Veset adds AWS CDI support for uncompressed cloud playout at 8ms latency

For broadcasters running linear channels on AWS, CDI support removes a key quality barrier — uncompressed video can now move between playout, processing, and distribution services without the artifacts and latency overhead of compression. AWS has described CDI as a 'virtual SDI cable,' and a growing list of media vendors — including Autodesk Flame, Streambox, and Colorfront — have added CDI support, signaling a maturing interoperable ecosystem around uncompressed cloud transport. Watch whether additional cloud playout competitors follow Veset's lead and whether CDI adoption drives measurable shifts in cloud-originated channel counts over the next year.

Veset's AWS CDI integration places it within a growing ecosystem of media vendors that have adopted the protocol for uncompressed video transport inside AWS. AWS launched CDI in September 2020 as a network technology for reliably transporting uncompressed live video between applications, built on Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) capabilities on Amazon EC2 instances. The protocol supports uncompressed video up to UHD 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, with timing characteristics as low as 8 milliseconds, making it suitable for broadcast-grade playout and contribution scenarios that Veset targets. AWS Elemental MediaLive and MediaConnect both support CDI inputs, enabling broadcasters to chain uncompressed video workflows across multiple cloud services without intermediate compression.

The AWS CDI SDK, released as an open-source project on GitHub, allows ISVs and AWS Partners to add CDI capabilities to their own products. AWS positioned CDI as a replacement for on-premises SDI connectivity, enabling workloads like TV channel playout, live production switching, motion graphic insertion, and forensic watermarking to run in the cloud. Evertz was among the early partners working with AWS on CDI integration, with its Vice President of File Based Solutions Dan Turow describing the technology as having the potential to deliver what the industry had been waiting for in uncompressed, low-latency cloud workflows. Veset's November 2022 announcement made it one of the cloud playout vendors to adopt the protocol, alongside its existing support for compressed delivery workflows.

For broadcasters evaluating Veset's CDI support, the key architectural consideration is whether their existing AWS Media Services stack already includes CDI-compatible endpoints. AWS CDI is supported in both MediaLive for live encoding inputs and MediaConnect for uncompressed video flows between nodes at one-frame latency, meaning a Veset playout output can feed directly into MediaLive or MediaConnect without transcoding. AWS has stated it continues to evaluate extending CDI support to additional Media Services, which would further expand the addressable workflow surface for playout vendors like Veset that have already integrated the SDK.