https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid
UltraGrid low-latency audio and video network transmission system
https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid
Last synced: 9 months ago
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UltraGrid low-latency audio and video network transmission system
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid
- Owner: CESNET
- License: other
- Created: 2016-09-09T09:27:34.000Z (over 9 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2025-05-07T11:54:27.000Z (9 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-05-07T12:43:34.659Z (9 months ago)
- Language: C
- Homepage: http://www.ultragrid.cz
- Size: 207 MB
- Stars: 548
- Watchers: 39
- Forks: 62
- Open Issues: 36
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: NEWS
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
- awesome-cg-vfx-pipeline - UltraGrid - UltraGrid low-latency audio and video network transmission system. (Digital Content Creation Software (DCCs) / Video)
README
UltraGrid - A High Definition Collaboratory
===========================================
[](https://www.facebook.com/UltraGrid/)
[](https://mastodon.social/@UltraGrid)
[](http://www.ultragrid.cz)
[](https://scan.coverity.com/projects/2851)
[](../../actions)
* Copyright (c) 2001-2004 University of Southern California
* Copyright (c) 2003-2004 University of Glasgow
* Copyright (c) 2013-2014 Fundació i2CAT, Internet I Innovació Digital a Catalunya
* Copyright (c) 2005-2023 CESNET z.s.p.o.
* All rights reserved.
This software is distributed under license, see the file
[COPYRIGHT](COPYRIGHT) for full terms and conditions.
Contents
--------
- [About UltraGrid](#about-ultragrid)
- [Hardware and Software Requirements](#hardware-and-software-requirements)
* [Required Software Preliminaries](#required-software-preliminaries)
- [Using the UltraGrid System](#using-the-ultragrid-system)
- [Documentation](#documentation)
About UltraGrid
---------------
**UltraGrid** brought by [CESNET's](https://www.cesnet.cz) Laboratory of
Advanced Networking Technologies ([Sitola](https://www.sitola.cz)) is
a software implementation of high-quality low-latency video and
audio transmissions using commodity hardware. Supported resolutions range
through *HD* (1920x1080) up to *8K* (7680x2160) with up to 60 frames per second.
Other features are listed [here](https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid/wiki).
The high-quality is achieved either by using uncompressed
streams or streams with very low compression ratio. End-to-end transmission
latency (i.e., all the way from the camera to the display) is about 100ms,
but it varies based on camera and capture cards being used. UltraGrid was
originally a research project used to demonstrate the possibilities of 10Gbps
networks and to study multi-point data distribution in such environments.
Recent advances in the field of GPU-accelerated low-latency codecs extend its
usability also to Gigabit networks. High compression ratio compressions allow
further use of any commodity network connection including a shared Internet
connection.
UltraGrid is supported on stations with
Linux, Windows or macOS operating system. The software is open-source
distributed under BSD license, i.e., we're interested in both
research/academic and commercial applications. Nowadays, main application
areas are collaborative environments, medical, cinematography and
broadcasting applications, as well as various educational activities.
It is a fork of the original UltraGrid developed by Colin Perkins, Ladan
Gharai, et al..
Our work is supported by CESNET research intents "Optical Network of National
Research and Its New Applications" (MŠM 6383917201), CESNET Large
Infrastructure (LM2010005), CESNET E-Infrastructure (LM2015042) and partially
also by Masaryk University research intent "Parallel and Distributed Systems"
(MŠM 0021622419).
The contents of this directory are as follows:
bin/ Compiled binaries
data/ Various assets used by UG that is not source code
doc/ Documentation
ext-deps/ External dependencies that are required by UG
gui/ Sources for UltraGrid GUI
hd-rum-multi/ Simple standalone packet reflector
src/ Source code for the UltraGrid system
package_specs/ Specifications for OBS
test/ Source code and binaries for test routines
tools/ Small standalone helper tools
autogen.sh Build script
configure.ac " "
Makefile.in " "
CONTRIBUTING.md Various information for contributors
COPYRIGHT Full license terms and conditions
Doxyfile Doxygen configuration
INSTALL Installation instructions
NEWS Change log and modification history
README.md This file
There are also subdirectories `cuda_dxt`, `dxt_compress` and `ldgm` which contain
libraries that are parts of UltraGrid but are relatively standalone and
self-contained.
Hardware and Software Requirements
----------------------------------
Recommended Hardware Setup:
- 64-bit CPU with at least 2 cores
- **OpenGL** compatible graphics card recommended
- *DXT* compression on GPU is tested with **OpenGL 3.3**
- *GPUJPEG* compression requires a **NVidia** card
- various HW accelerated compressions supported with recent GPUs (**NVENC**/**NVDEC**,
**QuickSync**, **VA-API**, **VideoToolbox**, **VDPAU**)
- For uncompressed 1.5Gbps streams (either sending or receiving), **10GbE**
network interface card is needed
- We test with PCIe Myrinet 10GbE
- For *SDI* send/receive capabilities, **AJA**, **Bluefish444**,
**Blackmagic**, **DELTACAST** or **Magewell** card is required
Video capture card should be located on a separate PCI bus from network card if possible.
### Required Software Preliminaries
You will need this software (in brackets are optional features for which you'll need it):
- AMD/NVidia proprietary drivers for optimal performance
- AJA/Blackmagic/DELTACAST drivers
To compile UltraGrid you will need to prepare build environment and
install dependencies for various modules. For up-to-date information
please refer to our
[wiki](https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid/wiki/Compile-UltraGrid-%28Source%29).
Using the UltraGrid System
--------------------------
The [INSTALL](INSTALL) gives instructions for building the UltraGrid system.
Once the system has been built, the `uv` binary will be present. This
can be invoked as follows:
uv -t -c hostname (on the sender)
uv -d hostname (on the receiver)
The **\** is one of the list viewed with `-d help`.
The **\** is one of the list viewed with `-t help`. Name
of capture device usually follows with configuration of video mode,
video input etc. All options can be interactively dispayed using built-in
help, eg. `-t decklink:help`.
The **\** specifies the selected video compression to be
used. Similarly as for other options, available options can be viewed
by `-c help`. If compression is not specified, video is transmitted
*uncompressed* (in that case consider setting **MTU** with `-m `).
Further options follow UltraGrid command-line help (-h) or visit this
[wiki page](https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid/wiki/Running-UltraGrid)
for further information.
As an example, if a user on host "ormal" wishes to send audio and video
captured using a BMD DeckLink card another user on host "curtis" with
a display using the OpenGL driver and Portaudio audio playback, then
the user on host "ormal" would run:
uv -t decklink -c libavcodec:codec=H.264 -s embedded --audio-codec OPUS curtis
while the user on "curtis" would run:
uv -d gl -r portaudio ormal
The system requires access to UDP ports 5004 and 5006: you should open
these ports on any firewall on the network path. Uncompressed high definition
video formats require approximately 1 Gigabit per second of network capacity.
Using different supported compression schemes, the needed network capacity
can be as low as 10 Megabits per second for a high definition video.
Documentation
-------------
Documentation can be found either _offline_ (apart from this document) and
_online_. The online documentation is more comprehensive and up-to-date,
offline is rather complementary.
The **online** documentation is available in our GitHub
[wiki](https://github.com/CESNET/UltraGrid/wiki).
UltraGrid _built-in_ documentation can be found in [doc](doc) subdirectory,
these documents are available:
- [Adding modules](doc/ADDING-MODULES.md) (**developers only**) - information
how to add new UltraGrid modules
- [Performance tuning](doc/PERFORMANCE-TUNING.md) - various tweaks to improve
UltraGrid performance
- [Reporting bugs](doc/REPORTING-BUGS.md) - recommended steps for reporting
bugs