Portable SDI analysis doesn't exist.
Portable, software-defined physical-layer SDI analysis doesn't exist. The choices today are capture devices — which are blind to the physical layer — or standalone instruments costing $15,000 to $40,000 that are cart-sized and designed for permanent installation.
The gap is real for stadium integrators, broadcast engineers, and IT teams commissioning venues. They need to verify signal integrity, diagnose cable issues, and validate SMPTE compliance in the field — not in a rack room, and not at a price point that limits the tool to one per organization.
Full SDI signal to your laptop.
A Thunderbolt 4 peripheral that delivers the complete SDI signal — not just decoded video, but the full physical-layer data — to a laptop for software-defined analysis.
Waveform & Vectorscope
Real-time waveform monitor and vectorscope displays rendered in software. Standard broadcast measurement tools, running on commodity hardware.
Eye Pattern & Jitter
Eye diagram visualization and jitter decomposition for physical-layer signal integrity analysis. Identify cable, connector, and termination issues before they become production failures.
Return Loss
Integrated return-loss measurement for cable and infrastructure qualification. Verify impedance matching without carrying a separate TDR or network analyzer.
Ancillary Data
Full ancillary data packet decode — closed captions, timecode, audio embedding, AFD, and SCTE-104 markers. See everything the SDI stream carries, not just the picture.
SMPTE Compliance
Automated SMPTE ST 259, ST 292, and ST 424 compliance verification. Pass/fail reporting against the standards that define legal SDI signals.
Thunderbolt 4
USB4/Thunderbolt 4 host interface delivers the bandwidth needed for raw SDI capture at up to 3G rates. One cable. No PCIe cards. No desktop required.
Two SKUs. Same software stack.
Both variants share the same host software, capture library, and file format. The difference is form factor and measurement capability.
SDI-Angler Capture
Single SDI input. Pocket-sized form factor. Designed for field engineers and integrators who need portable signal analysis during installation, commissioning, and troubleshooting. Waveform, vectorscope, eye pattern, jitter, ancillary data, and SMPTE compliance — all from a device that fits in a tool bag.
SDI-Angler Diagnostic
Dual SDI inputs with integrated return-loss bridge. Designed for rack deployment in permanent installations and deep-dive diagnostics. Full measurement suite including return-loss analysis for cable and infrastructure qualification. Half-rack or 1RU form factor for production environments.
Open by design.
Hardware design files, host driver, capture library, file format, and reference analyzer will be released under Apache 2.0 (software) and CERN-OHL-W (hardware). The SDI-Angler brand and certification mark are protected by trademark.
This is a deliberate strategic choice. The broadcast instrumentation market has been defined by closed, proprietary instruments for decades. We believe open hardware and open software produce better tools, build trust with the engineers who use them, and create an ecosystem where the entire industry benefits from shared infrastructure.
Open Hardware
Schematics, PCB layout, BOM, and mechanical design files released under the CERN Open Hardware Licence v2 — Weakly Reciprocal (CERN-OHL-W).
Open Software
Host driver, capture library, file format specification, and reference analyzer application released under the Apache License 2.0.
Trademark Protected
The SDI-Angler name and certification mark are protected by trademark to ensure quality and compatibility for end users, while keeping the underlying technology fully open.
Designed and assembled in the United States.
SDI-Angler is designed and assembled in the United States with TAA-compliant sourcing where possible. For organizations operating under federal procurement requirements or supply-chain security policies, domestic design and assembly is not a marketing differentiator — it is a procurement requirement.
Under active development.
Initial customer discovery is ongoing. Pilot program details will be announced as the product matures. If you are a stadium integrator, broadcast engineer, or venue technology team interested in participating in early evaluation, we want to hear from you.
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