his background, his path to NDI, and what makes it a great fit for content creators of all sizes

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What's your professional background? Tarif Sayed In the early days of my career, I was in the throes of broadcast, production, and content creation. I worked as an executive producer in a variety of industries including sports, music and documentaries; creating visual content for audiences was not only a career choice but a personal passion of mine.

Shortly after I began my career, I started to focus in on the technology behind content creation and the ways in which technology could produce better end results for audiences. I worked for a variety of companies including Dolby Laboratories as the director of global broadcast services and at Nokia as the head of virtual reality technologies business unit. I joined Nokia in the VR and AR department at an interesting time as those technologies were taking off in 2016 and I worked to further develop how they could benefit content creators in the long run.

After Nokia, I shifted to consulting with a number of companies to grow the business aspect and prepare products for successful launches. Developing the strategy behind how these companies could effectively go to market was what ultimately led me to NDI.

As a rapidly growing company, I saw the success, potential and appeal in new markets within NDI and knew it was on the edge of becoming a phenomenal tool for media creatives globally. I now sit as the president and GM of NDI Global.

What stood (and stands) out for you about NDI? My interest in NDI looks like a Venn diagram of my background and prior career experience. Content creation, technology, and business growth; where the three meet is within NDI.

NDI is built by, and for, content creators, from large broadcasters to individuals and everybody in between. There is an ever-growing number of production technologies becoming a part of the NDI ecosystem every day. And, as I noted, NDI is experiencing exponential growth that needs to be channeled into successful growth.

So, as the President and GM of NDI I am not only applying my expertise in the industry but also my initial passion for content creation. I am eager to work with the NDI team and all of the Vizrt Group to contribute to the success of the company and usher in greater democratisation of the technology for users everywhere.

How do you view NDI's current role in the broadcast industry and where do you see it going? When I attended NAB as president of NDI this April, I engaged in conversation with customers and end users about their recent projects using NDI technology. One minute I would be speaking with tier-1 broadcasters about full NDI enabled remote studios, the next I am talking to an individual who is producing music in real time with bandmates located around the world via NDI.

The latter example is where I see NDI headed in the future. The democratisation of NDI is growing every day, especially since the pandemic began and since the launch of NDI 5. We see content creators using NDI beyond broadcast, in innovative ways our own teams never even imagined. For a band, with members located all over the world, to be playing music in sync via NDI was unthinkable mere years ago. But the vast adoption and growth of NDI has pushed our team to reduce latency at every turn and prioritise what our end users truly need: flexibility.

If the band experiences lag between performers during a live show, the whole experience is ruined for the audience; NDI enables them to feel confident in the content they are producing because it is guaranteed.

For long-term outlooks, look at where you consume video every day. That's where NDI can and will be. Our team sees use cases and beta testing of products for the NDI ecosystem in the security sector, healthcare, drones, education, government, etc. NDI will continue to be the tool to tie together the workflow in, and beyond, the broadcast industry.

Earlier this year NDI released NDIIHX3. Talk us through its purpose and how it helps users. Ultimately, as with any company, NDI aims to provide solutions to any issues they may be facing. At its inception, NDI was designed for high-level video production, and thus high bandwidth consumption. The launch of NDI|HX3 enables our customers, often in the pro AV industry along with some tier 2 and tier 1 broadcasters, to still deliver high-quality images with low latency but with a significantly reduced bandwidth.

NDI|HX3 is the solution for users who require high-quality production but may not have the bandwidth to support traditional NDI. Our team sees NDI|HX3 as a way to enable a greater range of customers to create more quality broadcasts than ever before. Since its announcement in February, countless partners have released NDI|HX3 products that are being implemented far beyond the broadcast industry for limitless content creation by any user.

Grass Valley recently joined NDI's partner ecosystem. What does that mean for customers of both companies? NDI adoption continues to grow with partners integrating the technology into more and more products every day. The partnership between NDI and Grass Valley unlocks an ecosystem for millions of NDI-enabled devices and applications to be used every day by media and broadcast professionals. By integrating NDI into Grass Valley's AMPP, customers in the broadcast tech market are being further exposed to NDI and its capabilities. Along with access

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