This is priced annoyingly linear with the product quality, so it's hard value this above or below other competitors. For +$100, you can get a full-NDI magewell. And second-hand could be an even more economical solution. So yeah, just keep it in mind.
Some thoughts.
I was hoping this encoder's lesser NDI HX1/2 encoding bitrate (50Mb/s max) would be acceptable for A-camera transmission, but it's ultimately not, unfortunately. Probably fine for B-camera. For A-camera-quality video encoding, look to full NDI (+100Mb/s), from something like Magewell/Birddog/Haivision.
The image quality from the encoder is ehh. Image quality would change when the thermals raised, so I put a 40mm blower fan on it, and that stabilized it. I stuck with 50Mb/s CBR@1s. VBR was as expected; fine when the image was nearly-static, but then shockingly blocky pixelation upon change. I don't remember what ABR resulted with, but I remember specifically not using it. (sorry) CQP/CRF seemed to add latency and dropped frames right around level 18 when it started looking better, so I avoided it using it. It did look decent though, but with the risk of inconsistent frames.
By the way, if you want inexpensive but high-quality NDI encoding and have tons of space and don't mind a little Frankensteining, you might could just use an old computer with a GPU/fast-CPU paired with a HDMI capture device. I did this in a pinch, and it was surprisingly acceptable. HDMI->Capture device->into OBS->out using NDI. With tweaked settings, you can get under 5fps frame-buffer. Magewell capture devices (about $80) are USB UVC and can capture at about 1.5 frame latency. My Elgato capture devices appear in software as NDI devices, and was ok in latency, like 2-4 frame delay. Maybe a computer can bridge the internal NDI device directly to the LAN network at lower latency? idk, maybe test this idea if you're in this boat.
I still have this device, so I can answer more questions if needed.
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This Item  HDMI Decoder Encoder, TBS2603au NDI®|HX2 Supported H.265 H.264 HDMI HD Video Audio Encoder Decoder HDMI USB Video Recorder |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $279.00 | $129.99 | $199.00 | $229.00 | $128.99 | $169.00 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 24 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 24 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 24 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 24 | Get it May 3 - 17 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 24 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Sold By | UTA SHOP | WayPonDEV | URayTech | URayTech | WayPonDEV | OBSBOT |
| connector type | HDMI | HDMI/USB | HDMI | HDMI | HDMI | HDMI, UVC |
| number of ports | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| current rating | 20 milliamps | 1 amps | — | — | 1.5 amps | 1 amps |
| input voltage | 5 volts | 12 volts | 12 volts | — | — | 5 volts |
| warranty | 2 years | — | Lifetime | Lifetime | — | — |
