Why use VDO.Ninja over other solutions?
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In some cases, the functionality of may overlap with existing solutions. However, in its primary function as an ultra-low latency peer-to-peer video bridge to OBS, it has many benefits and advantages over other methods:
100% free. There's no downloads required, no personal data collected, and no sign-in needed.
Compatible with most modern browsers and mobile devices.
Free support offered via email, Discord, Reddit and numerous written guides.
Video data is peer-to-peer, so unlike Skype, your video data does not go thru the NSA's spying servers.
Video can be transferred over a LAN directly, so if using your phone as a webcam, you can crank the bitrates up to 40-mbps if you want, and your bandwidth won't be affected.
Low latency. I'm talking as low as 30-ms, and normally it never goes higher than 200-ms.
Adjustable resolutions and video bitrates (1920x1080p60 @ 30-mbps -- or even custom resolutions). 4K @ 30fps is possible, but CPU intensive.
Control over audio denoise, echo-cancellation, and auto-gain is available, along with custom audio bitrates, and stereo-sound. It is an exceptional tool for podcasters and live streaming DJs.
You can parameterize many aspects of VDO.Ninja such as total bitrate usage, bitrate per viewer usage, auto-select a device, autostart a session, removing the preview window.
The interface is open-source, so you can white-label, stylize, tweak, and deploy the website code however you want.
Reusable invite links, meaning OBS Browser Sources don't need to be recreated or changed once created and shared.
Playback of video has been tested to work on using Amazon's Firestick's with Silk browser, along with a Tesla's Model 3's infotainment display.
No plugins needed for OBS -- just drag the selected link into OBS (v25 or newer on PC*) and it auto generates the OBS Browser source with the correct resolution. (* users need to update to OBS v26.1.2 to access support for VDO.Ninja natively.)
QR Code support for invite links, which allows for easy ingestion of mobile devices without needing to use the keyboard.
Browser-based control of OBS scenes.
No overlays or windows to crop -- VDO.Ninja auto-fills the window and if there is a black border, it becomes a transparent layer.
Group rooms available with a Director able to control participants, the options presented to them, and even an autojoin experience.
Group chat rooms have an "auto-mix" mode, making for easy management of dynamic group chat sessions.
Those in a group-chat can also be split up into individual streams, so the Director has control to treat them like different sources in OBS, switching and mixing as they want.
Free TURN servers are hosted for VDO.Ninja users, which normally are quite costly, but are kindly subsidized by community sponsors and by Steve, the developer of the application.
Tally-light support is offered when VDO.Ninja is used in conjunction with OBS.
Group rooms and streams can be password protected and given extra security.
The group-room director has a "push to talk" capability, along with text-chat being available.
Support for ISO feed recording via the Director's Control Room.
With little dependence on video servers, at peak usage hours video quality does not suffer.
VDO.Ninja is a project of passion, built by creators for creators, and we like to think it shows.