uncompressed.io vs NAGRA NexGuard
Forensic watermarking, without the sales call.
NexGuard is a specialist product for pre-release and distribution protection. The Vault is a macOS workflow inside your video library. Choose for your reviewers’ devices, required controls and the level of validation your project demands.
How ours works
Two watermarks on every frame. Two different jobs.
A visible session mark identifies the displayed view. An invisible forensic mark is designed to help examine a recovered copy. The illustration below explains those roles; it is not a recovery test.
The session mark, visible, in the frame
The forensic mark, invisible, per person, in the pixels. Illustrative explanation, not a recovery test.
When a copy leaks, here is the trace.
Preserve the recovered copy
Keep the file and the circumstances in which it was found. Further editing can weaken useful evidence.
Look for identifying marks
Visible session information or a recoverable forensic mark may connect the copy with its viewing history.
Compare access records
Review authorized access and download events alongside the recovered material.
Investigate the context
Treat the result as supporting evidence, not automatic proof of who redistributed the footage.
The mark is one layer. Access, playback and records work together.
When Vault is enabled, protected review moves into the authorized macOS app. Watermarks complement access restrictions, encrypted cache and access records.
Capture restrictions in the macOS app
The Vault is designed to exclude its playback window from supported software capture paths. Check the recipient’s Mac and sharing tools before sensitive review.
Visible session watermark
Viewer identification stays with the displayed picture, making casual redistribution less anonymous. It cannot prevent someone filming the screen.
Invisible forensic watermark
A per-person mark is designed to help investigate a recovered copy. Cropping, recompression and camera recordings can weaken the trace.
AES-256 encrypted local cache
The native Vault path encrypts its playback cache. Access remains tied to the authorized workflow; original-file downloads are a separate permission decision.
Short-lived media links
Vault media URLs expire after two minutes, reducing the window for reuse. Access can still be misused while a URL is valid.
Tamper-evident access record
Recorded access events help establish a timeline. They do not prove who physically watched or redistributed a file.
The limits that matter.
A camera can film a screen. An altered copy can weaken a mark. Capture controls depend on the Mac and the tools in use.
Access events and recovered marks support an investigation; neither establishes the human source of a leak alone. This comparison claims neither independent certification nor equivalent resistance to NexGuard.
FairPlay DRM is not a shipped Vault feature. Test your native workflow before sensitive sharing.
How this is normally sold
Different products. Compare the deployment.
NexGuard offers a sales conversation about deployment. Frame.io reserves DRM for Enterprise Prime. The Vault is included across uncompressed.io plans, but its protected review controls run natively on macOS. Prices alone do not establish equivalent protection.
Official sources reviewed September 7, 2026. Compare contracts, supported environments and validation; these products are not equivalent.
The published-price route
Included across plans, with storage and seats to choose.
Start with 5 GB and one film free. Paid plans add storage and team seats; Studio includes five seats, 1 TB ready-to-play storage and 8 TB cold archive. Vault access does not require the Studio tier.
THE VAULT
Share the cut before its release.
Keep sensitive footage in a dedicated review workflow. When Vault is enabled, ordinary recipient web playback and master downloads are blocked; authorized review moves to the macOS app. Test this path on the recipient’s Mac before sensitive sharing.
- ✓Protected review in the compatible macOS app
- ✓AES-256 encrypted local playback cache
- ✓Capture restrictions on supported paths
- ✓Visible viewing-session identification
- ✓Forensic mark designed to support investigation
- ✓Per-video access and short-lived media links
Included across plans. Starter: 5 GB, one film, one team seat. Paid plans add storage and seats; external viewers are not billed. Watermarks support investigation without guaranteeing attribution of a leak.
Inside the review platform
Not an integration project. Built into your video library.
Keep sensitive review with the project. The macOS app supports R3D, BRAW, N-RAW and ProRes on compatible Macs; playback depends on hardware and the file. Watermarking changes the displayed image to identify a session, while the stored original remains a separate asset.
Timecoded comments, drawings on the frame, versions and formal approvals are the same platform too: the review room runs on the uploaded export. Choose the Vault path when the project needs additional native controls.
Questions worth precise answers.
What is forensic watermarking?+
A mark embedded in video can help connect a recovered copy to a recipient or session. It is an investigative tool: recovery depends on the altered file, and an identifier alone does not establish who leaked it.
How much does NAGRA NexGuard cost?+
The official product page reviewed on September 7, 2026 offers a contact-sales path rather than a list price. Scope and deployment affect the quote. The uncompressed.io Vault is included across plans; storage and team-seat allowances vary.
Are the two products equivalent?+
No equivalence has been established. NexGuard specializes in watermarking for pre-release and distribution workflows, with deployment and detection services. The Vault brings native review controls into uncompressed.io. Compare validation, recipient devices, operational support and your threat model.
Can the watermark survive an altered copy?+
The Vault’s per-person mark is designed to support investigation after common transformations. Cropping, recompression, grading or filming a screen can weaken it. This page does not promise recovery from every copy or claim independently validated resistance.
What about original downloads?+
An original-file download is not made traceable merely because an access event is logged. Logs can show access history; they cannot identify the human source of a leak by themselves. Keep download permissions aligned with the stage of the project.
What does a reviewer need?+
Vault review uses the compatible macOS app and authorized access. Ordinary browser review is separate. Test playback, access and capture behavior with a short clip before sensitive use; FairPlay DRM is not offered as a shipped Vault feature.
The category, opened up.
For a specialist distribution deployment, discuss detection services and validation with NexGuard. For a native review workflow inside your video library, start with a test film in the Vault and confirm it meets your project’s requirements.