Throughout the history of professional video production, transformative technologies have democratized their use and disrupted the status quo of expensive, proprietary solutions. Twenty years ago, the TriCaster was such a product, and it remains that way today under the ownership of Vizrt.

Introduced by NewTek at the NAB 2005 convention, the TriCaster—so named for its ability to input and output live and pre-recorded video, record it, and stream it over the internet—was initially a kludgey-looking silver box loaded with software that was working so hard it began to overheat after the first day of demonstrations and had to be restarted every hour or so for the remainder of the show.

However, its value was significant and clear to everyone who saw it, as the year ushered in a rapid increase in the evolution of technologies that needed content to make them useful, such as broadband, social media, and the internet on mobile phones.

To meet this growing revolution in desktop video, the initial TriCaster model integrated live video switching, broadcast graphics, virtual sets, and other production features into a portable and compact device. It was essentially a "TV studio in a computer," as some marketing materials at the time claimed.

From its humble beginnings as production switcher for SD video that used a keyboard and mouse instead of a traditional switcher panel, today's version of the same integrated production system is more advanced, less expensive than the sum of its features, and just as capable of handling high-quality content as any other solution. In fact, it's used to produce some of the most high-profile online content, such as part of FOX Sports’ coverage of this year’s NFL Super Bowl telecast.

Indeed, the nascent TriCaster has come a long way.

“It's amazing how the TriCaster has gone from people looking down their nose at it as not suitable for professional production to doing part of the Super Bowl this year,” said Chris McLendon, senior product manager for Vizrt’s TriCaster, 3Play, and Viz Connect products. “Even top-end broadcasters are having to stretch their budgets and get the most bang out of their buck. One of the ways to do that is to multitask products and have a single system do a lot of different things. That’s the concept that TriCaster was founded on.”

An Amiga Disruptor

TriCaster was originally developed by NewTek, a company founded in 1985 in Topeka, KS, by Tim Jenison and Paul Montgomery. The company eventually moved San Antonio, TX, in 1997, and was sold to Vizrt in 2019. NewTek’s history started with video capture hardware and editing software for the Commodore Amiga platform.

“I joined Vizrt in 2022, and from what I’ve been told, there was a lot of rebel outlaw mentality in the beginning of NewTek,” said McLendon. “They had a small group of really smart people, and they got together and went to trade shows, and they looked at how people were doing things and literally said, ‘Let's shake it up and do something completely different.’”

“NewTek was a major force in ushering in the historic digital television transition,” said Brian McKernan, former editor of Videography magazine, which covered the fledgling company extensively. “Innovative products such as the popular TriCaster were a natural extension of that.”

One of those innovative products was the famous Video Toaster.

“NewTek’s founders were personal computer enthusiasts as teenagers who built their company based on that perspective,” McKernan explained. “They instinctively recognized the value of what the 'off-the-shelf' and very affordable Commodore Amiga personal computer offered to the television production industry because of its special display system. Combining the Amiga’s unique 'Blitter' and 'Copper' chips, NewTek developed the broadcast-quality Video Toaster, which provided video producers at all levels with a video switcher, DVE, character generator, paint, and the Lightwave 3-D animation system. It was an immediate hit with everyone from Wayne’s World to Disney Studios.”

Continuous Upgrade Path

TriCaster systems utilize a customized version of Windows as their operating system, specifically a Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) or Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) variant. This means they are not standard Windows operating systems and focus primarily on security and stability. It's a specialized version designed for TriCaster’s specific hardware and live video production.

Over the ensuing years, the TriCaster was incrementally improved with new features and better signal support for professional workflows. At NAB 2006, NewTek announced TriCaster PRO, which introduced professional video, audio connections, and virtual sets (using proprietary NewTek LiveSet technology) to the TriCaster line. Next came TriCaster STUDIO, the first TriCaster to support six cameras, and then TriCaster BROADCAST, the first model to deliver SDI video and audio support.

In early 2009, NewTek introduced 3PLAY, a portable multi-channel HD/SD slow-motion replay system. TriCaster TCXD300, the first HD TriCaster, came in 2009, and in 2010, NewTek introduced TriCaster TCXD850, a 22-channel HD model in a rackmount form factor.

At the IBC 2025 show in Amsterdam, NewTek introduced its IP networking protocol, Network Device Interface (NDI). The predecessor to NDI was called AirSend, which was primarily used as an IP video tool for TriCaster users. The system included the world’s first natively integrated NDI video switcher.

Among the many influential features added to the TriCaster is Live Call Connect, which allows users to integrate remote callers from videoconferencing applications like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Discord, and Slack into productions. This feature, introduced as part of the TriCaster 2 Elite systems, proved to be highly beneficial when remote working became the norm during the pandemic. “Vizrt/NewTek was one of the first people to say, 'If you've got a Skype caller, you should be able to pull that directly into a broadcast,'” said McLendon.

That system was one of its best-selling TriCaster products ever. It has since been replaced with the new TriCaster Vizion system, which offers advanced graphics, AI-powered tools, and configurable SDI/IP I/O. The AI tools are built on the Nvidia framework, particularly those leveraging GPUs. “They were ahead of the curve in terms of remote collaboration, and it’s another example of the company being innovative,” McLendon said. “Vizrt has an entire roadmap for adding AI-powered tools in the future. This includes some gaze correction that can automatically trim shots where the talent has moved out of frame.”

Software Legacy

Looking at its underlying architecture, the TriCaster was, in effect, an appliance built on a Windows platform for the first 15 years or so. However, over the past few years, the company has focused on more software-only features. To that end, Vizrt now offers TriCaster Mini S, a software-only solution that customers can use with their own hardware. Another option is TriCaster Vectar, a cloud-based 4K production system.

“That's one of the reasons why we can do some of the things that we can do that others can't—because it was always built on software," McLendon explained. "The hardware was just a vehicle to get to where customers want to go. The challenge was that the hardware was not good. Well, now we've gotten to a point in time where the hardware, even consumer hardware, is amazing in the things it can do. So, as hardware processing gets better and faster, it will only improve TriCaster’s performance."

Today, the Vizrt TriCaster product line includes models for practically any application, from on-premise production to cloud and software-based solutions. So, where does the TriCaster stand in the pantheon of paradigm-shifting technologies for video production? McLendon argues it revolutionized the idea of doing full productions in one integrated system.

"I think the fact that you now see so many multitasking products is a testament to the founders seeing an opportunity to make video production easy and affordable," he offered. "That's the legacy, because the TriCaster concept was so simple. It is one system that has multiple capabilities, enabling customers to avoid having to buy and learn five different systems. What was once a disruptor is now the most cost-effective and efficient way to produce and distribute professional audio and video content.”

With so many terms floating around the media and entertainment tech space, it helps to agree on definitions. When I think of an on-prem, software-defined infrastructure, one example that comes to mind is the NewTek (now Vizrt) TriCaster. People tend not to think of it as a software-defined product because it’s sold as an appliance. But TriCaster is intrinsically a Windows computer with video and audio I/O. With its processing power, it is a software-defined engine.

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If you extend that thinking into how we work today, almost everything is plugged into an IP data network. And NDI becomes yet another extension of a software-defined workflow.

Previously, a lack of compute power made software-defined workflows at high production values impossible. Only with dedicated hardware could we provide high quality sophisticated audio and video processing. This is most obvious in equipment like video switchers and audio consoles, which perform large amounts of computationally complex actions in the time of a single frame of video or just a few audio samples.

What we see now is general purpose computing, especially with the addition of GPU-based computing that removes the need for dedicated, specialized processing hardware. Because of the increased speed of general purpose computing, we don’t need a dedicated FPGA to build fast video switchers or dedicated audio DSP chips. This has allowed us to move quickly toward software-defined infrastructures.

It's About the Infrastructure

When we talk about virtual production, I’m not referring to virtual reality, extended reality, or virtual sets. I’m speaking about virtualized production infrastructure, which is, by definition, software-defined because it’s not confined to one piece of physical equipment.

The epitome of virtualization is every hyperscaler running applications on virtual computing machines. Those applications are not running on your laptop or local machine. They’re running in the cloud and use your machine as a display and I/O terminal. Virtualized production infrastructure typically means you’re not on premise with dedicated hardware, but taking an application and running it in containers such as Docker in a multitasking way that enables talent to operate from wherever they are.

In a private cloud setup, virtualized systems run in the same way as the public cloud, but computing power lives on premise. In a public cloud scenario, infrastructure is rented from a hyperscaler. The server does not live in your facility.

Virtualized infrastructure means there is not a dedicated box running particular software—and within a software-defined infrastructure, you may or may not have that software on premise. It could be running in a cluster of servers under a hypervisor. (A hypervisor is software that can run multiple virtual machines on a single, physical machine, and allocates computing resources such as CPU and memory to individual machines as required.)

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Software-defined is a precursor to virtualized infrastructure. You can have software-defined infrastructure that lives in your premise, but you can’t have virtualized infrastructure that is not software-defined.

TriCaster is also a great example of software-defined infrastructure. As we transition to virtualized infrastructures, most on-premise facilities will look more cloud-based systems. Stacks of servers will run on a high-speed network, with a hypervisor time slicing those machines and configuring them as required.

Benefits and Advantages

The pace of change will be rapid. The only hardware required that’s not COTS in a software-defined environment are control surfaces—either physical or virtual.

If I have a computer fast enough to process 256 channels of HD video, that hardware can run any software application I choose. For example, if I’m running Vizrt’s Viz Vectar Plus, but Grass Valley comes out with a switcher that I’d prefer for a particular job, I can run that new Grass Valley switcher on the same server in place of Vectar.

That’s where software-defined infrastructure is a huge advantage for clients. We can redefine workflows and tools without having to change (or, at most, minimally change) any physical infrastructure. Previously, if I’d bought a physical Sony switcher and my TD changed his mind and now wanted the features of a Grass Valley switcher, I’d literally have to rip out the Sony switcher, rewire my facility, and replace the switcher.

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A software-defined infrastructure gives clients the freedom to experiment. You could potentially run short engagements of different products within a software-based system. Whether the computing is done on premise or in the cloud becomes less defined and more agile. Users get to choose whether on-premise, cloud, or hybrid is the best approach to run any given part of their infrastructure.

Plus, software-defined infrastructures provide the ability to break down the barriers of what is on premise, what is remote, and what is in cloud. And it holds the promise of operating in ways that will be more cost effective and enable creatives to work in new ways.

Smooth Transitions

As integrators, the first thing we must do is get comfortable with IP transport workflows, be it SMPTE ST 2110, NDI, Dante AV, or whatever is appropriate in your client’s applications. You must be very comfortable in that kind of signal transport, or you won’t be able to deploy any of it.

Looking further, we need to understand computing technology beyond the desktop and beyond the server. Start to build your learning around cluster computing, how resources can be shared to perform many actions simultaneously. These are the next steps that we all must take to move forward with the industry.

We’re already seeing software-defined infrastructure within existing physical signal flows. It’s happening with software-defined audio, as many higher-end broadcast mixing consoles are software-defined devices. SSL’s System T broadcast audio platform is a great example of virtualized audio infrastructure—a dedicated computer running on Intel processors with a control surface over a very complex software device.

Now, we’re starting to see that transition on the video side. It always happens first in audio because the bandwidth of audio data is less than video. The next in the chain to transition will be video switchers and video effects. Gallery’s Sienna is a virtualized processor audio and video signals that can be used as a router, video switcher, frame sync, or audio cue. And it has more than 250 processing modules.

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There are many more products with a similar virtualized design on the way from various manufacturers. If you can do your work using generalized hardware without changing the rest of the workflow, your box in the chain just got a lot more flexible and a lot less expensive. When you begin to take note of the underlying technology behind these developments, you’ll start to see why they’re beneficial for the industry and why they’re growing so rapidly.

Since its introduction by NewTek in 2015, NDI (Network Device Interface) has revolutionized and simplified AV-over-IP signal transport.

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In strict terms, “NDI is a video connectivity protocol that allows any two devices or a device and a software on a computer to exchange audio, video, and metadata,” explained Miguel Coutinho, NDI’s head of strategy. “What makes it so successful is the ability of any software company to adopt NDI or to support NDI free of charge.”

The fact that NDI is a free-to-use open AVoIP standard is one reason why this video connectivity protocol has been adopted by major AV and IT equipment manufacturers industry-wide. They wouldn’t have adopted NDI if it didn’t work—but it does.

“On the end user side, I would say NDI is probably the easiest to use and most effective video over IP protocol that's out there,” Coutinho said. “This doesn't mean that NDI should be the go-to solution if you are looking to deploy something on a 12 gig network. But it is the connectivity technology that covers the most use cases and allows you to do more with more flexibility and less costs.”

[Editorial: Can NDI Become Ubiquitous?]

When NewTek was acquired in 2019, NDI became part of the Vizrt Group. At press time, the industry was awaiting the release of NDI 6, the latest iteration of the widely-used AVoIP standard. Limited beta testing via select partners has been in progress for months, and a public beta version is expected soon. While we wait, here’s a deeper dive on what makes NDI so popular.

Formula for Success

Edgar Shane is general manager of engineering and product development with JVC Professional Video. He likes NDI because, unlike other protocols, it features a "plug-and-play configuration where all sources [cameras, encoders, PCs, etc.] can be automatically discovered by NDI-capable video players, decoders, and video switchers. No IP or port configuration is needed, provided all sources are connected to the same LAN.”

Where NDI really comes to the fore, he added, is as an easy-to-use replacement for peer-to-peer SDI connections for live video production. “Using the existing LAN, NDI allows automatic discovery and one-to-one or one-to-many AV connections among multiple cameras and video mixers via a single Ethernet cable,” Shane explained. “Simplicity and low cost of implementation are the biggest driving factors for implementing NDI workflows. A single Ethernet cable carries bidirectional AV and camera control signals via standard IT infrastructure. No additional wiring or switching is required, while multiple IP protocols can co-exist on LAN, including NDI and Dante.”

NDI’s many advantages explain why JVC has integrated the protocol into its cameras and video mixers. “NDI provides our customers with a simple and cost-efficient workflow and ensures interoperability with many other brands of production equipment,” Shane added. “Most recently, this included a collection of remote production solutions that provide our customers with high-quality, price-effective, glass-to-glass tools. With these latest solutions, broadcasters, houses of worship, and event facilities of all sizes can stay competitive in our evolving media market.”

ENCO Systems employs NDI in its automated/real-time captioning and TV-channel-in-a-box broadcast software solutions. “Part of what makes any standard really take hold is its accessibility across different systems and reliable integration with other products,” said Bill Bennett, ENCO’s media solutions and accounts manager. “NDI has been around for a while, is supported well, and is regularly updated—all crucial when it comes to staying powerful. Its further development by adding useful, cloud-friendly, and cross-platform NDI Tools only further improves its usefulness for all kinds of applications where affordable, high-quality AVoIP transport is essential. From a cost standpoint, being royalty-free has also opened a lot of doors.”

A History of Progress

NDI has gone out of its way to give equipment and software makers the freedom to manage and advance the AVoIP standard directly, rather than enforcing direct control itself. “We want to be decentralized, meaning we want NDI to be supported by as many software companies as possible. We don't want to be a middleman where, if you buy a full set of NDI-enabled equipment, you are then supposed to come back to us, pay for our software, and be locked to whatever we think is the best set of features or user interface," Coutinho explained. "I would say that's the main difference between us and our competitors.”

NDI’s willingness to share has made this standard extremely compelling to companies like ENCO. “Without question, the low/zero cost to employ NDI and its ever-growing suite of tools make it a hard option to pass up,” said Bennett. “Native integration into more applications makes using NDI seamless to workflows, and their interfaces have become very user-friendly, meaning even non-technical users can set up NDI transmitters and receivers or use their tools easily.”

Since NDI was introduced at IBC 2015 by Dr. Andrew Cross (the driving force behind the standard and recent inductee into the SCN Hall of Fame), the protocol has been regularly revised, expanded, and improved. Case in point: “NDI was originally based on the I-frame SpeedHQ codec and required a high bandwidth for AV transfer,” recalled Shane. “The NDI HX/HX2/HX3 variants introduced later feature H.264 and HEVC codecs for significant bandwidth reduction to accommodate multiple HD and 4K streams over standard Gigabit networks."

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NDI appeared when the concept of streaming was alien and unfamiliar to many end users. “Running audio—let alone video—over Ethernet was a very disruptive concept at first, and it still is evolving and gaining trust in new markets,” Bennett said. “When NDI came out in 2016, it was fairly simple. Major quality, discovery, and routing improvements and tools came later in its successive versions, only enhancing NDI’s usefulness. The latest additions of a router, support for 4K, smartphone apps, and webcam make it even more useful throughout a workflow.”

NDI Bridge is another development; it is designed to interconnect multiple NDI domains via WAN and the internet. “NDI's latest enhancements make it more useful in cloud workflows,” Bennett added. “Right now, many churches, municipalities, streamers, radio stations, and live event producers use NDI entirely within their private LANs. However, once the ease at which NDI enables cloud-based and internet workflows becomes more commonly known, many users may start adding those remote capabilities to their local productions.”

This history of progress will continue when NDI 6 is released—and Coutinho is excited by its prospects. He expects to see NDI being deployed more in office settings, medical facilities, video games, and prosumer AV equipment.

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“NDI 6 is the first true release of this new stage of NDI as a standard and as a company, because it'll open a door for better and more native integration of NDI on compact form factors, starting with camera devices,” he said. “It will also meet expectations in terms of increased video image quality that our user base is looking for, both for small video operations and national TV networks.”

NewTek and Panopto entered a new technical partnership  regarding NewTek’s CaptureCast, the automated, IP-based, distributed lecture capture solution connects any room, whether a classroom or a meeting room, to any other space, anywhere in the world via the power of NDI.

 “Worldwide, we see an increased demand for AV-over-IP in education and business. Hybrid teaching and working are driving changes in communication, and rapid technology changes in AV mean many customers need the flexibility of AV-over-IP.  Collaborating with organizations like NewTek on products like CaptureCast, brings class-leading AV-over-IP options to all our users,” said Rene Karras, head of marketing, Panopto EMEA.

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CaptureCast, when combined with a powerful and flexible scheduling tool, automates the lecture or presentation capture, freeing the storyteller, presenter, or educator to focus on the content.

With this seamless and integral part of the lecture capture workflow, users gain a flexible scheduling tool via Panopto, and Panopto customers can implement CaptureCast with no additional hardware. Users simply plug and play, and CaptureCast can be set up as a remote recorder quickly and efficiently for any classroom or boardroom.

A unique integration with Panopto’s Remote Recorder feature supports configuring, scheduling, and recording sessions from CaptureCast all over a web browser.

CaptureCast is also fully accessible and controllable through an easy-to-use web interface, offering enhanced AV room management. Video content then automatically stores in Panopto's cloud-based video management system for easy management and distribution.

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 Together, the organizations offer a complete AV-over-IP workflow. No SDI or HDMI is needed to facilitate multi-room network device interface (NDI) setups. Panopto also includes pre-existing support for NDI tools. Users can seamlessly set up high-quality capture via NDI-enabled devices and distribute through the cloud quickly and efficiently.

This unique capability enables organizations to synchronize physically separate video sources in the cloud and stream them as a single production. For example, Panopto and CaptureCast can synchronize an NDI-enabled camera at the back of an auditorium with a demo laptop on stage, capturing both feeds simultaneously and streaming them to a live audience without the need for physical connections between the video sources.

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Beyond a single room, through CaptureCast’s Virtual Recorders capability, a single unit can capture multiple rooms simultaneously, then be pushed to Panopto. As such, CaptureCast servers can live in the data center, not physically in each room, offering untold flexibility and scalability when delivering lectures, meetings, and event capture.

“AV-over-IP is the future of recording and moving video. This partnership with Panopto ensures both our tech support experts can work together to introduce innovative solutions and additional, integrated capabilities so our joint customers across education and enterprise can have the top tech in AV-over-IP available,” concluded Liam Hayter, product manager, CaptureCast and Micro-broadcasting, Vizrt.

NewTek strengthened its line of control panels with the all-new Flex. With Flex, operators can now take direct control of PTZ devices, audio connections, audio and video mixing, and talkback—all connected with NDI.

No other NewTek control panel offers audio and video mixing, PTZ Control, and talkback in one unit. With these controls built directly into the panel, it significantly reduces the margin for error.

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The innovative features built into Flex offers operators greater precision and control. With the addition of audio I/O, Flex instantly expands the on-board I/O of any TriCaster with the option to add external sources directly to the NDI ecosystem.

For years operators have been physically tethered to video switchers with fixed cable runs, and complex set-ups without the ability to change location. Flex is the only NewTek control panel to simply connect to a network with NDI and have control of any video switcher on that network, giving operators the ultimate in production freedom.

"Over the course of the last several years, the demand for high quality distributed production has grown beyond measure. We recognize the need for operators to be able to adapt to any workflow and the Flex does just that—all with the power of NDI. Offering greater control and connectivity than ever before, it’s our most flexible and powerful control panel yet,” commented Chris McLendon, senior product manager, NewTek.  

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Not only can the panel connect to any switcher on a network by using NDI, Flex also offers operators all they need for distributed productions by working with all current TriCaster models; mastering control of a TriCaster 2 Elite as easily as it can a TriCaster Mini X and as at home in the studio or on the road, Flex scales with any production.

As organizations continue to assess doing business in a hybrid world of interaction, video production has become one of the top needs as they work to reach customers and employees alike. According to Wyzowl’s The State of Video Marketing 2022 report, more than 40% of businesses use live action video for marketing, which was the most used of the types of video.  

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While some organizations outsourced and hired firms to create live video content, others chose to build production studios and hire teams of their own. And for good reason—there are considerable benefits to building in-house capabilities, such as lowering costs and the ability for teams to create content faster with fewer external hurdles. If you’ve been tasked to design and build a livestream studio for a corporate client, here are several additional important considerations to help set the project up for success.

Think Like a Storyteller

Always keep in mind the audience that a client is trying to reach. Knowing who is consuming the product generated by the studio you’re building is the first step in thinking like a storyteller. This is where an integrator can differentiate themselves from the rest.

Is it for streaming? Where is it going to be delivered—a mobile device, displays in the lobby? Does it need to be simulcast? What is the proposed experience? Working through these questions with clients will give you the details that will be integral to the room you are helping to build. Knowing the end experience will help you make more thoughtful recommendations for the technology needed to deliver that experience.  

Of course, budget will always dictate your plans, and you will need to use it as one of your key guidelines in every decision you make. It may limit the technology you buy and the extent to which you can alter the physical space. 

Location, Location, Location

For the proposed studio, you need to have a clear understanding of what space will be dedicated for production and how the client will coordinate a production if there are space size constraints. If the room is built for AV only, planning where the video content originates from (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or PowerPoint) and where it needs to be displayed is most critical.

Also, if the client has chosen a location within an existing building because it was the only space available, such as a location near the manufacturing floor or cafeteria, alert the occupants early enough so they are aware to “keep it down” to prevent potential audio quality issues. You’d hate for the clients to avoid using it because sound control and noise factors were not considered enough in advance. 

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With the steps above complete, you can proceed to designing signal flows, choosing signal types, and selecting equipment. This is when you must decide how to capture sound and video, how it needs to be displayed, and the pipeline for delivery. For audio specifically, what do you need to reinforce your sound? For example, do you need a public address system in addition to the stream? If your intention is to create a streaming broadcast, you will need to plan for and design all aspects during this phase.

Lighting may be the most underappreciated element in production. You might have a great space with large plate glass windows and lots of sunlight. It might look great if you are in the room, but on camera those windows might be too bright, which could affect the color balance of the cameras. And when heated, they may trigger the air conditioning, which could affect the audio capture. If that happens, video and audio quality will be poor, and no one will want to use the room for streaming. 

Hardware and Protocols

Assuming the budget and other constraints exist, hardware choices will determine how the client makes or saves money. Additionally, every new studio you build today needs to account for some type of hybrid component. Whether it’s connecting people down the hall or across the country, you must design systems that have the flexibility to have inputs and outputs in the AV system that are not constrained by any single piece of hardware.

Which leads us to protocols. You have a choice to make in the technology designed to move audio, video, and metadata. Choose the protocol that best suits your needs. That sounds simplistic, and it is, but you need to embrace it.

There are similarities in that all modern AV protocols use Ethernet cables to connect, but most protocols will require you to buy at least one piece of hardware to serve as the clocking mechanism for it to work. Certain protocols are agnostic and enable connectivity without issues. The right protocols can reduce complexities and reduce the time spent on programming and integration. 

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The use of multiple cameras is the standard in high-quality broadcast production, as they help make content more interesting and keep viewers engaged. A switcher, like the NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite, is required to connect and manage camera switching—and will modernize the production capabilities instantly as well as facilitate a better overall visual and audio experience. Other hardware like tally lights, microphones, and even lighting also connect through a switcher to help improve overall studio production efficiency.

The best integrators consider the story of every project and combine it with good system design while acknowledging the various constraints. Choose the hardware pieces, standards, and technology partners that are best for the project and the storytelling needs. If you start with trusted partners, tech, and protocols, you will have better outcomes, happier clients, and greater success in creating live production studios.

Last month, we discussed the topic of vendor interoperability in the cloud and the challenges of building ecosystems with different independent software vendor (ISV) products that “talk” to one another. Media technology companies innovate first, engineering products before there are standards that facilitate creating ecosystems with those products.

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As systems integrators, we look to create homogeneous systems with multiple vendors’ products in the cloud in the same way we use SDI or ST-2110 for on-prem installs. While not designed initially as an internet protocol, Vizrt’s Network Device Interface (NDI) is currently the most prevalent interface between different vendors for use in the public cloud.

Speed Bumps for Standardization

There are a multitude of considerations when determining the proper protocols for a system in the cloud, including the type of transport to the cloud and output destination (CDN, private network, terrestrial), processing system, complex switched production versus simple distribution, etc.

We’re still in the early days, but I think we’ll see public cloud hyperscaler-oriented standards within the next few years. If we look at Google as an example, they’ve always been a champion of open standards and have the financial and technical ability to drive them forward. Just take a look at Google’s purchase of On2 Technologies for $124.6 million in 2010. The company open sourced the code for its VP8 video codec to create VP9.

The problem we have with standards in this arena today is that the time it takes for organizations to adopt them can take years of negotiation between vendors. With the speed of development typical in the internet industry, that glacial pace won’t cut it when standardizing protocols for the cloud.

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We’ve been grappling with questions around this. First, can standards bodies adapt and publish a standard in months not years? Second, how did a commercially successful standard like NDI become so widely used when it was never sanctioned by any standards organization?

The NDI Anomaly

Another approach is illustrated by NDI. NewTek created NDI, then offered it free to everyone, encouraging other vendors to use it. The intent is to generate more sales for NewTek, since its NDI-supported line would be interoperable with more products.

That’s one methodology, but it can be a long shot because only one company has skin in the game. And the competitive companies you want to be involved with as part of the ecosystem likely won’t jump to adopt another company’s tech. The case of NDI’s adoption is unusual because the technology was so compelling, and customers were asking for its implementation. When customers ask vendors, “This NDI interface is great, why aren’t you supporting it?” it speeds implementation pretty fast.

That was the case with Grass Valley’s Agile Media Processing Platform (AMPP) cloud-native live production system. NDI is a key component in ASG’s Virtual Production Control Room (VPCR) ecosystem. We asked Grass Valley to add NDI support to AMPP so it would talk to other products within VPCR. They came back with NDI support in a matter of weeks. It's been the same pattern when we asked other vendors for NDI support.

Association Time?

In discussions with hyperscaler and vendor execs about how to speed protocol standardization, we’ve concluded that the best way to achieve that goal would be through an industry association.

Case in point: The HDMI standard is owned by the HDMI Association. The association is open; any company can join. Most consumer displays have an HDMI port in the back. Interoperability is guaranteed because it is in the TV manufacturer and provider’s best interest to be interoperable with each other.

Imagine if you needed a different set-top box for a Sony TV versus an LG TV or a Samsung, etc.? What would that do to the marketplace? It wouldn't exist. Industry associations can move at the speed they decide is commercially important to react.

If the HDMI Association comes out with HDMI 1.3, but that standard doesn’t have enough bandwidth for UHD, which is what TV manufacturers need to create market churn with new 4K TVs, it’s in everyone’s commercial interest to collaborate on HDMI 1.4. Then, come the holiday season, you can sell HDMI and new UHD TVs that interface to a set-top box with HDMI 1.4.

I believe this is the methodology under which we're going to see standards evolve for internet and hyperscaler-based production. Industry associations put their money and energy into creating standards on which interoperable products can be based. And they can move at a speed in the best business interest of all involved.

[AVoIP Standards: The Fight to Get It Right]

Interoperability is crucial for both hyperscalers and vendors. The hyperscalers have two competitors: each other and on-prem installations. If there’s a way to make things work on-premises that you can’t in the cloud, your customers are not going to buy your cloud services. And if you’re an ISV and must write different code to run in Google versus AWS versus Azure to make things communicate, hyperscalers have created a disadvantage for themselves. The ISV will select just one company for cloud services.

Vendors have discovered the same need to be interoperable with one another’s technology. Does anyone remember the Panasonic MII format war against the third-party-supported Sony Betacam? Getting a small piece of something is always better than a big piece of nothing.

Cranfield University has chosen the NewTek TriCaster video production system and NDI to deliver professional quality live online classes. 

With NDI as the single interconnected production environment and TriCaster managing and controlling the range of production equipment, together the technology formed the perfect solution to help Cranfield University deliver professional-looking live, online broadcasts for students.  

NewTek has been working to support education institutions with innovative solutions for decades, bringing to market a range of products for livestream production. “With many students preferring online learning, education institutions today have an opportunity to modernize its approach to creating and delivering classes in a hybrid manner,” stated Barbara Spicek, president and general manager, NewTek. “At NewTek, we are dedicated to creating solutions that not only help to streamline production set ups, but also help futureproof production capabilities.”   

[NewTek Launched the NDI PTZ3 UHD Camera—Here's 3 Things to Master]

Online learning focused   

Based 80 kilometers north of London, England, Cranfield University educates leaders in technology and management, and is the largest UK provider of master's-level graduates in engineering. Cranfield was relying on standard live video streaming products and laptop cameras to deliver its online lessons, but due to poor video quality, it researched new solutions to update its infrastructure and live streaming capabilities. Today, Cranfield University academics are delivering professional quality live online classes thanks to both NDI and the NewTek TriCaster video production system.  

[How NDI 5 Impacts AVoIP Remote Live Production]

NDI at the Foundation  

NDI is a high-performance audio/video standard that allows anyone to use real time, ultra-low latency video on existing IP video network. Designed to make IP-based production technology available to all, NDI creates a single, interconnected production environment to connect any device across campus to transmit live video over IP networks.   

“When scoping the studio-build, we ran with the vision to live-stream to the whole campus, and looked around for technology to enable this,” said Dr. Toby Thompson, studio director of Cranfield University broadcast and record. “NDI technology was the obvious contender due to its cost-effectiveness from multiple campus locations, as well as its ease of use.” 

Live Stream Production Managed by NewTek  

Cranfield started out with a TriCaster Mini and used it with NewTek TalkShow VS 4000, which is a multi-channel video calling system designed to simultaneously connect up to four remote guests in real time. Due to increased demand and success of the production studio, the University team now opted to upgrade to NewTek’s premium TriCaster 2 Elite, which provides greater functionality and capabilities.    

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“Just switching your camera 'on' is no longer sufficient: what's shown must look professional if students are to take your online efforts seriously,” added Thompson. “By embracing the NDI and TriCaster approach we've delivered technical innovations in line with Cranfield University's technology mission; we've launched a new professional standard for live-online video production; and we've built the foundation of a new revenue stream for live online education at Cranfield.”  

NewTek, part of the Vizrt Group, enhanced its PTZ family of cameras by introducing the expertly engineered PTZ3 UHD. The PTZ3 UHD is the only 4Kp60 camera on the market that offers both professional audio and ultra-high-definition video—all built on the unshakeable foundation of NDI.

[NewTek Introduces LiveLink to Simplify HTML Setup—Here's What to Know]

The PTZ3 UHD allows video professionals, technology managers, and system designers to elevate video production by easily bringing 4Kp60 UHD video and professional audio, combined with control and tally, by using the network and simultaneously streamlining integration and installation by incorporating power over Ethernet (PoE).

"We understand the importance of and need for quality audio in any production workflow," said comments Will Waters, vice president product management, NewTek. "By adding professional audio to the PTZ3 UHD, we combine the might of ultra-high-definition video and enhanced audio connectivity making it easier than ever to put this exceptional camera into any production workflow."

[How NDI 5 Impacts AVoIP Remote Live Production]

Master the Art of Capture

1. Master Audio: For the first time in a UHD camera from NewTek, Professional XLR audio input seamlessly runs with equipment such as microphones, mixers, amplifiers, and soundboards. The Professional XLR integration offers clean, balanced audio directly from the camera into the NDI network, so the audio maintains the highest fidelity for customers and integrators.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

2. Master Video: To ensure users deliver high-quality images and video, the PTZ3 UHD takes pan/tilt/zoom quality to a new level with improved movement between camera presets. Ease-in and ease-out movements deliver seamless, smooth transitions for a natural, superior quality production without jittery or stuttering movements.

3. Master Connectivity: Whether it's using a single cable for audio and video, PTZ control, tally, and PoE for power or connecting via NDI, NewTek PTZ Cameras simply appear on the network and can immediately be built into any workflow with ease.

A hidden gem in North Georgia that opened its doors in June 2021, the Savoy Automobile Museum is dressed to impress as you approach the massive building in Cartersville. Donned in bright red—as any sports car enthusiast would love—and draped in windows as tall as the building itself, the exterior of Savoy Automobile Museum is a sight to behold. Inside, every classic auto is masterfully restored. Well, minus the 1954 Plymouth Savoy that was uncovered when breaking ground and became the museum’s namesake.

But that’s not even half of it.

Inside the 65,000-square-foot museum—illuminated by a wide range of colors controlled from the Crestron PRO4 app on AV manager Blake Johnson’s iPad—are LG dvLED screens. Whether it is the digital displays with pricing information at the welcome desk, daily menu at the café, or stunning 18x31-foot curved display in the theater, there is a screen in just about every line of sight.

[DiGiCo Consoles Power Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art]

Three custom-built 2.5mm pixel-pitch dvLED displays are highlighted throughout the museum. The first one you notice is the 10x24-foot convex and tilted (eight degrees to be precise) display in the Great Hall. Currently, the content—created by Johnson using a tvOne CORIOmaster (to enable multiple sources on the screen at once), Adobe software, Ping HD, and the integrated LG SuperSign digital signage software—is donor names, but there are plans to include upcoming exhibits, fun facts, announcements, and advertisements from partners.

“There were talks about adding in displays everywhere,” Johnson explained. “We decided to choose just a few really large display solutions that are impressive on their own and don’t distract from the cars. So, we have one large one in the Great Hall and one in the theater—those are enough to catch your eye. It mimicked a wall and when you see it, it becomes part of the architecture, and doesn’t distract from what the museum wants to highlight.”

Going the Extra Mile

With this being a brand-new building, the placement of the screens was pivotal but also challenging. As Johnson explained, they wanted curved screens from the beginning because they were worried about viewing angles from the multiple exhibits in the Great Hall. An added, unexpected addition was having to tilt the Great Hall screen downward for optimum viewing.

Enter Peerless-AV.

Known for its precise custom mounts, the team at Peerless-AV went to work designing what was required to get the LG displays up to showcase the much-anticipated content.

[Editorial: Digital Signage Future Is Bright]

“Whether it’s working with a traditional or curved dvLED system, when exploring the option of a custom-mount solution, there are a few important factors to keep in mind,” said Peerless-AV’s Kevin McDonald, senior director of business development. “First, understand that every installation will have its own set of unique challenges. Taking precise measurements at the very beginning of the process is crucial and will ensure not only a smooth installation, but the mount solutions accuracy and longevity. Another important factor to consider is the substructure. Designing and building a foundation that is solid and durable will ensure a completely flat and level surface for the mount solution.”

During the pandemic, there were quite a few installations that struggled in turnaround time. Whether it was supply chain issues or physically being able to get to a place, delays were not unexpected.

That was the opposite at Savoy. The museum looked to Georgia-native Southern Digital Design, headed by Daniel Purcell, for the technological and dvLED installation. Together with LG and Peerless-AV—and its SEAMLESS Video Wall Integration Program—the installation was completed ahead of schedule.

“That’s interesting, right?” Johnson reflected. “It was estimated to take a lot longer than it actually did. Building construction took a long, long time, but getting the screens up? Since it was already all designed by Peerless-AV, it was just a matter of assembling. It was just a few weeks. Southern Digital Design knocked it out and they did fantastic."

Let's Go to the Movies

With the lights a-glow, the displays beaming, and the automobiles awing, the Great Hall is certainly deserving of the moniker. But wait until you see Presentation Theatre.

Before heading into the 297-stadium-seat space, a 4x24-foot dvLED marquee welcomes you with a hint to the film, promotion, or even TED Talk that is being featured. Coming around the corner, your eyes are immediately drawn to the 18x31-foot dvLED screen that is the centerpiece of the theater.

Centered in the middle of the stage—behind a fun, rotating stage to display actual vehicles in front of the screen—the LG display is masterfully anchored to showcase a wide array of brightly colored content.

“The theater’s concave design that wraps around the rear of the stage required the need for a custom-mount structure and solution for curved dvLED displays,” said McDaniel. “Peerless-AV worked with LG Electronics and Savoy Automobile Museum to create a solution that ensured each dvLED display blended in with the building’s architecture.”     

According to Johnson, he gets asked frequently why they avoided a projector. “Other than just having the display to impress people—because it’s very impressive—one of the big upsides is with the projector, when the lamp goes bad the entire thing cuts out. With this, if one panel goes bad, we swap out the panel—a quick and easy fix. Also, the brightness and intensity of the image is going to outdo a projector every day.”

[Configuring Your Dream Car Made Possible by Philips Digital Signage Displays]

That brightness is important. Another Georgia-based company, Magnum, installed the Chauvet LED, full-color lights that beautifully bring extra oomph to the stage (and the rest of the museum as well). Despite adding an array of colors to enhance the presenter or exhibit, the stunning and vivid visuals remain impressive on display—at only 20%. “A projector is also easily washed out," Johnson noted. "But I haven’t been able to wash out these panels… and I’ve tried.”

There is also full surround sound in the theater divided into three zones which Johnson described as “sounding and looking fantastic for all the movies.” The entire Savoy Automobile Museum has Symmetrix Dante audio processing solutions, bringing soft sounds in the exhibit areas and the dynamic audio required to bring movies to life.

Inside the control room atop the last row of the theater is a NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite and an Allen & Heath audio mixer. Five Panasonic PTZ cameras, three in the theater and one in each dining room, as well as Audix microphones are available during corporate events or presentations at the museum. (Fun fact: The first event held at the museum was a wedding—this place does it all!)

Simply put, the Savoy Automobile Museum's AV setup drives like a dream. With new content expected for the LG displays and exhibits changed roughly every four months, a guest’s visit will be different every time. Now one year in, the Savoy Automobile Museum is in the driver’s seat for an exciting future.

Esports are the top attraction at the just-opened Tech Port Center + Arena in San Antonio. Managed by entertainment giant ASM Global, the 180,000-square-foot, multipurpose facility, also plays host to concerts, sporting events, and conferences. But the reason AV consultant Anthony James Partners (AJP) was given a $5.2 million AV technology budget was to create an esports playing/viewing venue that would dazzle the fans.

To establish Tech Port Center as a gaming hub, the facility has opened a LAN Gaming Center within its walls. “80s kids would call these places arcades,” said Michael Martin, AJP’s vice president of technology. “Now they’re called cybercafes, gaming lounges, etc.”

[The State of Esports in Higher Education]

In line with modern gaming trends, the cabinet-encased Donkey Kong consoles of the 1980s are now table-mounted gaming stations, each with a 1 Gbps data link to access switches with 40 Gbps links to the facility’s networked computing core. These stations can be used by visitors on an ad hoc basis, or be reserved for use by groups and local esports gaming leagues.

“Each player has an individual station in the gaming center, which includes the PC, display, mouse, keyboard, headset, and chair,” explained Sam Elizondo, Tech Port Center’s director of esports and LAN gaming. “We have 60 of these stations and room for 20 BYOD [Bring Your Own Device] stations. The computers have preloaded games on them already, and you can also play your own titles as well if you own them.”

Competitive Events

In addition to its 60 gaming stations, the LAN Gaming Center has 12 arena gaming stations with 10 Gbps data links to access switches. This allows for faster data transfers, which is why these systems are used for on-stage esports team competitions in front of audiences, usually arrayed in two tables in sets of five. (The system can also be expanded to 18 arena gaming stations for events with three teams of six, all playing together in multiplayer games.)

The esports coverage starts with an array of cameras. At the arena gaming stations, the players’ faces are captured by Marshall POV cameras, while overall action and crowd imagery are shot using Hitachi Z-HD5500 HD broadcast cameras (both fixed and roving). There are also BirdDog robotic cameras positioned around the arena to provide a bird's eye view of the action. “The feeds from them all, plus streams from the gamers’ video monitors, are all sent to our production studio, which houses a combined technical operations center/control room capable of full broadcast-quality TV production," Martin said.

To punch up the visuals, Elizondo said there are 38 moving lights that can be programmed to a producer’s vision. Meanwhile, audio from the gamers’ headsets is accessed through their computer feeds to the production studio, while staff intercoms, floor audio, and color commentator audio/official announcements go through separate pathways. “The on-air talent is housed in two separate breakout rooms located directly behind the stage,” he added.

[Esports: Has Your College Levelled Up?]

Because speed is everything in esports gaming, the Tech Port Center is equipped with an incredibly powerful fiber optic network. It includes a wired network with 40G redundant links from core to edge, plus 5G cellular distributed antenna system (DAS) high-density Wi-Fi and a broadcast network with SDI and NDI transports. The facility also has dark single mode fiber throughout the facility and dark Cat6 cabling between its intermediate distribution frames (IDFs) to connect portable gaming show rig deployments.

Polished Productions

Once the visuals (and floor audio) get back to the production studio, the crew selects and mixes the feeds just like they would for any sporting event. “We have a NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite switcher that handles the video feeds to the in-arena LED displays and for streaming to the web,” Martin said. “The output goes to a Ross Video system to deliver content to our large LED displays and Samsung HDTVs throughout the facility.”

The monitors that matter most to fans are a trio of SNA 4mm LED screens mounted behind the competing gamers’ tables. The center screen measures just over 19x34 feet and is flanked by two 13x26-foot screens. These can serve as part of a three-monitor display or operated separately and angled to serve different areas of the arena. The Tech Port Center also has 74 Samsung monitors that are controlled by UCView CMS signage software, plus exterior LED displays for messaging and advertising. Sound is delivered using a high-power JBL Cinema 7.1 surround sound loudspeaker system.

[Higher Ed Esports Programs Need Support from AV/IT Experts]

Make no mistake: The production values during Tech Port Center esports’ competitions are as polished as any major league sports event. In fact, during an esports event, the main camera-based feed is switched by a professional technical director, who is backed by a graphics expert adding lower-third CG titles, audio director managing the sound, and another technician selecting the feeds for the venue’s various monitors.

“We even have video replay and slow motion,” said Martin. “We run both just as you would in football, and use the lower-third of the screen to crawl information, plus pop-up relevant scores, wins/losses, you name it.”

Limiting Latency

The team at Tech Port Center is able to bring esports right into the action during competitive events, which can run for hours at a time over one or two days. “Most of the time, what you’re watching on the big screens is the actual game play, as well as seeing how the competitive players are reacting as things progress,” Martin explained. “The players can become quite animated as they either succeed or get killed as the game progresses.”

To keep these productions going smoothly with all the signal paths involved, AJP has done everything it can to minimize signal latency in the venue’s network. “Latency can't be allowed to exist,” said Martin. “Minimizing it came down to ensuring that the network jacks and every other physical element in the network was perfect. After all, the competitive gaming system is a single-mode fiber optic backbone that connects those 10-gig switches to the NIC [network interface controller] cards. Something as simple as a jack being improperly terminated or even not quite pressed down enough could actually cause latency in it.”

AJP spent weeks testing the Tech Port Center network—from the gaming stations at one end to the switches and the NICs at the other—to make sure the system exceeded expectations. “We didn’t experience any signal latency in the network once we were done,” Martin said. “And as of now, we've not seen any at all.”    

Following the recent acquisition of Flowics by Vizrt Group, enhancing Vizrt’s end-to-end graphics portfolio, NewTek TriCaster 1 Pro and TriCaster 2 Elite users will be offered a 30-day trial of the Flowics platform.

With the introduction of Live Link, TriCaster users can take HTML sources directly into their production, rendering anything from whole web pages to web videos, or HTML5 graphics as direct sources in their switcher—reducing the complexity of set-up and pressure on the network. The Flowics platform gives customers simple control over the creation, integration, and playout of those HTML5 graphics—perfect for fast-paced productions and digital or multi-screen extensions.

[Vizrt Group Acquires HTML5 Broadcast Graphics Platform Flowics]

“TriCaster users embrace the creation of motion media content and deliver it to anywhere viewers want to watch," said  states Barbara Spicek, president and general manager of NewTek. "The combination of TriCaster with Flowics by Vizrt makes this all-in-one system go a step further. With captivating graphics, it brings the story to life, making the creation and playout of interactive media experiences intuitive for mobile, the web, social media, and live streams.

“While this acquisition will certainly benefit customers across Vizrt Group, we are very pleased to offer NewTek customers an exclusive opportunity to experience the simple, vast and versatile tools from Flowics first, and for free.”

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

With the addition of Flowics by Vizrt to a TriCaster, customers can access the immersive potential of data driven graphics, powered by a wide range of external data sources, including sports statistics, timing and scoring, betting, weather, and finance information, in a code-free approach. And as a true SaaS platform, Flowics graphics can be created and controlled from anywhere, anytime—at high speed.

Introducing the NewTek TriCaster Mini X. The new addition to the TriCaster family boasts Live Link, an all-new feature that brings the power of the internet directly into TriCaster—offering freedom in production.

“The last two years have brought into sharp focus the importance not only of the accessibility of quality video production solutions but also tools that set productions apart," said Barbara Spicek, president and general manager of NewTek. "By introducing the TriCaster Mini X, we prove that you don’t have to be a seasoned expert with limitless resources to tell your story with all the bells and whistles of a broadcast giant."

[How a TV Pro Gear Truck and NewTek Enhance Live Productions for UCCS Athletics]

Storytellers want to focus on telling the story and the Mini X has everything needed for producers to do that, right at their desk. TriCaster Mini X is the first in the TriCaster line of products to offer Live Link. This brand-new feature means users can easily pull any web page elements into a production without the need to use third party applications. Ranging from graphics or images to videos from your organization’s internal training platforms, this turns the entire internet into a source for your productions.

The TriCaster Mini X continues the all-in-one desktop form factor and turns every space it’s in into a full, multi-source production studio. TriCaster Mini X offers increased power and capabilities, including access to 8 external sources with 4 integrated HDMI inputs and supporting modern resolutions up to 4Kp30; and HTML rendering directly in the switcher, with access to HTML 5 motion graphics, webpages, web-based video playback and more without having to use a separate computer.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Three Features to Know

1. Accessibility, unlocked. 

TriCaster Mini X brings the possibilities of professional live video production to anyone with a story to tell, no matter their level of experience—without vast investments in infrastructure. Video switching, media playback, virtual sets, social media integration, ability to add graphics, record, stream, and much more.

2. Flexibility for all production.

Creators can use all their existing devices with the TriCaster Mini X and truly level-up their productions with all the advanced features it has to offer. From cameras to microphones, off-the-shelf HDMI devices connect directly to the Mini X in minutes creating professional level productions—without having to purchase any new equipment.

3. Scalability with the NewTek family.

Once users enter the world of TriCaster, they never look back. The TriCaster Mini X offers host of powerful features that means it not only helps you get your productions off the ground, but also grows with them. In addition, by being a part of the NewTek family of products, there are countless ways to expand workflows to meet your evolving production needs.

Built with NDI at its core, the Mini X is an easy to use, futureproof solution that can be simplified or expanded, as necessary. By using IP video and software defined visual storytelling, TriCaster Mini X offers infinite production possibilities.

Prior to the release of NDI 5.5 (see sidebar below), Suso Carillo, NDI marketing lead, sat down with SCN for a short Q&A about the evolution of the popular network protocol.

SCN: How has your background prepared you for your role?

Suso Carillo: have been with NDI since November of last year; however, I have been a fan of NDI since it first came out in 2015. NDI is this easy technology that implements low-latency video, audio, tally, and control over gigabit networking. I knew it would revolutionize the industry. I very closely followed the technology, and when it spun off into its own brand—after the Vizrt Group acquisition in 2019—I knew if the opportunity presented itself that I wanted to be a part of the team.

I have more than 25 years of experience in the media industry. Ranging from my time as a technician to being in a “boots on the ground” role, to founding TM Broadcast Magazine, alongside being the marketing director of SRT Alliance for Haivision, they have all in some way helped shape me and give me the necessary tools to succeed in my role as the marketing lead for NDI. 

SCN: What do you think makes NDI unique in the industry?

SC: One of the key elements of NDI is its strong partnerships. We exist to ease the workflow for end users, so they can streamline and be more productive. In addition, we guarantee quality and the lowest latency of any other technology on the market with unparalleled interoperability. Everything we do is to drive value for our community. When I think of our role at NDI, it’s really to pioneer a new era of video.

As broadcast production workflows evolve from entire on-premises control rooms to remote integration, hybrid or cloud environments, efficiency is a necessity. Users need a guaranteed solution for production that supports audio mixing, routing, and really support the new workflow from ingest to program distribution. NDI has been critical in supporting this new era of production.

[New NDI|HX 3 Standard Offers Superior Quality, Lower Latency]

Our release of NDI 5.0 introduced NDI Audio Direct, NDI Remote, and NDI Bridge, which established support for sharing NDI sources across the internet. Alongside these features, the enhanced NDI|HX3 gives users option to deliver low latency transmission with reduced bandwidth for better quality video in any setting without the need to upgrade equipment.

SCN: Why do you think NDI has been so successful?

SC: I can sum up NDI’s success to three things: It’s easy, it’s simple, and it’s guaranteed. By using a standard IP connection via one singular Ethernet cable and downloading NDI, anyone can deploy broadcast-quality video and audio to an audience. It’s cost effective, too, which is why it’s used by millions across the globe from big broadcasters to YouTubers who want to stream themselves playing video games. We’ve only just begun to see the opportunities that NDI can provide in this cloud and IP-based workflow evolution we are currently experiencing.

SCN: What makes video-over-IP so challenging, particularly for live production?

SC: The challenge for video-over-IP stems from the fact that IP networks were not designed to transport video over them, especially high-quality, live video that the world is used to consuming. IP networks are designed to share and send information, where latency isn’t necessarily as big of a factor over a live video. When you look at live video, however, low latency is mission critical.

Take a football or soccer match, for instance. If there is even just one second of video blackout, where the content is not coming through from the live production, there is a huge problem for viewers. The quality of the viewing experience for the audience can impact viewership numbers, which has adverse effects like less advertising spend if it continues. So, with latency being one of the main challenges, especially in live streaming, NDI is the solution.

SCN: What are the short and long-term goals for NDI?

SC: NDI is becoming a de facto standard. It’s embedded into some of the biggest platforms for collaboration and communication like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and many more. As it grows, we want a varied group of knowledgeable individuals to support its success, which is why we’ve created an NDI Advisory Board. The founding members include Vizrt Group CEO, Michael Hallen, and Dr. Andrew Cross, who first developed NDI.

[KILOVIEW Launches the NDI Recorder: Facts, Features, and What to Know]

The ultimate long-term goal is for NDI to become the video standard in the worldwide video industry. That’s our vision. In the short term, we’re looking to boost adoption in both the broadcast and Pro AV industries, but also explore other verticals where NDI is used, like in healthcare and corporate. Basically, wherever video moves, NDI can make it better.

Video is a critical tool, as we have fortunately and unfortunately learned over the pandemic the value of IP video in particular, NDI is a technology to expand creative thinking, storytelling, and ideas seamlessly thanks to its pragmatic approach to IP video technology and everything we do must come back to help others to easily connect and control their video workflows and devices to tell more stories, better.

We are also working on a robust roadmap to update the software to further support remote and decentralized production, alongside strengthening our integrations with our partners like Epic Games, Vizrt, and NewTek. In fact, NDI adoption is happening so rapidly, there are more products launching to market with NDI integration this year than ever before, nearly on a weekly basis!

NDI Launches 5.5 Update

In early August, NDI announced NDI 5.5, an update offering enhanced features to allow content producers, developers, and manufacturers more creative freedom to move video and audio across networks. The update delivers user experience improvements and adds powerful tools—including new routing tools, enhanced audio capabilities, improved features, and performance on remote connections.  

Complex productions can be problematic when managing large numbers of inputs and outputs. NDI Router, a free app in the NDI Tools suite, allows users to route NDI sources as custom inputs to selected outputs with a simple click. Buttons can have bespoke names, and styles and users can preview the source assigned to any destination—making it easier than ever to manage and control inputs and outputs without supervising each stream independently.

Building on NDI Audio Direct, NDI AudI/O now allows SDK users to connect any audio device as an NDI source without the need to use third-party software applications. This feature significantly simplifies workflows, saving time and removing a layer of complexity.

Positioned to support content creators who want to take advantage of the flexibility of IP network, NDI 5.5 also boasts simple but effective changes to the NDI tools launcher, allowing more control by users, faster connections with talkback when bringing in remote video sources via NDI Remote, multiple source support in NDI Webcam, and more.

“NDI 5.5 follows on from the recent release of the NDI SDK for Unreal Engine 5 plugin, further demonstrating our commitment to provide the operating ‘glue’ that creators instinctively use as they deliver their craft, and also give our partners an ever-evolving platform to create exciting products,” said Tarif Sayed, president, NDI. “It's important to us that our community of users get the best experience, and NDI 5.5 delivers exciting and improved elements that continue to make NDI the standard of choice for visual storytellers, content creators and manufacturers around the globe.”

If you are an AV engineer who first worked at T-Mobile Arena—home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights—and then got an AV gig at the new 5,567-seat Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, NV, you could be forgiven for doing a double take after entering its Technical Operations Center (TOC). The reason?

“Our AV system was designed to be a miniature version of T-Mobile Arena’s,” said Steve Carl, director of audio visual and production, Dollar Loan Center. “We’re kind of the little sibling of that facility, in the sense that we have the same AV DNA as they do.”

[Future Proof Control Room Connectivity]

The reason for the resemblance has everything to do with Golden Knights owner Bill Foley. He also owns the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League (AHL), who call the Dollar Loan Center home. Foley also co-owns the Dollar Loan Center, which opened its doors in March. “Mr. Foley is very happy with the T-Mobile Arena and how AV production is facilitated there,” Carl explained. “So he just basically used its AV operation as a template to be copied here.”

Not only does this decision mean the Dollar Loan Center has an NHL-quality AV system, but it also ensures a source of highly qualified personnel for this stadium. “This is because we use AV technicians from the T-Mobile Arena,” said Davin Gaddy, The Dollar Loan Center’s AV engineer. “By copying their AV system and recreating it here, it is very easy to move people back and forth as needed. There is no learning curve to move from one TOC to the other.”

Monitors Everywhere

Super-sized video scoreboards dominate modern arenas, and the Dollar Loan Center is no exception. Suspended over the center of the stadium is a Daktronics video scoreboard LED display with four faces, each one approximately 11.5 feet high by 20 feet wide with 3.9mm pixel spacing for high-resolution imagery. Each screen can be used to show one large image or multiple zones of live video, instant replays, player statistics, graphics, animations, and advertising.

The Dollar Loan Center also has a Daktronics 360-degree indoor LED ribbon display (23,616x72 total resolution) running around the stadium’s upper perimeter, as well as an 11x19-foot Daktronics outdoor marquee display at 960x540 resolution. Plus, there is a NovaStar exterior pylon LED sign in the property, offering messaging at 256x384 resolution.

“We have 147 HDTVs that are running on an IPTV system throughout the facility,” Gaddy said. “Their content is sure to catch your eye wherever you are, because we have complete control over all that digital signage and can tailor it to whatever event is coming through.”

To supply its screens with video, the Dollar Loan Center has a full complement of broadcast-quality HD cameras. There are five Hitachi SK-HD1800 cameras with Fujinon lenses wired via SMPTE hybrid optical cables, as well as an additional SK-HD1800 connected using a Waves Central bi-directional RF interface. Six Marshall POV cameras are equipped with Thor bi-directional fiber transceivers, and two Sony BRC-X1000 4K PTZ cameras connected by fiber. The TOC’s camera control suite has six Hitachi RU-1500JY remote camera controls, one Marshall remote CCU station, and one Sony RM-IP500 PTZ camera remote controller.

[Tulane Unifies AV and Broadcast for Sports Production]

The cameras connect back to the TOC on the event level through multiple junction boxes, installed at key areas around the facility, via single-mode fiber optic and analog cables. “We've got fiber runs that go everywhere you would expect fiber to run, with the exception of the restrooms,” Carl said with a laugh. “Seriously, we've got connectivity through our junction boxes located throughout the facility. Basically, we can setup cameras anywhere we want to, and send their video to anywhere in the building.”

Top Shelf Equipment

Modelled after the T-Mobile Arena’s TOC, the Dollar Loan Center’s TOC definitely punches above its weight. The star of the operation is a Ross Carbonite video switcher with TouchDrive control surface, with a Ross Xpression CG Suite included to support real-time motion graphics and clips playout. The TOC also features a CharacterWorks CG system for ancillary score bug/graphics applications, which is integrated with the Daktronics All Sport scoring system and the four video scoreboards. “We’ve got more options on this system than most of our operators ever need,” said Carl.

To manage its video, the TOC has an Evertz DreamCatcher DC-Playout four-output system, Evertz Dreamcatcher DC-ONE six-input replay system, four FOR-A FA-505 multi-channel signal processors, and a NewTek TriCaster Mini for video streaming applications. Signal transport and processing is handled by an Evertz EQX hybrid router, configured to 164x164 SDI channels with fully routable audio capabilities. Other Evertz gear includes a MAGNUM system control server, SCORPION SDI-to-Dante bridge, and 5700MSC-IP master clock.

On the audio side of the house, this TOC has a DiGiCo S31 FOH mixing console, Fulcrum Acoustic main P.A. with Powersoft amplifiers, JBL facility-wide P.A. with QSC amplifiers, QSC Q-SYS processing with Extron zone controllers, and a TASCAM analog/Dante converter.

A Dante infrastructure serves as the stadium’s primary audio transport method, with a main P.A. analog backup available. This is topped off by a Riedel intercom system with multiple base stations and 20 wireless Bolero belt packs with facility wide antenna distribution and connectivity, plus Clear-Com analog partyline system capabilities.

[Major League AV at Toronto's Rogers Centre]

The Dollar Loan Center’s lighting system keeps pace with its stellar AV setup. "Our lighting was created by designer Sean Guarino of Sexy Lights, who has done Olympic figure ice skating lighting,” Carl said. “He's also done lots of sporting events, including the lighting design at the T-Mobile Arena.”

General lighting in The Dollar Loan Center is provided by Musco DMX addressable LED fixtures, with both adjustable color temperature and RGBW fixtures installed, and a Musco lighting control system. Facility lighting employs LED systems that have Eaton DMX external control capabilities, as well as software timing and control systems, while lighting for specific events varies depending on their needs.

Finally, to aid TV production, the stadium has two television truck remote locations with full interconnectivity and power, plus multiple show power system tie-in locations around the facility.

Given the top quality and flexibility of its AV, lighting, and infrastructure, it’s not surprising that Carl describes the Dollar Loan Center as being a “very cool” place to work. He and Gaddy love the fact that it can support everything from basketball, AHL hockey, and IFL indoor football, as well as a full range of other sports, entertainment, corporate, and trade show events.

“Davin and I both come from Cirque du Soleil, where you basically do the same show twice a day, five days a week,” Carl explained. “Now Cirque is wonderful in itself, and that's not an experience to shake a stick at, but having the absolute variety of events that come up in this facility is just thrilling for us as users of AV technology, especially because we have the right equipment to serve them all.”

As media services video engineer at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), Garrett Kuecker is tasked with using the school’s TV Pro Gear (TVPG) Generation 5 Sprinter/Flypack multicamera video production truck to produce a multitude of live events on campus. With production demands continuing to grow, so too has the need to upgrade the flypack’s live video system. Upon consulting with the experts at TVPG, Kuecker and school officials found the upgrade solution they were looking for with the NewTek TriCaster TC2 Elite video production platform.

“The main difference between NewTek’s older TriCaster 8000 that we were using and new TriCaster TC2 Elite is the operating systems they are built on,” said Kuecker. “The original TC8000 was working off Windows 7, which is no longer being supported, making interfacing with our campus network an issue. Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on something entirely new, we were able to quickly and easily switch the flypack’s software component for a fraction of the cost.”

[TV Pro Gear Spotlights New Flypacks]

The school’s Generation 5 Sprinter/Flypack production truck is used primarily to broadcast the games of UCCS’s six varsity sports teams. With the various sporting events being played at six different locations throughout the campus, the sprinter/flypack combo is a great way for Kuecker to quickly bring all of the unit’s production capabilities anywhere he needs.

While the truck is specifically used for sports, the flypack itself serves a dual purpose. “We pull the flypack out of the truck and roll it into our studio, and it operates as a mobile studio,” added Kuecker. “All the tech lives in the flypack and comes in and out as we require. As a state campus, there are tons of requests throughout the year to cover live events. It is great to just have a system that I can roll anywhere on campus. I can set up a couple of cameras, and have a really professional looking broadcast without needing two days to set up and having equipment strewn across the room. With the flypack, we can be ready in under three hours and be perfectly confident in its capabilities to produce an in-person event.”

Kuecker has been very happy since installing the upgrade, adding, “I’ve taken advantage of the increased network capabilities of the new software. I have a lot more inputs to play around with. While it wasn’t an issue before the upgrade, I have definitely enjoyed using the features that we have gained. It was also a very easy learning curve. The TVPG team flew out here and helped install it. We had a day and half to work on training and see the differences between the two systems. The upgrade was seamless, and we have been very happy.”

[Major League AV at Toronto's Rogers Centre] 

In addition to the high-quality equipment TVPG packs into its flypack setup, Kuecker also finds the company’s customer support and service to be top-notch. “Specifically, one thing I really appreciate about the TVPG team is that they are always reachable,” he adds. “If I ever do have a question, they are incredibly responsive. It’s wonderful to have access to a group of people who are able to return a phone call in the same day. The TVPG team has been a great resource.”

TVPG’s Generation 5 Sprinter/Flypack is a multi-camera video production truck designed for shooting live events. It can be equipped with up to ten cameras, instant replay, slow motion, graphics, internet streaming and a satellite uplink. All TV Pro Gear Flypacks are fabricated from aircraft-quality steel, aluminum and carbon fiber, in one complete, road-ready package that’s quick and easy to set up. They are available with a variety of options for more cameras, wide angle lenses, box lenses, instant replay, wireless intercoms and sports announcing equipment.

When Chukchansi Park, home of Minor League Baseball’s Fresno Grizzlies, opened 20 years ago, it was the beginning of the Fresno revitalization. Hopes were high that the stadium would be the cornerstone to the downtown district. In the 20 years since, the Fresno renaissance has seen a brewery district, shopping experiences, and more develop, which has brought more fans to the stadium.

Although there had been physical renovations to the ballpark—a new splashpad and kid zone as well as a standing-room bar area were added—the technology in the park was lagging. Although Chukchansi Park is one of the largest in the minors, it was operating with an outdated scoreboard, one old, single-source speaker in centerfield, and the original lights from 2002.

[Major League AV at Toronto's Rogers Centre]

In 2020, the minors reorganized, and the Grizzlies went from a Triple-A club to the home of the Colorado Rockies Single-A affiliate. This enormous ballpark, which seats north of 10,000 fans, suddenly became the largest Single-A stadium in MiLB.

 “Our thought process was every single night we want to be able to provide a Triple-A experience for our fans, and that’s where the new sound system, the new video board, the new lights really come into play,” said Jonathan Bravo, director of marketing and communications for the Fresno Grizzlies.

One-for-Two

The transformation began with the centerpiece of the upgrade. The past saw two videoboards: a main board that displayed headshots, promotional graphics, and lesser-quality live shots, as well as an auxiliary board featuring additional sponsor messaging, players stats, and content.

 “You had to think of it in two pieces,” Bravo explained. “You had to think what was going on the main board and then the smaller auxiliary board. With this new board, the ability to partition things is pretty much endless on our side. We’re able to have player headshots, lineups, and the line score—but also upcoming promotions and different sponsors. We used to have six or seven static signage abilities for partners, but now theoretically we can have as many partners as we want.”

The Grizzlies turned to Visua to install the 2,000-square-foot VisuaLED videoboard as well as three BirdDog A200 PTZ cameras (one in centerfield and one in each dugout) and a pair of JVC GY-HM850 wireless cameras. Also installed were a Teradek 4K Max wireless receiver and transceiver, NewTek TriCaster TC1 production system, and NewTek 3Play 3P2 replay solution.

“One of the other cool things we implemented was using the cellphone as a wireless camera,” explained Matt Baker, general manager of Visua/VirtCh. “With the new NDI technology, we are able to take any of their cellphones, scan a QR code, and we can turn that into a wireless camera that we can bring into the TriCaster, basically adding a third wireless camera to their show.”

Visua’s virtual producer service VirtCh helped install MotionRocket, a content and graphics solution for the scoreboard. Fresno now has a strong partnership to create the content needed to bring the videoboard to life.

“We are lucky with Visua and VirtCh. If we need a motion graphic for home runs, that’s something they can brand for us and pump out,” Bravo added. “A lot of the specific content, like most recently the Jackie Robinson Day graphic, is in house. It’s working hand-in-hand with VirtCh. It’s a great partnership where we really treat them as members of our front office.”

Built to Last

Weather—particularly the intense heat of the Central Valley—was a strong consideration for the equipment installed. “It’s great peace of mind,” Bravo said. “Our Fourth of July game is the biggest game of the year. To know that videoboard will turn on and will function as it’s supposed to is a huge weight off our shoulders.”

However, Virtch’s help extends well beyond the videoboard. “They are also remotely producing games for us Sunday through Thursday,” Bravo explained. “Our upstairs control room looked like 1960s NASA, and now to have all modern flat screen TVs, a brand new TriCaster, and the fact that they are able to remote in is great for us because we get directors that produce games for a living. That kind of experience is invaluable.”

Visua also brought digital signage to the concession stands. Using SAVI controls and 18 new LG TVs, Fresno has control of sending new content to its menus and the live in-house feed directly to the screens for a completely immersive experience anywhere in the park.

Gone is the big old speaker; Visua replaced it with 125 all-weather JBL Professional AWC Series speakers. Whether they are in one of the more than 30 suites, in a row along the second and third decks, or the concourse itself, the new sound system brings a completely new auditory experience to the fans, and employees alike.

The audio upgrade required all-new cabling and a BSS networked audio system that controls the zones, inputs, and outputs. The Grizzlies production team has full control and can partition sound throughout the ballpark. For example, they can play kids music at the splash pad while simultaneously having game audio in the concourse.

The lights hadn’t been updated since the original 2002 ballpark construction, and brought an unnatural, orange tinge to the field. The Grizzlies installed 172 Musco fixtures with its Total Light Control (TLC for LED) technology for a simplified, true daylight look for the games. The lights are managed via Musco’s Control-Link Central control and monitoring system.

Now, the production team simply flips a switch—whether it is on one of the two tablets or cellphones deployed throughout the park—and the all-LED system is up and running. There is no more warming up or cooling of the outdated ballpark lights, and Bravo and his team can create light shows that chase each other around or shoot up the foul poles in the entire gauntlet of colors.

For the Fans

Despite ongoing congestion issues from the pandemic, the install was ready just in time for Opening Day 2022. “We got there literally the week before opening, so we hustled to install,” Baker recalled. “But we had it up and running and it looked beautiful that opening night.”

Having the Visua team on hand for that opening weekend made sure that fan experience went smoothly. “Any time you bring in a new system you expect there is going to be a learning curve,” Bravo said. “We’re extremely fortunate to have a great production crew, but also we had the production team from Visua and Virtch out here for opening weekend so they could troubleshoot things in real time.”

[Daktronics Delivers Home Run for Arkansas Travelers Outfield Video Display]

Chukchansi Park has become the centerpiece in the heart of Fresno. Concerts are frequently held at the venue, as is “Taco Truck Throwdown,” a food competition that consists of 30-plus taco trucks. Most of the bands bring their own equipment that easily connects to Fresno’s new system, and the videoboard is used for promotions and sponsors during the Taco Truck Throwdown.

In the end the more than $2-million upgrade—made possible by the city of Fresno and naming rights group Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino—is all about the unique experience that is minor-league baseball. “To see the videoboard, see the lights, hear the sound system for the first time on opening weekend, it was instantly clear how much this impacts the fans enjoyment,” Bravo added. “So much about minor-league baseball is the entertainment, family fun aspect. For us to be able to completely skyrocket our production value and bring this experience to the fans has us very excited for what we can accomplish for the rest of this year.”

The Systems Contractor News 2022 Installation Product Awards were announced on June 7 during a ceremony during InfoComm at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Winning products were recognized across 13 categories.

“Every year, the SCN Installation Product Awards are a showcase for innovation,” said Mark J. Pescatore, content director, Systems Contractor News, who announced the awards. “These awards are a great opportunity to recognize manufacturers who continue to set the bar higher for their Pro AV customers. Congratulations to all our winners.”

[InfoComm 2022 Impulses: Trends and Technologies to See in Las Vegas] 

And the winners are:

Most Innovative Audio Solution

Bose Professional: AMM Multipurpose Loudspeakers

Yamaha Unified Communications: VSP-2

Most Innovative Mounting Solution

Chief: TiLED i-Style dvLED Video Wall Mounting System

rp Visual Solutions: Wallmate Slim (RPWM-32BS-XMS-UNV)

Most Innovative Video Display

Absen: NX Series

Planar: Planar DirectLight Ultra Series MicroLED Video Wall

Most Innovative Digital Signage Product

BrightSign: BrightSign XC5

Sony Electronics: FW-100BZ40J BRAVIA Professional Display

Most Innovative Video Projection Solution

Epson America: EB-PU2220B 3LCD Large Venue Laser Projector with 4K Enhancement

Sharp/NEC: PE506UL Laser Projector

Most Innovative Video Processing Solution

Blackmagic Design: ATEM Constellation HD

Most Innovative AV Installation Accessory

NewTek: PTZ3

Vanco International: Evolution by Vanco EVEX4K70 4K HDR Extender

Most Innovative AVoIP Solution

Matrox Video: Matrox ConvertIP

NETGEAR Business: M4250 Series Managed Switches

Most Innovative Emerging Technology

LG Business Solutions USA:  CLOi ServeBot

Samsung Electronics America: Samsung EV Charging Station

Most Innovative Videoconferencing Product

Biamp: Parlé Conferencing Bar

MAXHUB: UC M40

Most Innovative Collaboration Product

QSC: Q-SYS NC Series Network Conference Cameras

ViewSonic: ViewSonic ID2456 Touch Monitor

Most Innovative Signal Management Product

ZeeVee:  ZyPer4K-XS SDVoE Encoders and Decoders

Most Innovative Streaming Product

Epiphan Video: Pearl Nano

PTZOptics: SuperJoy

Each of the nominated products were submitted by their respective manufacturers. Winners were chosen by industry professionals through a ballot accessed through avnetwork.com. The product entered must have first shipped between January 1, 2021, and April 8, 2022. Up to two winners were selected in each category.

With nearly three decades of experience in the tech industry, Barbara Spicek is no stranger to shifting market trends or the various channels of bringing a product to consumers. So, when the video production innovators at NewTek needed help navigating the challenges of a global pandemic, she was uniquely suited to step in. In fact, since Spicek’s appointment as NewTek’s president and general manager in 2020, the company has seen an unprecedented growth of nearly 40 percent globally and shows no signs of slowing down in 2022.

Meeting a Rising Demand

The past two years have highlighted—and even increased—the ubiquity of AV solutions in our daily lives, according to Spicek. “The need for professional broadcast and video production is everywhere,” she said. “We have the classical markets like education fueled by the pandemic, with remote learning and remote teaching—so they grew tremendously as a customer base, as did houses of worship. All of a sudden we had to create remotely, so there was a big increase.”

From small-scale podcasters looking to polish their production quality, to corporations in search of enterprise-wide collaboration solutions—NewTek has been able to accommodate and provide for the diverse technology needs of professionals throughout the pandemic. “The great thing with NewTek is we’re not a broadcast company,” Spicek said. “We have products that go from the entry level—sub-10K level—to higher for whatever the business needs. We really cater to this broader mid-market and all segments these days.”

[ NewTek Continues Global Growth, Names Lanlink, First Nordic Distributor ]

And despite the ongoing supply chain challenges that have plagued every industry for two the past two years, NewTek’s San Antonio-based R&D team has, more often than not, been able to act quickly in order to keep price points and products accessible for their customers. “We operate fast,” Spicek explained. “If we get a warning on a graphics card or a motherboard or whatever—the team acts immediately, sits together, and looks at alternative sources, saying, ‘What can be done, engineering-wise?’ We've really mastered the waves pretty well the last two years.”

Agile in the New World

In addition to their broad appeal across market verticals and AV technology budgets, Spicek attributes much of NewTek’s recent success to their ability to remain flexible and creative in the face of adversity. “I think one of the keys to the success we’ve had over the last two years is because we were super agile in adopting to this new world,” she said.

For example, at least one of the operational changes—initially viewed as disruptive to business as usual—brought on by the pandemic has become an indispensable part of the way NewTek interacts with potential customers. “In the beginning, I think it got on everybody's nerves staring into their screen all the time; but once you get used to it, it proved very effective,” Spicek explained. “We had our entire engineering team move to remote demos and really professional setups so that they could remotely demonstrate to the customer.”

[ NewTek Unveils CaptureCast Lecture Capture Solution—Here's What to Know ]

This adjustment to virtual interaction appears to have paid off—both for NewTek and its employees. Spicek continued, “Our engineers gave me feedback and said, ‘I would fly to New York and be able to do two TriCaster demos. Now I'm sitting in my home office professionally and I can do 10 or 15 a day.’ I think companies have realized that it can actually work very effectively.”

Growing Global Partnerships

An area of tremendous growth that Spicek has overseen during her tenure at NewTek has been international engagement with their array of AV solutions. One thing that initially attracted her to the role, she emphasized, was an opportunity to flex “that knowledge of global market—the channel partners thing and so on, and my tremendous background on channel programs,” she said. “So the moment I came on, I actually launched a complete new global channel program for NewTek.”

Spicek’s insider knowledge of the global market has paid in dividends for the company over the past several years. “Out of the 39 percent growth—a huge part was international,” she said. “That business has actually grown even faster than the US one. We also launched global support for the first time at the beginning of last year. We now have support infrastructure in Europe and APAC 24 hours, around the clock and all of these good things. And then we’ve obviously been adding partners across the globe, so it's been exciting.”

A Passionate In-House Team

But while the past several years have been marked by growth and visibility of NewTek solutions on the world stage, the true secret to the company’s success, according to Spicek, ultimately lies in its own people. “The strengths of NewTek, I would definitely say—one is product, and an extremely innovative team that just keeps on bringing out world-class, leading switches,” she said. “NewTek is an incredible company. Everybody is passionate and committed, and I was amazed when I joined to see that they've been really able to maintain that vibe.” 

[ NewTek Introduces PTZ3 PTZ Camera with NDI|HX 3 Support ]

This longstanding vision of providing people with tools they need to express themselves—without compromising on quality—serves as a guiding principle for employees at every level. “I can tell you, the one thing I've been impressed with at NewTek is the power of innovation and the dedication of the R&D departments, because they really live and breathe live production. The story of NewTek was always give storytellers a voice, no matter where they are,” she concluded. “That passion across all the departments is really still there.”

NewTek, a leader in IP-based video technology and part of the Vizrt Group, announced the latest in its innovative portfolio, CaptureCast; a ground-breaking multi-input, multiroom recording and live streaming technology to drive active participation, engagement, and experience for remote and hybrid learning.

The IP-based lecture capture and micro-broadcasting services that connect any room on campus or any meeting room in the business to anywhere in the world—thanks to the power of NDI, the globally standardized video-over-IP technology. Easy to implement and fully autonomous, CaptureCast doesn’t require a dedicated operator leaving teachers more time, attention, and energy for their students.

“Video is embedded in every area of society and in today’s world anyone can get on camera and connect to an audience. Micro-broadcasting has become a ‘must have’ in education to meet the growing need of servicing distance learners, and outfitting rooms for flex/hybrid instructions to deliver an enhanced experience for remote students,” remarked William Waters, head of product management, NewTek.

[NewTek Introduces PTZ3 PTZ Camera with NDI|HX 3 Support]

Connect, globally

CaptureCast is the first solution on the market to harness the power of NDI by connecting camera apps on mobile, software screen capture, and thousands of compatible devices like PTZ cameras. Using NDI, CaptureCast also incorporates direct connection with video communication applications including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, among others.

Record, automatically

Schools are challenged with delivering high-quality, impactful videos to keep remote learners engaged and provide accessible class materials and the means to replay missed sessions if needed. CaptureCast allows remote learners to access content in real-time and rewatch and review on-demand.

The innovative automation inside CaptureCast records any live devices such as cameras, mics, tablets, document cameras, and nearly any digital teaching device offering HD video out, enabling remote learners to interact with video content more dynamically.

[The Nine 2022: Meet 9 Pro AV Superstars] 

Stream, seamlessly

Furthermore, CaptureCast takes any live capture and instantaneously replicates it across education and streaming platforms to empower remote learners to switch between viewpoints, cameras, or screens to completely personalize, and take control of their learning experience and interact with content as if they were in the room—live or on-demand.

Enrich, education

All student’s learning gaps are unique, and video must be curated around unique learning needs. CaptureCast ensures every single session is enriched with metadata; tagging keywords, pulling data from slide decks, and spoken word which is made available to learners to better access the content and jump straight to what they are looking for.

Automate video

Every teacher, course, and classroom can have varying issues operating classroom recording and live streaming on an ongoing basis. To solve this challenge, CaptureCast automates the entire record-stream-enrichment process. It moves between different set-ups for any given class, to a pre-programmed schedule or timetable, and intelligently maps the captured content to common learning or content management systems—all without any input from teaching or IT staff. Each set-up can be customized to any style of lecture, speaker, or for totally exceptional and out-of-the-box learning experiences.

“Quality, easy-to-use video tools are a necessity for educational institutions to engage the needs of all students, whether in the classroom or at home. Expanding our solutions into this market is incredibly exciting and a testament to the success and growth of NewTek over the past few years, due, in no small part to its strong channel partner program. The introduction of CaptureCast provides opportunities for our existing partners, as well as new partners across the education ecosystem,” said Barbara Spicek, president and general manager, NewTek.

NewTek, a leader in IP video technology that gives every storyteller a voice through video, announced a partnership with Lanlink distribution—the latest in a long line of distributor additions this year as NewTek continues its global growth.

[And the Award Goes To: NewTek Launches Inaugural TriCaster Awards]

Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Lanlink has been a NewTek platinum partner supporting the Nordic region and empowering video content creators for decades through the evolution of NewTek’s solutions. Now as a distributor, Lanlink can get the latest NewTek products to customers fast, with a streamlined process, leaving no wait time to create video.

“NewTek has always had a strong user base across the Nordics, and with Lanlink as a certified distributor our customers, end users, and future customers have easier, and faster access to our cutting-edge products," stated Barbara Spicek, president and general manager, NewTek. "With the depth and breadth of experience that Lanlink has of our company and solutions, we are confident we will see an expansion of NewTek users across the region, expediting our growth throughout the Nordics."

[NewTek Growth Set to Surge in 2022 After Record Year]

Lanlink will hold a range of NewTek stock in Sweden for quick delivery to the network, including the full portfolio of software-defined video storytelling tools, including the TriCaster family, 3Play video replay systems, and PTZ cameras.

“The demand for video continues to reach unprecedented amounts, and NewTek’s next-generation, user-friendly, accessible, and reliable solutions are always at the top of our customers' lists," remarked Peter Lilja, managing director, Lanlink Distribution. "We wanted to come together to make it as easy as possible for users to integrate NewTek and NDI-native NewTek products into their workflows and are excited for the projects to come with our new partnership. Furthermore, we believe our local experts and support will help strengthen NewTek’s stronghold in the Nordics, better-serving customers regionally."

Calling all visual storytellers, creatives, directors, live content producers and maestros using the TriCaster. NewTek, a leader in IP-based video technology and part of Vizrt Group, announced a quest to find and celebrate the everyday operators of the iconic line, with the TriCaster Director of the Year Awards.

The TriCaster Director of the Year Awards will showcase the innovation, technical skills, and creative excellence of the global first-class talent that fly the TriCaster tech. Entries for the awards open on 19 May 2022.

[NewTek Growth Set to Surge in 2022 After Record Year]

“We are on a mission to honor the amazing talent that gives real purpose to our flagship product line," stated Barbara Spicek, president and general manager of NewTek. "We want to recognize the visual storytellers that operate TriCasters and highlight how they artfully weave together video into impactful and compelling stories. Cutting-edge content needs more than just technology, it needs talent. With the TriCaster Director of the Year Awards we want to give back to the TriCaster maestros who create magic and delight for audiences and the industry."

The categories for this year include:

• The TriCaster Director of the Year – Universal best director chosen by the judges
• The ESG (Environmental, social, and corporate governance) TriCaster Director of the Year Awards
• The Corporate TriCaster Director of the Year
• The Education TriCaster Director of the Year
• The House of Worship TriCaster Director of the Year
• The Sports TriCaster Director of the Year
• The Live Production TriCaster Director of the Year (music, events, awards, broadcast, etc.)

Any technical director or TriCaster operator can apply online by submitting a brief highlights video that represents their top TriCaster content this year alongside a short synopsis and statement of support. Submissions will then be reviewed by a panel of expert, industry judges (to be announced shortly) which will also choose an overall TriCaster Director of the Year from the entrants. 

[NewTek Introduces PTZ3 PTZ Camera with NDI|HX 3 Support]

For the ESG TriCaster Director category, the judging panel will choose a shortlist of 10 entries and open the shortlist to a public vote. The public then has their chance to get involved and share their perspective on what creative director has made the most impact on the community with their content.

The winners will be invited to a one-of-a-kind NewTek gala ceremony in late November, where the winners will share in a $100,000 value prize pot. The awards show will also be streamed live on NewTek TV using a TriCaster to exhibit the production power of the product.

NewTek, a leader in IP-based video technology and part of the Vizrt Group, announced significant growth with a total 39% increase across the global business as it reviews 2021 and sets the groundwork for continued success in 2022. 

Building on the continued growth since the Vizrt Group acquisition, NewTek has doubled its business due to the strong combination of the increase in demand for robust, next-generation video technologies that are brought to market via carefully selected expert channel partners. Additionally, NewTek has continued to grow its partner network in 2022 with distributors appointed across Asia and India, the United Kingdom, and Europe.  

[Vizrt Group Announces Future-Facing NDI Advisory Board]

“Since joining NewTek in 2019, I have been in constant awe of the team and their passion and drive to innovate and deliver outstanding products to support our customers via our exceptional channel network," stated Barbara Spicek, president and general manager of NewTek. "The growth we are seeing is a result of this, and one that is even more impressive in the context of the turbulent last few years.” 

[NewTek Introduces PTZ3 PTZ Camera with NDI|HX 3 Support]

“Our partner relationships are, for me, one of the main strengths of NewTek," said Michael Hallén, CEO Vizrt Group.  Distributors, channel partners, systems integrators and others, all play a crucial part in bringing our innovations to market and putting them in front of the customers – they deliver local expertise that complements our global scale.” 

NewTek has also reinvigorated its partner offering with its support business doubling since 2020, and NewTek University awarding diplomas and certifications to hundreds of distributors, systems integrators, partners, and other solutions specialists. In 2022, NewTek has more of these partners than ever before, helping us support the creation of great content, and delivering more stories, better told. 

NewTek, a leader in IP-based video technology and part of the Vizrt Group, has launched the NewTek PTZ3  PTZ camera. Offering advanced flexibility and simplicity, it is the first camera on the market to use NDI|HX 3, the latest development from NDI. 

Users can select NDI|HX 3 as an option for better video with reduced latency—using a fraction of the bandwidth. Also unique to the PTZ3 is professional-level audio connectivity.

[Inside NDI 5’s ‘Quantum Leap’ with NDI President Michael Namatinia]

The PTZ3 is an affordable, IP-based PTZ camera that delivers high-quality HD video to the network and interoperability with thousands of applications that support NDI. With single cable connectivity, the PTZ3 allows everyone, including video professionals, technology managers, and systems integrators to explore new ways to expand, grow, and evolve productions using their network, while simultaneously streamlining integration and installation by incorporating PoE.  

"The PTZ3 overcomes some common challenges that have impacted PTZ usability in the past through an innovative approach to preset recalls, low latency, and high quality with NDI|HX 3, and single cable connection,” said William Waters, head of product management, NewTek.

[DigiBox Partners with NewTek to Become the Company’s First UK and Ireland Distributor]

NewTek was the first to deliver a PTZ camera that used the revolutionary NDI technology. NDI devices simply appear on the network automatically and can be easily integrated into any workflow. By continuing to work closely with the NDI team, NewTek has been able to develop the PTZ3. With the integration of NDI|HX 3, the PTZ3 gives the option to deliver low latency transmission with reduced bandwidth, while maintaining the visually lossless standards NDI users demand.

The NewTek PTZ3 enhances audio connectivity by featuring a professional mini-XLR mic input connection in addition to a line level mini-jack. Delivering clean, balanced audio directly from the camera into the NDI network, customers and integrators will have confidence their audio maintains the highest fidelity. Further, once on the NDI network, the PTZ3 audio can be routed, mixed, enhanced, and distributed to thousands of devices and software.

[Power of the PTZ]

With one cable for power and connectivity, it eliminates the need for, and the increasing cost of, long cable runs, complex setups, and management time to maintain. The NewTek PTZ3 can be added into any workflow with a single Ethernet cable for HD video (up to 1080/60p), audio, PTZ presets, and control, tally, and PoE. Users can remotely control the camera from any device via NDI. When combined with NDI Studio Monitor, users can operate the camera through commonly available control devices, even gaming controllers, reducing the cost of entry into camera control systems. 

The PTZ3 ships with ceiling and wall mounts, and is available in black or white to better match the studio, classroom, hospital, corporate meeting space, or live event venue.

DigiBox will hold a range of NewTek stock in the UK to ensure quick delivery to the dealer network.

DigiBox, a value-added distributor with 25 years’ experience in broadcast, proAV and postproduction throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, announced today a new collaboration with NewTek, part of the Vizrt Group.

NewTek is the leader in IP video technology that gives every storyteller a voice through video. It is also one of the key partners of NDI, a Vizrt Group brand, and the world’s most widely adopted, royalty free IP standard. NDI enables anyone to use real-time, ultra-low latency video on existing IP video networks currently available on billions of devices.

As a long-standing, and well-established supplier in the UK and Ireland market, DigiBox is ideally placed to distribute the full portfolio of NewTek’s software-defined visual storytelling tools including the successful TriCaster family, 3Play video replay systems and PTZ cameras.

Also known as specialists in IP technologies, DigiBox have worked closely with many products that harness the power of NDI technology since its launch in 2015 and have been strong advocates of the protocols varied applications ranging from broadcast to the boardroom.

[ AV Tech Facilitates Virtual World Literacy Awards ]

“Due to significant and sustained growth for NewTek in the UK and Ireland it was essential to work with a distributor to continue our success. DigiBox were the ideal choice to support our expansion as it allows our partners and end users local access to expedite projects as the demand for accessible, easy to use live production tools increases across various verticals including Corporate/Enterprise, Education and Live Performance to name but a few,” states Mark Coombes, Director of Sales, EMEA, NewTek. 

“We are looking forward to bolstering our ability to serve these markets with NewTek solutions through DigiBox and can’t wait to showcase the inevitable ground-breaking projects that will emerge,” continues Coombes.

[ NewTek Issues NC2 Studio Input Module ]

“NewTek are a natural fit for our portfolio,” comments Marc Risby, DigiBox Managing Director and CTO. “We are looking forward to leveraging our established network of resellers and systems integrators across a wide range of vertical markets and expanding further into the general AV and enterprise spaces to build on NewTek’s momentous growth during the pandemic.”

“DigiBox prides itself on its dedicated technical sales and skilled engineering teams who work closely to meet the challenges of today’s content producers whether it’s for a live broadcast or a corporate webinar. We believe this will strengthen NewTek’s position in the UK offering local support and professional services, enabling us to better serve customers in the region.”

DigiBox will hold a range of NewTek stock in the UK to ensure quick delivery to the dealer network.

The governing board of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) of Arizona required an enhanced AV system in its boardroom to better serve and guide the county's 10 community colleges. The room features a high-end projection system, displays on the side walls, and a conference table on a dais with a microphone at each seat. There is ample space for an audience, and the AV system has overflow capabilities. 

Meetings are high profile, with the press in regular attendance and sessions streamed and broadcast by a local television station. The upgraded AV system is built on a DTP CrossPoint 4K matrix switcher and a variety of other Extron products that ensure seamless video presentation, clear sound, and optimized streaming. 

In the past, the quality of the audio along with the video were sub-par. E1 Audiovisual Technologies integrated the high-performance presentation system that facilitates local and remote communication. Completed in just six months, the room's high-performance AV switching system meets all of the community and broadcast requirements for the governing board, including support for a wide variety of mobile sources and facilitates access for local and remote participants. 

[Extron Products Are Ingredients of a Tasty AV Upgrade of St. Helena High's Culinary Classroom]

An Extron DTP CrossPoint 108 4K presentation matrix switcher provides switching, scaling, and routing of HDMI video and audio signals. Various other signal formats are converted for distribution over the twisted pair cable infrastructure. 

For example, Extron DSC 3G-HD A and DSC HD-3G A scalers facilitate signal transmission to the broadcast system and also provide audio embedding and de-embedding. Transmissions from this sub-system are sent to Extron DA4 12G HD-SDI distribution amplifiers to support the multiple wall plate connections. Relays on the DTP CrossPoint matrix switcher control lowering and raising of the projection screen. The matrix switcher and other AV system components are rack-mounted in the adjacent control room.

DTP R HWP 4K 231 D wall plate receivers support the monitors at the three council tables and the lectern. Mounted beneath each table and within the lectern are Extron DTP T USW 233 transmitters that provide local switching and signal extension to the matrix switcher. AV connectivity is through an Extron Cable Cubby 100 US AC cable enclosure. 

Additional resources include five NDI cameras, a Newtek Tricaster system, multiple computers, and a document camera and a Blu‑ray player at a portable lectern. To support the news media and facilitate televised events, HD-SDI connections are positioned at strategic locations throughout the room and within the adjacent control room. 

While presentations are usually managed from the control room, a presenter can choose to operate the system using the Extron TLP Pro 725M seven-inch touchpanel mounted on a side wall. It works in conjunction with the IP Link Pro control processor built into the DTP CrossPoint matrix switcher, streamlining the system.

A total of 26 gooseneck microphones are installed at the main council table and the two adjacent sub council tables. An additional gooseneck microphone is mounted on the lectern. Two lavalier, two handheld, and eight boundary microphones allow presenters to roam throughout the space and support audience participation.

[Selecting the Right Microphone for Your Conference Room]

The sound system is built around a DMP 128 Plus ProDSP processor, and the audio processors and the wireless receivers are connected via Dante audio, which is transported over MCCCD's network. A MediaPort 200 HDMI and Audio to USB scaling bridge offers exceptional video scaling and built-in audio processing tools that enhanced audio and video quality for a variety of sources.

From the first use of the upgraded system, the MCCCD AV support team appreciated that they are freed from having to respond to emergency calls late into the night. The rock-solid performance and reliability of DTP also eliminates the need for constant troubleshooting. The facility stands ready for when the MCCCD returns to live meetings. 

"We’ve worked with Extron on many projects and have always had excellent results," said Kurt Maddox, COO at E1 Audiovisual Technologies. "Extron products, technologies, and support are easy to work with and are the best in the business, making the whole experience a pleasure."

Video wall control systems and unified visualization solutions specialist VuWall announced that its TRx 3.1 Video Wall Management Platform can route NewTek NDI-encoded sources to a combination of NDI-enabled decoders, including VuWall’s new VuStream 150 encoder/decoder and the entire VuScape series of video wall controllers. The company’s VuScape processors can open multiple NDI sources simultaneously and display them in a multiview format on a video wall. The NDI and NDI HX format expands the many protocols that VuScape already supports.

NDI is a royalty-free technology that allows audio, video, and data sources to be shared bi-directionally across a network. It eliminates costly direct connections, expensive cable runs, and infrastructure upgrades while making any source available for any destination on the network.

[ Netgear, VuWall Partner to Streamline Video Wall Deployments ] 

“Earlier this year we launched our initial efforts to incorporate NDI into our ecosystem with the announcement of our VuStream 150 appliance,” said VuWall CEO Paul Vander Plaetse. “Only four months later, we’re expanding that support into all our video wall controllers, providing our customers with increased interoperability and simplicity for their AV-over-IP workflows. Currently, we’re the only manufacturer to provide video wall controllers that can decode any NDI stream—even those generated by third-party manufacturers—and open multiple NDI sources simultaneously on a single logical surface.”

VuWall’s NDI integration with TRx as well as with the VuStream and VuScape product families provides several benefits to customers. It leverages the very low latency on 1Gb networks of NDI-encoded content or NDI technology across an AV network. It also increases the level of interoperability that TRx offers, which simplifies the deployment of complex AV-over-IP projects with a single, centralized platform that installs easily while routing and servicing hundreds of sources without any programming.

[ VuWall Releases RTx 3.0 for Video Wall Management and AV-over-IP Distribution ] 

With these expanded capabilities, broadcast, live events, and house of worship applications, many of which already rely on NDI, are thoroughly supported by the VuWall ecosystem. Content can be distributed to a combination of monitors and video walls throughout these types of facilities. As more AV integrators explore the benefits of NDI, TRx is becoming a common distribution platform for corporate, government, and other mission-critical environments.

The World Literacy Foundation recently announced the winners of its World Literacy Awards, honors given to those who proactively foster literacy skills among the 773 million people across the globe who, according to UNESCO research, still cannot read and write.

The Awards took place online as many locations around the world still struggle with the effects of the global pandemic. This required a creative and unique live stream that brought in participants across multiple time zones. Luckily, one of the World Literacy Foundation’s partners is Vizrt Group, the world’s leading provider of visual storytelling tools for media content creators seeking to provide more stories, better told.

“When we first partnered with World Literacy Foundation in 2020, just before the effects of the global pandemic set in, we saw a philosophical alignment where the Vizrt Group could harness its technology and expertise in order to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds access stories and learning resources,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, founder and chief innovation officer at the Vizrt Group.

Jakobsen continued, “The fact that we have spent the past 18 months working on ways to keep content in production during the challenges of the pandemic meant we were able to offer an innovative solution for the WLF Awards, a key awareness raising event for the organization. We felt honored to be in the position where we could assist in making that happen.”

Creating and operating an awards show on a global scale is no small challenge, but was made possible through just two NewTek products. The ground-breaking TriCaster 2 Elite and Talkshow VS4000 devices were connected through NDI(R) on the home network of Liam Hayter, Senior Solutions Architect at NewTek. From his home, Hayter brought a total of six Skype TX channels in for the host and guest presenter judges.

NewTek Helps to Facilitate Global Awards Show

Through TriCaster 2 Elite’s Live Call Connect feature, Hayter brought 50 nominees for the awards into the production as “virtual awards attendees.” Through producers based in Luxembourg controlling Zoom, it was possible to spotlight the winners as they were brought on air.

[ Related: NewTek Issues NC2 Studio Input Module ]

“This kept the awards experience intact by offering the exciting element of surprise that is so often lacking with online ceremonies,” Hayter said. “As a single operator at home, the TriCaster was automated using a combination of our powerful Macro engine and LivePanel custom web GUI to sequentially run graphics, switching, and M/E layouts to run the show in a simple, repeatable manner for both rehearsals and the live event itself. It was a very exciting setup and a really thrilling outcome for all involved.”

The WLF Awards were live streamed to YouTube through the on-board streaming encoders available on every TriCaster.

“We were able to provide a professional and engaging broadcast to our global audience thanks to the Vizrt Group team, and we feel the charitable partnership has been made even stronger in the process,” said Caroline Burkie, COO at The World Literacy Foundation.

The event can be seen on-demand here. The focus of the 2021 Awards was on the need to bridge the digital literacy divide highlighted by the pandemic in the world’s poorest communities. Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with limited access to books, technology, and the internet, have been most seriously affected during this global education crisis. The World Literacy Foundation continues to ask for support as it addresses this new challenge. For more information on donating, visit.

In 2020, Latin American video production company LocalGames realized their traditional workflow for producing live broadcasts of esports tournaments was completely unworkable during COVID-19 restrictions. Gaming tournament broadcasts, which are the company’s lifeblood, would continue, but all competitions would be virtual. No spectator-packed venues, no competitors on-site, international borders closed. The company was given just over a week to adapt to that change. 

“Because all our content is on network, we require a workflow that allows us to efficiently stream video to the network,” said Bernardo Pizurnia, CEO of LocalGames. “And that’s why we chose to go with NewTek. Their products are designed with livestreaming in mind.” 

[The Technology Manager's Guide to Streaming]

To accomplish their post-pandemic goals, LocalGames purchased a TriCaster Mini 4K live production system. For LocalGames, purchasing their TriCaster was more than just a workflow efficiency decision. It also made financial sense.

“We are competing against traditional production companies with traditional workflows for these production jobs,” Pizurnia said. “With their old technology, their end product is very expensive compared to ours, and ours is much more versatile because the workflow is already designed to stream. That’s one reason we’re as successful as we are.” 

Many staff members at LocalGames came from that legacy world of broadcast production, but as Rodrigo Cotiart, broadcast engineer and chief TriCaster operator for LocalGames said, “I found the TriCaster to be very easy to learn. And I’m not the sort of person who likes to read manuals. I’m much more of a doer. That’s the way I learn. So, I just got in there, sat down at the TriCaster, and got my hands dirty. I found it to be very intuitive. That’s how I learned to record macros, create camera presets, modify the Multiview, and build buffer animations. I can’t stress enough how important it is to get your hands dirty. I still haven’t read the manual.”

Just like any other sports broadcaster, replays are an important production tool in LocalGames’ production arsenal, and the company has made use of NewTek’s 3Play to produce instant replays for their esports programs. The reliability and versatility of the 3Play was one of the reasons LocalGames felt so comfortable turning to NewTek when the pandemic hit. 

[The Ideal Streaming Setup]

“I was used to using EVS or K2 for replays back in my broadcast days,” Cotiart said. “The transition to using 3Play was extremely simple. The only thing that changed was the location of the buttons. And honestly, I find the 3Play to be much more versatile and dynamic than those other machines, and all at a much smaller price point. Our experience with the 3Play has been nothing but positive.”

LocalGames makes extensive use of NDI (Network Device Interface), a software standard developed by NewTek that enables video-compatible products to communicate, deliver, and receive high-definition video and audio over a computer network in a high-quality manner suitable for switching in a live production environment. 

“Even before we bought our first piece of NewTek gear, we were using NDI under the free protocol,” Pizurnia said. “And since we knew the power of NDI, it made sense to go with NewTek products when it was time to make upgrades."

The company also owns four NewTek Spark Plus units, which play a vital role in their redesigned productions. Spark Plus converters allow producers to capture video from digital cameras and other devices wirelessly or over an Ethernet network. The Spark unit converts HDMI or SDI video sources to NDI making it available as a video source. 

While many Spark owners use their units to integrate remote cameras anywhere on their network into a TriCaster, LocalGames found a unique way to use the versatile devices. After purchasing their TriCaster Mini 4K, the company had legacy, non-NDI equipment they needed to continue to use. Plugging that legacy equipment into a Spark device allowed LocalGames to continue to use this old equipment and still utilize all the technological advantages their TriCaster offers.

Just a few short days after their world had been turned upside down, LocalGames’ first redesigned broadcast, powered by a new TriCaster Mini 4K, went on the air.

“That first broadcast was accomplished with video boxes over a graphic background,” Cotiart said. “Then we realized we could do more, and that’s when we started adding virtual sets using NewTek’s Virtual Set Editor.’ 

That capability was easily accomplished as it’s natively built into the TriCaster. The next week, the broadcast featured its hosts sitting on a freshly designed virtual set. The clients liked what they saw and pushed LocalGames to expand their productions even more. 

“It seems strange to say this, but COVID actually made us a stronger company,” Pizurnia said. “It pushed us to find new tools, to use virtual sets, to incorporate Unreal Engine. It pushed us into the future and forced us to make the most of the latest technologies. 

“The growth of our company has been exponential. I don’t honestly know where we can get to in the future, but we are rolling at top speed and a whole new world of possibilities has opened up to us.”

The What: NewTek has announced the NewTek 3Play 3P2 video replay and telestration system for instant replays for sports productions. 

The What Else: The built-in playback zoom and tracking feature allows operators to select multiple points of interest and zoom in and out to capture an all-important play. The key-frameable feature allows you to scrub clips, pinpointing desired timecodes of crucial plays. 

[Vizrt Debuts Channel Branding Software]

This 10-channel replay solution offers eight external inputs and two outputs. Inputs can be any combination of NDI sources with four SDI connectors built directly into the chassis. The outputs can be independent or work together in a preview/program workflow including live animated, 3D-warped visual transitions delivered to both SDI and NDI destinations. 

Operators also benefit from sharable playlists, allowing NewTek TriCaster live production systems to work collaboratively. 3P2 and TriCaster operators can sync 3Play playlists over the network via NDI to create a unique collaborative experience for increased speed and flexibility in sports production workflows. 

“3Play 3P2’s operator-centric workflow breaks the play down to bring your audience deeper into the game in real time and in stunning 4K,” said Barbara Spicek, president of NewTek. “3Play 3P2’s built-in features bring access to those vital plays within a game to fans faster, from more angles for unmatched viewing experiences.”

The Bottom Line: New 3Play 3P2 features include increased inputs, sharable playlists, pan-and-scan areas of interest, built-in NewTek NDI Telestrator capabilities, clip publishing, and more, giving sports producers more capacity and opportunity to maximize the value and impact of live content as it plays out.

Here we are, one year into working from home. With the worlds of business and education still relying on videoconferencing for survival, the time has come to take the experience to a higher level. Whether you’re considering providing employees with a pro-quality camera for their home offices, or simply upgrading the hardware in your boardrooms, there’s a lot of new advancements to parse.

Related: The Technology Manager's Guide to Videoconferencing and Streaming

To help you in this, we’ve rounded up the latest models of PTZ and pro cameras for videoconferencing and streaming applications.

Angekis Saber Plus USB3

The Angekis Saber Plus USB3 camera provides direct, driverless connection to soft codecs like Zoom, Teams, and Webex. The full HD-resolution lens system with 12x optical zoom provides high-quality images for your video calls. In addition to the USB3 output, the Saber Plus also has simultaneous 3G-SDI, HDMI, and network stream (RTMP, RTSP, and optional NDI|HX) outputs. Conferencing apps like Zoom with FECC (Far End Camera Control) can take control of the camera when connected via USB while almost any AV control system can connect via the serial or PoE+ enabled Ethernet ports using the industry-standard VISCA protocol. An inbuilt web server provides users with not only control but a video preview available to any device with a modern web browser.

ClearOne UNITE 50 4K AF

The ClearOne UNITE 50 4K AF camera is a major upgrade over traditional webcams and introduces ClearOne’s Auto-Framing technology that automatically frames meeting participants to maximize screen use through intelligent image algorithms and ePTZ automation. With 4K video quality at 30Hz, auto-focus capability, 4x digital zoom, more than 8 megapixels of total resolution and an ultra-wide 110-degree field of view, the UNITE 50 4K AF ePTZ is equally capable of delivering high image quality from a home office as it is at capturing all participants in an office boardroom. ClearOne’s UNITE 50 4K AF is well suited for managers or executives who require the absolute best remote video presentation available.

HuddleCamHD Pro

With today’s virtual work, learn, and entertain movements, having the right videoconferencing equipment is important. The HuddleCam Pro (USB 3.0), certified by Zoom Video Communications, and the Pro IP (4K NDI) electronic PTZ webcams come with a handheld IR remote to control PTZ functions and feature 4K video with a dual-microphone array. The HuddleCamHD Pro and Pro IP webcams can clamp to a monitor, attach to a tripod, or mount to a wall delivering a simplified videoconferencing and live streaming solution for any application.

Jabra Panacast

The Jabra Panacast is an intelligent 180-degree panoramic 4K plug-and-play camera for videoconferencing. PanaCast integrates three 13-megapixel cameras, stereo microphones, and advanced software to deliver video coverage, audio capture, and data sensing. The camera mounts on top of any digital display or on a wall with available mounting hardware. The USB-C connection allows connection to any compatible device or display for instant setup and mobile meeting capability. PanaCast is compatible with all leading collaboration software providers and is certified for use with Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Intelligent Zoom automatically zooms in whenever meeting participants are present, optimizing screen real-estate, and features like Whiteboard Sharing and PeopleCount help make meetings more productive.

JVC KY-PZ100

Designed to be used as a standalone camera or as part of a multi-camera system, the JVC KY-PZ100 features JVC’s IP communications engine. Power, control, and streaming are all possible via Wi-Fi, 4G-LTE, or cabled LAN via a single Ethernet cable. The optional RM-LP100 controller is also available for camera management. The JVC KY-PZ100 also offers 3G-SDI and HDMI outputs, along with a wide array of low-latency broadcast quality streaming video and two-channel audio. Additionally, a newly developed image sensor and 30x optical zoom produce high-quality images in all lighting conditions. Onboard HD recording to micro SDHC/SDXC and the ability to transfer to an external server is also available. It features JVC’s direct-drive mechanism for smooth, quiet, and precise slow to fast positioning with up to 100 presets.

Konftel Cam10

The Konftel Cam10 is a business-class webcam for desktop users with a wide 90-degree viewing angle, HD video output, and dual microphones. The portable Konftel Cam10 is suited for both home and traditional office environments, as well as for users with single or multiple external displays. Placed in an optimal position on top of the main screen, it promotes a natural viewing experience. The Konftel Cam10 uses a standard damping bracket for stable installation, while there’s the option of tripod mounting for alternative camera placements. The webcam’s notable features include 1080p resolution, 4x digital zoom, autofocus, a built-in privacy shutter, and USB 2.0 connectivity. The webcam is also Climate Neutral Certified.

Lifesize Icon 500

The Lifesize Icon 500 is a fully integrated meeting room system (camera, codec, and Lifesize Phone HD) purpose-built for 4K video, HD audio, and 4K content sharing that extends the meeting experience from midsize and large rooms to an enterprise’s entire hybrid workforce. The Icon 500 now comes with a new capability called Lifesize Connect, which lets the room system interoperate with any cloud videoconferencing app or service—Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and more—with no additional fees and only requiring a common HDMI cable or two. With Connect, teams can enjoy the performance of the Icon 500s while joining or hosting meetings with colleagues, customers, and partners on their cloud videoconferencing platform(s) of choice.

Logitech Rally Camera

With its industrial design and Ultra HD imaging system, Rally Camera is compatible with virtually any videoconferencing app and is well suited for professional meeting spaces of all shapes and sizes. Built into Rally Camera, Logitech RightSense technology proactively automates camera control to frame participants, no matter the distance from the lens. Right Light also optimizes light balance and prioritizes faces over objects to render natural-looking skin tones. Rally Camera’s whisper-quiet mechanical Pan/Tilt/Zoom, 15X HD zoom, expansive 90-degree diagonal field of view, and powerful 4K sensor captures every person in the room. Rally Camera prioritizes privacy by adjusting its lens to a parked position, pointing straight down, when not in use. In addition, whenever video is muted during a meeting, a status light illuminates red to affirm visual privacy.

Marshall Electronics CV730

The CV730 camera model from Marshall Electronics features a large professional-grade 4K sensor delivering 60Hz performance with smooth synchronous maneuverability and multiple transition speeds. Flexible simultaneous outputs include 12GSDI, HDMI2.0, and IP (HEVC) to plug into various workflows. The camera also has the added benefit of a USB port to plug directly into PC or Mac systems for videoconference and collaboration projects. The CV730 comes in two colors (black or white) as well as two IP options: one with IP/HEVC/SRT (CV730-BK/WH) and one with NDI|HX (CV730-NDI). Its one cable-to-camera setup option carries video, audio, control, power and tally over category cable for ease of setup. Marshall also offers a broadcast-style PTZ controller, the VS-PTC-IP, with precision joystick control and dedicated dials for adjusting exposure, white balance, focus, zoom speed, as well as a rocker switch control of zoom.

NewTek NDI PTZUHD

The NewTek NDI PTZUHD Camera transmits full 4K60 video directly to NDI-compatible receiving devices across a standard network. The PTZUHD allows content creators to capture and deliver UHD video with native support for resolutions up to 2160p60 using a 30X optical zoom lens and a high-quality Sony CMOS sensor. The PTZUHD camera features NDI|HX implementation for reduced latency output at low bandwidth, which puts less strain on the network. Requiring only a single Ethernet connection for setup, power, operation, and signal flow, digital media producers and content creators can explore new ways to evolve their productions into 4K. The camera pairs natively with the TriCaster Mini 4K and TriCaster TC1 for a configuration-free NDI experience.

Panasonic AW-UE100

The Panasonic AW-UE100 integrated 4K60 PTZ camera supports a wide variety of IP transmission protocols, including high-bandwidth NDI, high-efficiency NDI|HX, and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT), which maintains stability when transmitting high-quality video even in unstable network environments. The camera has a newly designed direct-drive motor for smooth pan and tilt movement. A wide-angle lens with a horizontal angle of view of 74.1 degrees enables a wide area to be shot from a limited installation space, and its 24x optical zoom maintains high image quality at high zoom ratios, permitting shooting in large indoor spaces. Using the RTMP/RTMPS function, the AW-UE100 PTZ can stream directly via a single cable to live broadcasting services such as YouTube Live and Facebook Live. The camera also includes the FreeD protocol to incorporate realistic virtual studio sets and elements into a live video workflow.

Poly Studio P Series

The Poly Studio P Series is designed with today’s remote workforce in mind. The Poly Studio P Series includes the Poly Studio P5 Webcam for high-quality videoconferencing with 80-degree view, integrated privacy shutter, and automatic lighting compensation; the Poly Studio P15 Personal Video Bar with 4K resolution, AI technology, automatic camera framing, and Teams and Zoom certification; and the Poly Studio P21 Personal Meeting Display with integrated ambient lighting, camera, and audio. Businesses, IT managers, and end users can manage devices from the cloud with the new Poly Lens Desktop App, or Poly+, an exclusive personal device support service.

Sony SRG-X Series

Sony’s SRG-X400 and SRG-X120 PTZ cameras incorporate a 4K Exmor R CMOS image sensor for high-quality images and natural color reproduction with minimal noise. The SRG-X400 is equipped with 40x zoom capability, while the SRG-X120 camera has a 12x zoom. The cameras also offer a built-in, high-resolution 4K lens to provide a wide viewing angle of up to 70 degrees for added flexibility. Both cameras support SDI, HDMI, and IP, and through an optional license, are equipped with NDI|HX capability, which provides a cost-effective option for IP-based live production, as well as compatibility with additional NDI solutions. The cameras can be paired with Sony’s Edge Analytics Appliance to provide an even more robust, interactive, and engaging experience for viewers and attendees. Both camera models are designed for use in a variety of corporate, education, healthcare, faith, and government applications.

Vaddio EasyIP

Vaddio’s EasyIP product line features a full suite of endpoints to support conference rooms of all sizes. At the heart of the system is an EasyIP Decoder that pairs with up to four Vaddio EasyIP cameras and switches between the sources for a simplified multi-camera videoconferencing experience. The half-rack-size decoder can mount under the table to avoid the hassle and cost of too-short USB cabling from cameras to BYOD devices. Luxul brand switches provide the PoE+ and network connectivity to EasyIP products like the decoder, cameras, table, and ceiling microphones and ceiling or wall speakers. The EasyIP Cameras are professional grade AV-over-IP PTZ cameras that come in different optical zoom choices and PTZ motor performance, but all offer 16 custom presets, free remote management capabilities via the Vaddio Deployment Tool software, and a three-year warranty.

The What: NewTek has announced the Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI, which encodes and decodes 12G-SDI sources to and from IP-friendly NDI at up to 2160p ultra high-definition for greater resolution, frame rates, and color fidelity catering to the most demanding of media workflows.

The What Else: The Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI connects to 12G-SDI cameras or devices, converts the video signal to NDI, and shares it with any compatible system, device, or application anywhere on the network including UHD screens, monitors, projectors, or video walls. It can also turn any legacy 12G-SDI-enabled output device like a screen or monitor into an NDI signal on the network by using the decode functionality. Setup requires just one Ethernet cable. A web-based interface allows easy configuration and monitoring from a desktop or mobile browser as well as tally support via NDI and the option to mount onto cameras.

Related: The Technology Manager's Guide to the State of AV Over IP

The Spark family of converters are compatible with hundreds of systems, devices, and applications that support NDI technology. Sparks pair with the TriCaster Mini 4K and TriCaster TC1 for a configuration-free NDI experience and the flexibility to route NDI to screens.

“With Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI we are able to support the full spectrum of video production needs with the groundbreaking benefits of NDI to save producers time and money while opening up new creative possibilities,” said Barbara Spicek, president of NewTek. “This new product serves to cement the NewTek and Vizrt Group commitment to build products that allow our customers to make more stories, better told.”

The Bottom Line: NewTek Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI offers video and media production professionals a quick and easy solution to convert 12G-SDI UHD video into an IP-based media production workflow. NewTek Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI converters are available now and are priced at $1,095 USMSRP. 

Simply put, streaming video has never been bigger. With audiences, employees, and students spread out across the world, it’s streaming technology that’s keeping everyone connected. But for pro-grade applications, a simple smartphone setup isn’t going to cut it. 

That’s where pro AV comes in. With some good capture equipment and the right encoders and processors, institutions can take their streaming game to the next level, creating productions that rival the quality of broadcast TV. The following are the latest devices from top pro AV brands to help you get the job done.

Related: The Technology Manager's Guide to Videoconferencing and Streaming

AJA BRIDGE LIVE

AJA’s new BRIDGE LIVE is designed to move Ultra HD or multi-channel HD uncompressed baseband SDI video to and from a wide range of streaming and contribution codecs, reliably and safely over the public internet. Designed in partnership with Comprimato, BRIDGE LIVE is a turnkey solution built for critical streaming applications with high-performance 12G-SDI video encoding/decoding, simultaneous encoding/decoding in HD, stream-based transcoding, flexible I/O, comprehensive metadata support, and closed caption support, all within a compact 1RU form factor with redundant power supplies. BRIDGE LIVE meets the rigorous live video production and delivery demands of Telco, IPTV, and cable operations, broadcast facilities and OB trucks, sports arenas, houses of worship, and beyond with key transport protocols like SRT, RTMP, UDP, and more. Its intuitive interface helps professionals mesh HD/Ultra HD SDI and streaming/IP for live workflows using H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, and H.262/MPEG-2 TS, as well as JPEG 2000 via an additional license.

ATEN UC9040 StreamLIVE PRO

The ATEN UC9040 StreamLIVE PRO is a portable, all-in-one, multi-channel audio/video mixer device that integrates a 1080p video capture, video recorder, video switch, stream broadcaster, video converter, video splitter, and audio mixer into one compact box to eliminate the hassle of working with different AV equipment. The UC9040 StreamLIVE PRO makes HDMI video sources broadcast for higher-quality live stream to CDN platforms. For added convenience, the UC9040 StreamLIVE PRO provides an intuitive app, making it easier to monitor, edit image layouts, and DVE, PiP, or PbP settings. The UC9040 StreamLIVE PRO is PC and software-free, and with its control panel, it makes livestreaming operations smoother. You can even preview video and monitor audio levels before going live with a web broadcast. 

Blackmagic Web Presenter

Blackmagic Web Presenter is designed to simply the process of getting high-quality video directly on the web for a new generation of web broadcasting. It replaces expensive and hard-to-set-up dedicated streaming encoders and lets customers or broadcasters use professional cameras to stream high-quality video through their favorite software and websites, such as YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and more. Featuring 12G-SDI and HDMI connections, Blackmagic Web Presenter will down convert any SD, HD, and Ultra HD source and make them look like a 720p USB webcam. Because Blackmagic Web Presenter looks like a simple webcam, any webcam compatible software will be able to capture this USB video and audio from any broadcast-quality source without the need for additional drivers. 

Crestron DigitalMedia H.264 Solutions

Crestron’s portfolio of live streaming encoders/processors—including HD Streaming Transmitter/Receiver (DM-TXRX-100-STR), Streaming Input Card for DM Switchers (DMC-STR), Streaming Output Card for DM Switchers (DMC-STRO), and HD Streaming Receiver and Room Controller 100 (DM-RMC-100-STR)—enable distribution of high-definition AV signals and content over an IP network. The HD Streaming Transmitter/Receiver is a compact, high-definition H.264 streaming transmitter or receiver for use with a Crestron DigitalMedia system or other application. The Streaming Input Card for DM Switchers provides a single H.264 streaming input for any DigitalMedia Switcher with modular input card slots; while the Streaming Output Card for DM Switchers is a modular output card for DM-MD8X8, DM-MD16X16, or DM-MD32X32 switchers, providing one H.264 streaming output. The HD Streaming Receive and Room Controller 100 is a compact, high-definition H.264 streaming receiver and room controller for use with a DigitalMedia system or other application. 

Extron SMP Series

Extron SMP Streaming Media Processors connect students and employees to live or on-demand content anytime, anywhere, on any device. The robust recording and streaming appliances are designed to fit into any workflow for both ad-hoc and scheduled activities. A purpose-built, scalable SMP architecture offers enhanced features and capabilities, above and beyond software, and PC-based recording and streaming. Using any browser on any device, users can remotely control the SMP to start, stop, and pause recordings without touching a physical interface. Content is captured to a USB drive, network share, and enterprise video platforms like Kaltura, Panopto, YuJa, and OpenCast with simplicity of use, video quality, and proven reliability.  

Kramer VIA

Kramer’s VIA solutions are engineered to make it easier to live stream to all the leading platforms, like YouTube, Kaltura, and Panopto, as well as conduct interactive sessions using your favorite conferencing tools like Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Educators and employers alike enjoy all the benefits of VIA’s full suite of tools, while in-class/at-work and at-home students/WFH employees enjoy a user-friendly learning/work experience; ideal for the COVID-19 era. 

Magewell Ultra Stream

Magewell’s Ultra Stream encoders are designed to make live streaming simple even for non-technical users, enabling them to stream or record high-quality video with one click using on-device buttons, a browser-based web interface, or a smartphone app. Available with HDMI or SDI input interfaces, Ultra Stream encoders let users stream to popular services including YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and Twitch, or to a custom-specified server. In addition to outputting live streams, Ultra Stream encoders can record video as files to a directly connected USB drive, internal storage, or the associated smartphone for subsequent on-demand viewing. Recent Ultra Stream updates have added enhanced file recording modes as well as support for the RTSP streaming protocol alongside existing RTMP and RTMPS capabilities.

Marshall Electronics VS-102-HDI

The VS-102-HDI is a high-definition video server that allows real-time transmission of HDMI or NTSC/PAL composite video signal along with bi-directional AAC encoded high-definition stereo audio over standard IP networks and the internet. Marshall Electronics’ VS-102-HDI incorporates advanced H.264 and MJPEG compression technology. This allows 50 percent more compression capacity over an existing IP network, while providing optimal video transmission quality even in networks with limited bandwidth. The unit can act as an encoder to compress and transmit AV data over a LAN to another VS-102-HDI located in a green room or other location. The other unit can act as a decoder, which receives the compressed data through the LAN and restores the data to its original high definition state.  

Matrox Maevex 6100 Series

Matrox Maevex 6100 Series encoders and decoders deliver multiple 4K streams of high-compression, high-quality video and audio over 1GbE networks—at exceptional low latency as low as 50ms. Maevex can push many streams over the LAN, feed cloud-based servers, securely stream across the internet, and record to any location—all concurrently. Both the encoders and decoders can also composite multiple encodes or decodes for tremendous flexibility, and allow for mixed display content from multiple encoders. The included Maevex PowerStream Plus software provides a simplified operational experience, enabling control of all Maevex devices from a single application. Multiple APIs and SDKs for customization and integration are also available.

MuxLab 500467

The HDMI to USB 3.0 Video Capture and Streamer (500467) allows users to record from HDMI video sources to a PC over USB 3.0. The unit supports an HDMI-in port for the source and HDMI Loop Out for a monitor. The 500467 is capable of connecting to a 4K60 source and will stream at up to 1080p60 over the USB 3.0 port to a PC or similar device to record and/or send the video to a broadcasting service such as YouTube, Facebook, and other broadcasting services. The device is compatible with OBS Studio, AMCap, etc., and supports a variety of HDMI sources such as cameras, game consoles, media players, and many others. The unit supports an audio-in port for a microphone, which is automatically mixed with the HDMI audio, and an audio out port for headphones, or active speakers. 

NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite

NewTek’s TriCaster 2 Elite provides video producers, visual storytellers, and system integrators with “better-than-broadcast” functionality and uncompromised flexibility. In addition to advanced video production capabilities, TriCaster 2 Elite enables studios, broadcasters, large-scale campuses, and enterprise facilities to harness nearly every major video calling application in use today, delivering them a myriad of creative options. To further amplify the flexibility and scalability, both video over IP and more traditional SDI are supported by the platform. TriCaster 2 Elite is designed to set a new standard for production in today’s multisource world with new core functionality. Nearly every web conferencing tool is supported, as well as all IP video sources and smartphones.

tvONE CORIOmaster2

tvONE’s CORIOmaster2 is an all-in-one, multi-window video processor delivering advanced processing power. CORIOmaster2 supports more windows with higher quality with uncompromised 4K60 and 8K-ready performance.  Standout features of CORIOmaster2 include its high bandwidth, huge design canvas, and 8K ready architecture. With 752Gb/sec of bandwidth, CORIOmaster2 can simultaneously display 40 windows in 4K60 4:4:4 with ultra-low latency. It offers AV designers access to triple 64k x 64k canvasses, with up to 12.3 gigapixels of design space, enough to accommodate the most expansive creative vision. The unit is 8K ready, future-proofing tvONE customers’ investment in their video processor. 

VITEC MGW Diamond

VITEC’s MGW Diamond is an IP streaming encoder that enables 4K HEVC multi-channel HD contribution as either a portable device or openGear card. This four-channel encoder, with low latency and low bandwidth HEVC, enables reliable remote production, even over the internet. The MGW Diamond was recently deployed by a sports broadcaster to support remote commentary from multiple sources, and in different languages, to enhance live events. The broadcaster leverages the benefits of the MGW Diamond to simultaneously send a live audio-video feed to foreign commentators for audio translation that is sent back to the production studio. VITEC’s MGW Diamond solution delivers very low latency, ensuring comments can be mixed live, with as little delay as possible for the end user experience.

ZeeVee ZyPerMX2/MX4

The ZyPerMX2 and ZyperMX4 multi-source H.264 encoders support HLS, RTP, UDP, and RTMP, the most-used protocols for live streaming on sites such as Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and other popular content distribution networks. Able to stream two or four sources of multiple streaming formats simultaneously over IP networks, these encoders expand the range of devices each channel can support. This protocol support extends the ways customers can use the company’s products for streaming live content and gives them the freedom to choose the distribution method—direct or via a CDN—that suits any situation. The ZyPerMX2 and ZyPerMX4 also support AAC, a widely used and often preferred audio compression format, in addition to supporting MP2 and AC3 formats.

The State of AV over IP

Whether AV over IP, SDVoE, or another flavor, the shift to AV on the network has had a slower uptake than the industry had expected. By some accounts, not even 30 percent of businesses, organizations, government, or higher education have made a full transition.

Walk the InfoComm trade show floor (when we used to be able to do that), and you won’t find a company without a full suite of networked AV/IT solutions. Is there a disconnect, or are barriers to entry such as existing infrastructure, or major AV equipment that hasn’t reached the end of its lifecycle, and limited resources holding this back?

Or, is the that IT department still not having it because there’s not an agreed-upon standard, and interoperability between different vendors can be dicey?

We know this topic is full of strong convictions, so we asked thought leaders from several of the industry’s top AV companies to share their perspective on the state of AV over IP and provide a glimpse of their roadmap. 

AJA Video Systems: Bryce Button, Director of Product Marketing

Parallel to broadcast, the professional AV industry is experiencing a period of transition from traditional cable transport to AV over IP or hybrid workflows. While compelling AV-over-IP benefits include denser routing opportunities, remote control, and the ability to transport signals almost anywhere within a network, critical new concerns like reliability and security arise. 

AV over IP and other trends in 2020

A range of competing methodologies for optimal AV-over-IP transport also present a challenge for integrators seeking to overhaul legacy environments. In response to the continual widespread use of traditional audio and video connectivity, new technologies are being developed to bridge conventional modes of transit with AV over IP.

Adoption of NewTek’s NDI open protocol for IP production workflows has proven successful, which supports AJA’s KONA, Io, and Corvid product families. In the audio sphere, companies like Audinate have achieved success with the emergence of Dante as a leading networking system for high-density, low-latency, high-resolution audio transport. AV-over-IP benefits of simpler cabling and remote control of feeds has also spurred an uptick in IP-driven video signals fed to multichannel displays in AV environments.

While the adoption of hybrid approaches advances, and discussions on traditional SDI or HDMI cable transport versus AV over IP continues, it’s critical for AV professionals to stay informed on the latest industry protocols, including NDI, HDBaseT, SRT, and ST2110 with AV considerations in mind and consider integrating agnostic products that support a range of standards, or choose a path that best suits the choices presented by each particular project and its attendant priorities—do you need uncompressed vs. compressed video, how important is latency, is security paramount or unnecessary? During this transition, AJA will remain at the forefront of pioneering versatile production technologies that bridge traditional workflows with the latest IP protocols.

Arista Corp.: Paul Shu, President

The shift to AV on the network is, indeed, taking longer than many of us in the industry expected, and this is the result of several factors. Presently, there are numerous codecs—among them SDVoE, H.264/H.265, JPEG2000, TICO, and others. For the clients and their technical managers, this creates confusion and the prospect of choosing a codec that falls out of favor is enough to cause many people to take a wait-and-see approach.

Secondly, the cost of the products and their implementation can be another prohibitive factor. This leads to yet another concern that routinely arises: “How much better is a networked AV approach going to be than our present setup, and does this justify incurring the necessary expense?” Education is important in this regard, and presently, I believe that aspect of the overall sales process still requires fine tuning. As a result, the process of making the transition to networked AV has been slower than expected and we really cannot expect users to adapt faster than they are comfortable with.

Embracing IT innovations for AV applications

Ultimately, the process of merging one’s IT network with their AV network will prove beneficial—and more cost effective. Arista Corp. offers a full suite of networked AV solutions capable of addressing a wide range of projects. In due time, I believe the benefits of networked AV will become more apparent and the pace of the transition will accelerate.

ATEN Technology: YT Liang, Senior Product Manager

With AV over IP and HDBaseT, each has its own set of benefits/advantages depending on the application. To decide which is best, look at the main phases (design, installation, service) of your project and ask yourself these questions:

Design phase—which technology is best? What’s the project scale? If smaller (within eight sources/displays), a 1U video matrix can work. For 25 displays, AV over IP is better. What are your compression and latency considerations? If no compression is accepted (e.g. medical review), HDBaseT is recommended. If visually lossless compression is required (e.g. digital signage), AV over IP is better suited. How comfortable are you with network-based solutions? Are you up to date with the most relevant network knowledge (multi-case, IGMP, jumbo frames)? Ideally, go with a manufacturer that offers both types of solutions; they will have a technical team in place to provide recommendations and can assist with installation and support.

Installation phase—How can I reduce installation times? Easy configuration is key. Extender solutions with IDs and push buttons allow for switching without knowing the IP addresses. Additionally, extenders with built-in web servers allow configuration of all extenders at once.

Service phase—How to troubleshoot? With HDBaseT, it’s easier; but with AV over IP, data goes through the network switch, which means you’ll need help in showing the direction to do the troubleshooting. For example, ATEN has LED lights on our extenders that show if there’s a network, power, or HDMI issue.

AtlasIED: Gina Sansivero, VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications

The sheer number of competing protocols is having a direct impact on the networked AV market. With so many options to explore, manufacturers often play a game of “wait and see.” They wisely watch standards shake out before committing, consequently resulting in a slower than anticipated adoption rate. At AtlasIED. we base our decisions on the deployment of networked AV solutions—not on the latest buzz and technological developments, but what our dealers tell us they need to drive business. Case in point: our IP Endpoints. To our dealers, the functionality of the AV network is more important than the technology behind the signal distribution, so we focus our energy on developing and delivering products that enhance their networked AV projects with tangible end-user benefits that are simple to configure and install. While we understand the importance of protocols, our stance has been to base our decisions both on the maturity of the technology and our dealers’ input.

Atlona: David Shamir, Director of Product Management

Although adoption rates have quite accelerated to initial industry forecasts, rates have consistently increased. The speed of that adoption varies with each quarter, but there is no doubt that the AV-over-IP transition will continue.

The majority of AV consultants, system integrators, and AV/IT administrators understand the benefits of AV over IP for the pro AV market. There are several factors that have slowed AV over IP from complete “domination” when it comes to AV distribution.

In some cases, AV over IP can be overkill based on the venue’s realistic requirements. Smaller meeting rooms and huddle spaces, for example, do not require the infinite scalability and powerful feature set of AV-over-IP solutions. Instead, they require intelligent solutions that are easy to use, and move audio and video to a limited number of destinations. A smaller matrixed solution with a dedicated set of inputs and outputs will suffice in these spaces, and require a minimal investment to get the job done.

AV-over-IP installations also require IP networking knowledge. While an increasing number of systems integrators and tech managers have acquired this knowledge, the learning curve continues for the global AV industry. Many still prefer to stick with the technology they can take full advantage of today as they continue to learn everything that AV over IP offers.

Read more about how AV and IT must collaborate for successful IP network convergence.

A price comparison between circuit-based and IP systems can be significant, and that often influences integrators to develop hybrid systems that reduce overall costs. This is often a useful approach, as AV within a meeting space can be driven through circuit-based technology and switching, while AV over IP is embraced for exporting and importing content to and from external locations.

Audinate: Brad Price, Senior Product Marketing Manager

Audinate has seen consistently rapid growth of audio over IP for 14 years, and expects that trend to continue for the foreseeable future. From our perspective, much of the growth in Dante has been a direct result of design decisions that provide extensive automation and easy-to-use toolsets that allow the widest range of people to use the product effectively.

We have seen barriers to adoption of AV over IP steadily coming down and product counts increasing. But it would be fair to say that this growth has not been evenly distributed, particularly in the area of video distribution (the V in AV). Much of the reason for that lies with our moment in time: as of 2020, 1Gbps networks are ubiquitous for reasons other than AV. In contrast, networks running 10Gbps or higher that might support large amounts of video are relatively rare and relatively expensive. The requirement for video codecs is in marked contrast to the world of audio, which requires no compression and is hence agnostic to a wide range of devices and uses.

For that reason, we elected to design our new video offering (Dante AV) to work on 1Gbps networks using compression. This allows a Dante-based video system to provide excellent quality on existing networks. We anticipate that over time, networks will become inevitably faster and video codecs will be winnowed down to the most suitable for IP transport. At that point, legacy AV technologies will take their final bow.

Advantages of a 1Gb Ethernet network backbone.

Aurora Multimedia: Paul Harris, CEO, CTO

Aurora has been solving this issue two ways. First, we created a system called Simplify, a preconfigured AV-over-IP solution. The way it works is the customer sends us the spreadsheet with the encoders’ and decoders’ location labeling and IP address. They will also send a diagram of how the network switch will be connected and which units are located on which switch. From this, we will preprogram and label all the units from our factory including the network switch, as we are a platinum distributor for Netgear (which also makes us into a one-stop-shop). When the package arrives, it is all plug and play and ready to go. This in turn speeds up the installation and assures a higher probably of success. Second, we are working on hybrid solutions combining familiar technologies like HDBaseT with SDVoE, so there is more plug and play, smaller port count switches, and less IP addresses utilized. The HT Pro Series by Aurora is the start of this new age of hybrid technologies.

When it comes to AV over IP, the main issue with transition is there was no transition. With the way the systems are designed, it is a total typology change compared to what the typical AV integrator is used to. Especially when it comes to the network switch, it can require a certain level of expertise at times and can become especially complicated when there is more than one switch or multiple IP technologies that want different methods to propagate correctly through the switch.

Barco: Christopher Klepacz, Strategic Alliance Manager, Control Rooms

At first glance, the control rooms market may appear static, but the market has continued to evolve in recent years. The increase in available data sources is one example of this evolution. As is so often the case, change is the source of innovation, and the critical control rooms market is positioned to grow. Technological change, new solutions, and the experience and expertise of market leading companies are driving the change.

Technology innovations are driving change in the growth of critical control rooms. In the pro AV segment, AV over IP is experiencing significant growth with increased video quality and bandwidth. Other enablers such as the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) offer additional data sources from sensors and other devices, providing key insights to end users. Software solutions are improving control room operator experience by improving operations and reducing stress through intuitive, ergonomic design principles. Public and private clouds are creating new economic models for hardware deployment adding flexibility and cost savings to traditional on-premise computing environments. Artificial intelligence and advanced analytics are driving business insights and visualization technologies improve awareness and understand across the enterprise. Taken together, critical control rooms are well positioned to take advantage of these and other investments being made in organizations augmenting and improving situational awareness.

Bringing all of this together requires a partner that understands how to design and implement critical control room solutions that take advantage of the available technology. It starts with an in-depth understanding of the end customer requirements, and the knowledge and experience to deliver. This often includes having the right technology alliance to bring a “whole solution” and a robust ecosystem of channel partners to deliver. This requires advanced skill sets and a knowledge base that can be leveraged globally and delivered consistently and at scale.

Biamp: Joe Andrulis, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development

For a long time, the adoption of networked AV was slowed by the natural tendency of people to stick with familiar solutions and the learning curve faced by both AV integrators and IT departments as they transitioned AV to the network. As an industry, we’ve made a lot of progress overcoming these barriers. At this point, networked AV is a comfortable option for most deployments, but networked AV isn’t always the best approach—at least not networked AV as many of us originally envisioned.

Not all AV needs to be on the corporate network. AV that is local to single rooms or other small areas is often much easier and cheaper to design and install using traditional point-to-point connections or small matrix switchers. Sometimes even these small spaces will use networked AV, as Biamp does with its TesiraCONNECT TC-5D, which simplifies conferencing installations by providing power and media over a single category cable and connects range of AVB and Dante devices, including Tesira DSPs, USB extenders, PoE+ amplifiers, and microphones. In these instances, the TesiraCONNECT TC-5D may connect in a local AV network without connecting to the corporate network, so people may not consider it as “AV over the network”—but that’s simply a deployment choice. There’s also plenty of networked AV that looks a little different than we might have originally expected. Systems like unified communications, streaming media hosts like YouTube and Vimeo, and digital signage are all non-traditional approaches to creating AV outcomes that are all network-based. Overall, the uptake of networked AV is quite healthy and growing quickly.

Black Box: Jonathan McCune, Director of Product Management, AV and Infrastructure

The matrix switch is dead—the industry has reached a tipping point where technologies like SDVoE in our MCX platform really do kill the matrix switch. SDVoE is the only technology platform that provides all of the matrix switch capabilities, like ultra-fast switch time and 4K60 video, plus advanced video processing like scaling, video walls, and multiview.

IT administrators can configure, deploy, manage, and monitor systems enterprise wide, creating predictable performance in technology-transparent environments that are fully scalable and replicable. Unlimited number of inputs and outputs means no longer limiting the total count of connected devices. For modular solutions, MCX/SDVoE is plug and play once configured, and what’s more, all SDVoE-enabled solutions auto discover for simplified setup.

Live event providers can offer zero-latency video that is fully interoperable with projectors and sources enabled with the solution and no longer need to invest in very expensive matrix switches and additional extensions for those solutions. In applications like medical, MCX/SDVoE is the perfect solution providing both video and audio as well as USB connectivity over fiber with truly best-in-class image replication.

Bose Professional: Adam Shulman, Market Category Lead, Installed Systems

The adoption of protocols like Dante vary by the application type, the level of benefits gained from using an AV-over-IP solution (versus a more traditional infrastructure), and whether it is isolated or part of a larger network. In an audio system for a live venue, it is often on its own network. Here, adopting a protocol such as Dante is beneficial as it reduces the amount of infrastructure needed to build the system while increasing reliability as well as routing flexibility. In these situations, we see the adoption of AV-over-IP accelerating as more audio teams become familiar with various protocols and the associated benefits.

An audio system found in hotel event spaces may not be on an isolated network but instead reside on the hotel or hotel chain’s network, which is managed by the in-house IT team. Most likely the network is required to support much more than just the room’s audio system. These are the types of applications that are slower to adopt AV over IP.

Our industry needs to continue to understand the IT manager’s needs and how to play by the larger IT industry’s rules. This means we need to continue to improve how AV devices impact a network’s performance and management. We need to be less AV-centric in our thinking and demonstrate increased awareness that our products are used alongside non-AV products, and thus must obey certain conventions and rules—often where audio is not the highest priority. The term “AV over IT” may be more appropriate and demonstrate that we understand that, as an AV industry, we do not always own the infrastructure we are riding on. Improving this will improve more widespread adoption of AV-over-IP technologies and their applications.

Crestron: Alex Peras, Technology Manager, DigitalMedia

In the past, AV solution providers and IT professionals have not always communicated with each other, which has been a challenge in shifting AV on the network. Understanding the application, deciding what needs to be accomplished, and delegating roles in these projects are essential to having a successful infrastructure. Crestron encourages these conversations with IT professionals and leads the market by offering education and training that helps them understand information and anticipate their questions. Crestron has trained our dealers in AV-over-IP and DigitalMedia HDBaseT courses, while continuously providing updated materials.

Crestron recognizes that AV rooms of the past are now changing to become unified communications (UC) enabled, and AV will be the piece that ties the room together. Matrix routing technologies are now AV over IP, providing solutions that are fully flexible, scalable, and manageable. Crestron ensures all devices support out-of-the-box functionality, meet the network and security requirements of IT professionals, and work on existing Cat 5e infrastructure. Crestron XiO Cloud is driving this next wave of the transition. With all devices on the network, organizations can easily monitor and manage them. In addition, AV over IP allows organizations to tie audio, video, and USB together on the network.

As trends continue around touchless and socially distanced spaces, having a flexible and scalable infrastructure will be important in accommodating an organization’s needs. Solutions like XiO Cloud give organizations more control over their devices, allowing them to view their entire ecosystem through a single interface at any time, from anywhere.

DVIGear: Matthew Pulsipher, Product Manager

The AV-over-IP market is in a state of coalescence. From the many competing platforms, a few have begun to take leadership as they mature and proliferate. Like many new things, much of the fear regarding AV-over-IP solutions is about the risk of the unknown, especially the fear of proprietary products that are “walled gardens.” No one wants to risk being an early adopter of a platform that isn’t fully mature or is at risk of being dropped by its manufacturer a few years after purchase.

As the AV market converges with the IT world, it will benefit from the more standardized approach that has enabled new platforms to gain universal acceptance for decades. In the IT world, the proliferation of interoperable standards is what drives adoption of a new technology. USB and Ethernet are excellent examples of this: if you buy a device with USB, it is a given that it will be compatible with a standard PC, regardless of the manufacturer. Further, this standards-based approach helps ensure a clear, orderly progression of the technology over time. For example, consider how USB and Ethernet have evolved over the last 20 years.

Of the AV-over-IP platforms currently available, SDVoE is the only solution to provide a completely interoperable full-stack solution. Competing platforms are either vendor-proprietary, or fail to define the entire stack, which leads to interoperability issues down the line as vendors implement their own technologies to fill the missing layers. This isn’t to say that interoperable platforms cannot foster vendor-specific innovation. Of the SDVoE solutions available, DisplayNet is by far the most dynamic, as it deeply embraces the software-defined approach of the SDVoE platform. In the five years since it was launched, DisplayNet has added a multitude of innovative features to our platform, all while maintaining full cross-vendor interoperability.

Extron: Joe da Silva, Director of Product Marketing

AV-over-IP systems are becoming more commonplace and we continue to see lots of interest in the technology from our customers. One of the challenges to the adoption of AV over IP is education. Most solutions rely on multicast streaming, which is a somewhat specialized skillset among IT professionals. We knew that education and support would be vital to the success of AV-over-IP technology, so we created a team within Extron called the Network Technology Support Group that is staffed with network engineers who are skilled in designing, deploying, and commissioning networks. This team is focused on supporting our AV-over-IP deployments to ensure the end user has the best experience possible with Extron NAV Pro AV-over-IP products.

Another aspect that is influencing the adoption of AV-over-IP technology is the debate between 1Gb and 10Gb networks. Many end users want to leverage their existing network infrastructure. This typically means deploying on a 1Gb network that is also supporting additional business-critical services. Other end users require pristine image quality and deploy a 10Gb network to minimize or eliminate compression, but this usually means standing up a separate network infrastructure. Through the use of the patented PURE3 compression technology, Extron is uniquely positioned with our NAV Pro AV-over-IP products to have the features needed for deployment on enterprise-class networks as well as solutions to deliver pixel-perfect video on discrete 10Gb networks while delivering complete interoperability between the two architectures. We look forward to what the future holds!

Hall Research: Josh Petru, Business Development Manager, Central Region

Adoption of AV over IP has been slower than initially forecasted. One likely reason may be the learning curve for a lot of AV dealers. That being said, not every application needs a large networked solution. Take the K-12 classroom or small to medium conference room as an example: the users don’t need to switch from room to room, but just within the room’s input sources themselves. So, a dedicated video switching and extension solution may be all that they need. But even in those situations, it makes sense to control and manage the AV system over the network. At Hall Research the products that we target for small venues integrate embedded Web GUI or include GUI software for configuration and control. A nice benefit of control-over-IP is that AV managers are able to assist instructors or users from outside the classroom, if required.

Education and corporate customers are also per-room price sensitive and typical AV-over-IP systems and associated network switches are costlier than point-to-point direct implementations. In the future as the price and usability improves, that may change.

For now, the best use of AV-over-IP technology is in large digital signage installations found in hotels or other hospitality venues. AV-over-IP systems also work well in municipalities or courtrooms.

The network is the future of AV and as manufacturers start bridging the gap between the learning curve, ease of install, and system control, we expect the adoption rate for AV-over-IP within the pro AV channel to accelerate.

HDBaseT Alliance: Gabi Shriki, Senior Vice President, Audio-Video, Valens

While AV over IP marketing is in full swing, the technology has not gained much traction so far and we don’t see AV over IP getting considerable traction even over the next five years. There are several key reasons for that.

One of the biggest hurdles is the lack of a single, unified standardized technology. AV over IP is implemented differently depending on the CODEC technology (H.264, H.265, JPEG2000, VC-2, proprietary, etc.), and the actual IP network bandwidth available (100Mbps/1Gbps or 10Gbps).

AV over IP is not solving the small-scale and point-to-point use cases as well as alternative technologies such as HDBaseT in terms of cost, power consumption, video quality, latency, etc.

The wide-distribution, multiuser AV distribution is often solved using WAN-based technologies, such as cloud collaboration systems, making the need for high quality AV-over-IP solutions limited to specific use cases.

It is important to understand what the customer problem is that we are trying to solve. Different technologies bring different benefits/values—there is no single technology that solves all customer issues. Often, combining several technologies brings about the best results. HDBaseT and HDMI are and will remain the main technology used in small-scale installations, as they deliver uncompressed distribution, lower cost, and simplicity. (In fact, the trend toward smaller meeting rooms is going to further limit the deployment of AV-over-IP solutions in the corporate market.) AV over IP will be used for very large-scale networks or to interconnect between “HDBaseT rooms.”

When considering AV over IP, integrators must understand customer requirements, IP network limitations, specific use cases the customer is aiming to solve with AV over IP, etc. For example, when considering a campus-level distribution or in-between-cities distribution, an H.264/H.265 solution is suitable. It will be impossible to use SDVoE-like technology (as the requirement for 10Gbps network is impractical in this case) and even the typical 1Gbps-based AV-over-IP solution with JPEG2000 like CODEC consumes 70-80 percent of the bandwidth for one AV stream.

Just Add Power: Taft Stricklin, CEO and Founder

From our perspective, the state of AV over IP is quite strong. There are a lot of other companies in the space now, but we’ve been leading the way for 11 years. We’ve distinguished ourselves from the crowd by listening to our dealers and introducing new features and hardware based on their needs. So that puts us ahead of the curve and we’re doing things others aren’t, like adding compatibility with Dante and AES67 audio networks. We can also beat other manufacturers on price. For example, our Warp Engine isn’t the only product on the market that allows installers to rotate HDMI, but you won’t find a more cost-effective one. We’re also well known for building robust products that last for decades. So instead of constantly creating new products that will be obsolete in a year, we give new features through firmware updates. Furthermore, all models in the Just Add Power lineup integrate seamlessly with any generation of our products. What this all means is that we aren’t seeing any barriers at all to entry. Year after year, all we see is a steady uptick in the adoption of AV over IP across all markets—from retail and hospitality to entertainment complexes and airports.

Kramer: Chris Kopin, Executive Vice President of Technology

People are slow to change. At Kramer, however, we know that AV over IP has the staying power and versatility to win people over—as long as everyone is willing to participate.

When considering a transition to AV over IP, it’s not just a matter of training the person who creates the drawing; it’s the engineer, it’s the installer, it’s the end user. Controlling AV over IP from a control system is not the same as controlling the network switch as you would in a matrix environment.

As a whole-solutions manufacturer, Kramer can facilitate standard AV over IP, but it can also create a hybrid system which may employ HDBaseT in a room, and then an encoder will grab a piece of the signal and send it to another room for distance or time-delay learning. When all invested parties are on the same page, AV over IP is far from a one-size-fits-all solution, but instead a flexible and invaluable tool for keeping organizations connected in a world where we are increasingly encouraged to stay distanced.

When it comes to 1Gb and 10Gb, companies are usually in one camp or the other, but Kramer is in both. We have a couple of SDVoE installations, but 1Gb is where we are selling.

We’re a whole solutions manufacturer, so we don’t have just one piece of the puzzle. We don’t have to be just AV over IP and we don’t have to be traditional; we can be one or the other or give you a hybrid.

Matrox: Sam Recine, Vice President of Sales, Americas and Asia Pacific, AV/IT Group

When you look at HDMI, a product from vendor one works with a different product from vendor two. Perhaps there are exceptions with versioning, but, by and large, there is a published standard that multiple vendors put into products that do many different things.

Right now, the benefits of AV over IP are so strong, that already 30 percent of the market is willing to bite the bullet even if they have to stuff everything from a single vendor into their infrastructure.

Customers are tapping into longer distances, more nodes on managed infrastructure, better asset management, and new applications of converged data, live multi-party communications, and performance audio-visual content of a common media.

It is normal that organizations that can afford to hold back for more open and more interoperable stuff are going to delay while they can. Meanwhile, they are putting extreme pressure on prices for baseband stuff they know they intend to replace shortly. And they are buying their first round of AV-over-IP products for real immediate needs, not adding the next 10 years’ worth of capacity, because they know there is a fair to good chance they will see next-generation AV-over-IP products that are less invasive and far, far less proprietary.

AV over IP will see two more stages in the very near term that will add significant flexibility to end users and systems integrators: hardware and software products based on open standards that work across different brands and different product types, and a new software economy for AV-over-IP software applications that strictly focus on adding value to existing hardware from many disparate brands in the market and improve features such as setup, live operation, security, and far richer ecosystem capabilities.

Meyer Sound: Richard Bugg, Digital Products Solutions Architect Pro AV Segment Chair, Avnu Alliance

We at Meyer Sound believe that there is a significant advantage to delivering audio and control over standard network infrastructures. Audiences are expecting more from their AV experiences and while AV over IP has been possible for a long time by the technically astute, today’s industry needs to focus on delivering a solution that is easy to use, scalable, and can adapt to future needs.

Connecting computers used to require proprietary solutions from each manufacturer. This was an impediment to innovation that was removed by the development of a common network standard. It was with the realization that an open Ethernet standard for a high-quality, high-reliability, and low-latency transport protocol for moving media and control would similarly benefit everyone connecting professional AV equipment that resulted in the formation of the Avnu Alliance to promote the use of the IEEE AVB/TSN standards. Further work was done by a group of professional AV equipment manufactures within Avnu to further optimize AVB for interoperability between pro AV devices. The result was “Milan.”

Milan was created to provide a deterministic network protocol for professional quality media transport that is easy to use, future proof, scalable, and capable of delivering a convergence between audio, video, control, and non-time sensitive data on one network.

Avnu Alliance certification guarantees any certified device will interoperate with all other Milan devices. Interoperability is assured. Milan devices will work together at new levels of convenience, reliability, and functionality. The network transportation of audio and control should not be a bottleneck to innovation; it should just work.

MuxLab: Peter Justiz, Canadian Sales Manager

AV over IP was designed as a flexible, expandable, and inexpensive solution to provide data connectivity through an ethernet LAN network (1Gb version) with the use of encoders (transmitters) and decoders (receivers). However, the market has become so crowded with many AV manufacturers having families of products to complement different formats—Motion JPEG, JPEG 2000, H.264/H.265, etc. What are the right manufacturers, products, and formats to choose from?

With AV-over-IP equipment in the pro AV 1Gb space, there are limited equipment standards in that you can’t mix and match encoder, decoder, and controller products from the different manufacturers to gain maximum results. Some compatibility exists with H.264/H.265 encoders and decoders, but again, not with the controllers to manage these devices. With the SDVoE Alliance standard, the encoders and decoders designed by different manufacturers can be mixed and matched. Also, in the broadcast industry, AV-over-IP encoders and decoders follow a well-documented ST-2110 standard, which supports interoperability and other enhanced features. However, the LAN switches required for SDVoE and ST-2110 based products are 10Gb, which adds significant costs to the infrastructure. Also, PoE (power over Ethernet) ability is negated versus a 1Gb structure due to the system design.

With the current work- and learn-from-home environment, two key elements have captured the AV segment: videoconferencing and live streaming. Live streaming possesses a clear advantage in reaching more people at once. It enables you to reach hundreds, thousands, or more potential recipients quickly with just a few clicks. AV-over-IP becomes an inexpensive proposition for this. Houses of worship are now utilizing this concept to live stream services over YouTube and Facebook in lieu of social/physical distancing.

Business has now changed since March 2020. MuxLab and others in the AV segment are adapting and innovating to remain at the forefront in the new current format. AV-over-IP will be a proponent for inexpensive change and information sharing.

NewTek: Will Waters, Head of Global Product Management

When AV over IP was introduced, it was quickly seen that connecting devices more easily would enhance and expand capability and accelerate efficiency. Efficiency alone, however, cannot move an industry. Even as we promoted the benefits of infinite connections, the adoption seemed a bit slow. At least until the onset of global forces—such as a pandemic.

What is most familiar to us is always easier to continue with than wholesale change, even if the benefits are staring us in the face. The move to IP must be more than changing the type of wire. It may be that the signals flow across networks using packets instead of dedicated cabling, but many AV systems still require dedicated chipset and proprietary hardware devices to sit at the edges of networks. This slows adoption because, fundamentally, workflows and use cases are similar to what has been familiar.

At NewTek, we see this very differently. The AV world is ready for those edge devices to move to software. That software runs on commoditized hardware that is easy to maintain and not dependent on formats, frame rates, and circuits designed for a single purpose. We believe in this so strongly that we developed a free protocol called NDI to realize that future.

The next phase will see integrated software products that take advantage of bi-directional communication on a network, enhance presentations, improve communication, and expand creativity, all while being transparent. This is what is required to deliver on the promise of AV over IP.

Opticis USA: David Delgado, Senior Manager, Business Development

AV integration has taken many paths, at least for me in the last 15 years. From 78-inch-high rack stands requiring their own enclosed rooms to racks fitting in a closet drawer. From fixed to configurable card-slot matrix switchers to the favored, higher bandwidth IP switchers, and with the coined phrase in our time, we are in a “Warped Speed” transformation era.

For some customers today, the cumbersome addition of shoe-size encoders and decoders to an IP solution may not be worth the investment. If their existing AV system can be retrofitted to support 4K today, they will wait for the next rollout of 8K displays with IP systems along with sources having built-in encoders and destinations with built-in decoders.

Limitations with IP systems still exist, specifically with 10Gb bandwidth transmission. True 4K resolution at 60Hz 4:4:4 sampling rate requires at least 18Gb. The trend will be, for example, in mission-critical visualization applications such as neurosurgery with its 4K/3D microscopes, to transmit true 4K detailed clinical images. Also diagnosing cancer through remote collaboration between the surgeon and pathologist will mandate precise, accurate visualization.

Scrupulous cybersecurity protocols and standards have also softened the market growth with AV over IP when you compound wireless video transmission functionality.

Before AV over IP proliferates in the market, there are expectations for pricing to fall as well. Notwithstanding, fiber optic extenders will continue to be integrated with the AV-over-IP system, especially between source and encoder or between decoder and destination over long distances. Whether they are HDMI, DP 1.2, HD-SDI, or DVI, these video and data transmission over fiber components deliver uncompressed images with no latency, immunity to EMI, and long distances up to 100 meters.

The future is bright with lightning speed technologies like DP 2.0 at 77.4 Gbps from the fiber optic and IP world. We can also expect exciting times ahead in visualization, remote collaboration, and endless connectivity.

Renkus-Heinz: Matt Czyzewski, President

The consensus at Renkus-Heinz is that the adoption of AV over IP has been a bit slower than expected. However, that statement comes with a caveat: in the past two years, we’ve seen a substantial uptick in the number of networked products sold.

It’s our belief we have now hit the inflection point for adoption of AV over IP, where the majority of new installs are seeing AV over IP as the norm, not the exception. Thus, the growth being discussed in the space is well placed—and that is why you’ll see manufacturers ensuring they offer that full suite of networked solutions.

With that said, because we recognize the curve is still trending upward—and not at 100 percent adoption—the Renkus-Heinz roadmap is to ensure we continue to offer solutions for both types of installations—analog and networked. We will do that in a way that doesn’t require completely altering the product. Most of our new offerings in the near future will be introduced as twins—not identical, but similar enough that they provide the same ability to place sound exactly where you want it, no matter of the connection you choose to use.

What will drive adoption during the years to come will be the ability to offer easier integrations in AV-over-IP environments. That’s why we’re focusing on supporting technologies that make design, installation, setup, and support of AV-over-IP systems as frictionless as possible. And when we make life easier for the integrator, the results are improved for everyone in the AV world!

RGB Spectrum: Andy Thompson, Vice President Marketing

AV-over-IP market adoption initially ramped up slowly, but is now accelerating as infrastructure, education, and product ease of use catch up with traditional baseband video.

While AV over IP brings many benefits, it requires new expertise in IP networking for integrators and site administrators, and a willingness to build out networks to support these products. AV over IP is ideal for new sites or expanding video distribution capabilities across the enterprise. It’s harder to sell into sites that already have baseband infrastructure or aren’t growing. For administrators and users, AV-over-IP systems are becoming easier to use, as limited control interfaces are replaced by drag-and-drop GUIs that provide flexible content distribution, remote monitoring, user access controls, and much more.

RGB Spectrum’s Zio AV-over-IP platform builds on our 30-plus years of experience to deliver an enterprise-level solution, using open standards to efficiently deliver video over gigabit LANs, global WANs, and mobile devices. It includes an extensive array of AV-over-IP devices including encoders, decoders, multiviewers, and video wall processors. Zio supports H.264/265 signals from third-party IP cameras and other sources distributed across the enterprise. An intuitive browser-based user interface features live video thumbnails and drag-and-drop simplicity, with no software installation. A smartphone app supports content distribution to a mobile workforce.

Establishing new workflows enabled by AV over IP requires more than just technology. Education and changes to operations take time. As governments and enterprises shift to distributed workflows, AV over IP will grow increasingly important. With these activities firmly underway, enterprise AV-over-IP adoption is picking up speed and will continue.

SAVI Controls: John Dorsey, CEO

Today, more than ever, businesses rely on audio-video experiences to communicate, sell, market, entertain, educate, train, and support their customers and differentiate their customer experience. As more of the economy reopens and offices, campuses, entertainment venues and other businesses rebuild, companies must rethink their AV/IT needs.

Traditionally, the pro AV industry has been challenged with complex networking and a lack of device compatibility, as well as an overabundance of cords, boxes, and connectors to bring the entire experience together—offering installers a fragmented ecosystem that increases install complexity and cost, and can take weeks or months to program. In a post-COVID world, functionality such as displays, control, security, and signage are drastically changing and must get less expensive, simpler to program, and easier to use. It is even more critical that the integrator community has access to solutions that reduce the time and expenses spent on a project, particularly as customer needs shift as businesses rebuild. AV systems, especially control, must be designed around the network, rather than shackled to antiquated technology platforms. At SAVI, this is top of mind for us. We’re hard at work getting ready to unveil something that will disrupt this old-school cycle to streamline and simplify AV/IT control in an installation.

SDVoE Alliance: Justin Kennington, President

It’s true—we are not yet living in an “all-IP world.” I admit that I myself have even been caught by surprise that the tipping point hasn’t quite arrived. Or has it? You never quite know until you have the benefit of hindsight. I’ve come to realize that the holdup is, ironically, the IT department. You see, the AV industry has forever been a place where standards don’t exist—where manufacturers building walled gardens is the norm. This is definitely not how the IT department likes to do business. Can you imagine trying to sell Dell laptops to an IT director, and explaining that he will have to throw out his fleet of HP laptops, because emails won’t work between Dell and HP? Of course not! It’s a ridiculous thought, and yet it’s how AV sales work every day. Is it any wonder that we aren’t succeeding when the IT department drives purchasing decisions?

The SDVoE Alliance is attacking this problem at its source, by offering the only interoperable standard for AV over IP. Today the Alliance comprises more than 50 member companies shipping over 200 products, all of which are full interoperable with one another, to deliver matrix-switch performance over off-the-shelf, low-cost Ethernet networks.

Sennheiser: Kai Tossing, Head of Product Management, Business Communication

We have seen the rise of AV-over-IP solutions over time. There were times when the amount of AV-over-IP technologies and incompatibilities rather confused customers to choose the “right” one. Now, the situation is much clearer. In the area of higher education or corporate, we see Dante and AES67 being the de facto standards offered in all current products.

But AV over IP is just one aspect of modern system design; it is also about remote monitoring and control of devices. A networked device is available anywhere on the network providing audio signal, data insights, and remote control.

The pace of adopting the benefits of AV over IP is dependent on pain of installation and maintenance, budget, and skillset. The bigger the installation, the larger the pain installing and maintaining hundreds of devices and their connectivity; hence, the more it makes sense to have connected devices that you can centrally monitor and control. In small installations there may not be a need for interconnectivity and central management, so classic analog AV may still be fine or good enough.

We see new installations going straight into digital networked designs embracing AV over IP. Retrofit projects and projects limited in budget still can benefit from analog connections. That’s why the latest Sennheiser solutions like TeamConnect Ceiling 2, our most advanced dynamic beamforming ceiling microphone, and SpeechLine Digital Wireless, our dedicated-to-speech wireless microphone family, come with all options: dual-Dante connectivity, AES67, and support of latest IT standards such as IEEE802.1x, but also analog connections for seamless integration and to support every system design. 

Shure: Chris Lyons, Senior Manager, Integrated Systems Global Marketing

AV-over-IP is a growing trend in the industry and Shure continues to evolve with the needs of the market. In fact, Shure just globally launched IntelliMix Room—the first audio processing software for Windows 10 PCs that is fully optimized for use with Shure networked system microphones.

Shure’s customers seem ready to embrace the benefits of networked AV: reduced costs, easier deployment, and remote management. In smaller rooms especially, a networked microphone and software-based DSP minimizes the footprint required, making premium AV conferencing a practical alternative to a basic speakerphone or soundbar.

The transition to AV networking isn’t being driven by one type of product as much as by the fact that all of the different pieces of the audio ecosystem are now talking to each other. It is much faster to configure a new installation (with software like Shure Designer) and to “copy and paste” that setup to additional rooms. Networked audio components also can be checked and managed remotely (with SystemOn software).

The audio ecosystem approach allows systems integrators to install more rooms more easily, more consistently, and more cost-effectively than traditional solutions. And it’s not just for small rooms; with up to 16 channels of comprehensive audio processing, IntelliMix Room can handle applications like training rooms and lecture halls.

The move to AV over IP is gaining traction quickly because the benefits are attractive for both the integrator and the AV/IT manager. Shure is prepared to make this transition as effortless as possible.

Vaddio: Paul Cords, Director of Product Management and Sales

We’ve all heard the term “analog sunset,” or the gradual obsolescence of analog high-definition devices. But remember that that sun didn’t set overnight! In many ways, the adoption of AV over IP is following a similar arc. Adoption is slowed by many factors, including the alphabet soup of proprietary formats like NDI, Dante, AVB, and our EasyIP along with standards like SMPTE 2110, SDVoE, PoE, Telnet, and H.264. It doesn’t all quite “just work” as one big happy family of interchangeable devices.

Surely there are compelling reasons to make the leap to AV over IP. The ease and speed of installing systems that use a single Cat-6 cable is convenient. Flexibility in design, for example, in multi-purpose or combine-divide rooms, can be a big advantage. And let’s not forget the ability to use existing infrastructure for transport.

Vaddio continues to embrace the shift to AV over IP with our EasyIP professional AV ecosystem and Dante-enabled products. We are helping customers reap the benefits of this “AV-over-IP sunrise” by investing in educational materials on networking best practices and teaching sessions on configuring our Luxul network switches. It is no longer just about the AV endpoints like cameras and microphones, it is about setting up networked systems that pass the IT department’s security requirements. The reality is that we no longer live in our known pro AV bubble, but rather are equipping our dealers and integrators with tools to successfully win opportunities in the IT world’s domain (pun intended).

WolfVision: Michael Lisi, National Distribution Manager

To create an IP video matrix, installers simply connect Cynap-powered workstations to a local area network and then use an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to create a visual floorplan of the meeting space. Within minutes, users can begin routing signals between workstations simply by connecting the dots on the newly created digital floorplan. Multi-day implementations are now taking only hours and projects are being completed for a small fraction of what they once cost.

Our experience is that the commercial AV industry is embracing and swiftly adopting networking technology as a standard part of system design. However, it could be that some integrators are reluctant to deploy network-based solutions, perhaps because they aren’t confident in their ability to set up, configure, and manage IT networks, or they haven’t invested the time to learn the intricacies of a certain vendor’s solution. vSolution Matrix is unique in that it doesn’t require network expertise or custom programming to set up and configure. This makes it easy for integrators to use vSolution Matrix to leverage IP-based video distribution and compete successfully on larger projects.

When considering cost and ease of installation, WolfVision’s vSolution Matrix solution is a game changer because it eliminates the need to purchase and install matrix switchers, signal extenders, encoders, and decoders. It also uses standard, cost-effective network infrastructure to operate and eliminates the need for custom programming and third-party control systems. All of this makes it surprisingly simple to set up and manage. The end-user experience provided also hails a dramatic change for the industry by forsaking traditional control panel design to deliver an intuitive new drag-and-drop control experience that works on any browser-enabled device or touchscreen.

Yamaha Unified Communications: Holger Stoltze, Senior Director of Technical Sales and Marketing

Yamaha’s products have successfully supported AV-over-IP for years. We have observed strong use cases in events and corporate settings. Event usage is driven by the need to simplify complicated setups and reduce the time spent setting up equipment. Simple setup is also a prevalent requirement in corporate environments. However, the adoption of AV over IP in that vertical has been held back by the limited availability of components that support AV over IP, integrate easily, and are priced reasonably. This is now changing.

We will see greater adoption of corporate AV-over-IP implementations with the development of easy-to-install, fully integrated solutions. These plug-and-play solutions rely on IP networking instead of AV-specific wiring, which allows IT departments to help in the installation and management of AV solutions. AV over IP is a necessary prerequisite for this step.

For the time being, these AV-over-IP solutions will remain standalone for two reasons: One, closed solutions remain easier and faster to implement because they don’t necessitate an AV design that fits them into a complete system. Second, IT departments at this time do not allow sources creating an unknown amount of highly rated QoS data onto their network until they clearly understand and have proof of the impact that each device has on other services.

As Yamaha moves ahead, all integrated audio devices under development will support AV over IP.

ZeeVee: Bob Michaels, CEO

There are several factors holding AV over IP back from wider implementation, particularly in the U.S. For one, there is still a need for greater levels of education on this technology on the part of both integrators and end users. Integrators that are unable to provide factual answers—particularly to knowledgeable and experienced IT professionals confronted with a proposed AV-over-IP system—may face fierce resistance to putting AV on a customer’s network. In addition, integrators who have not approached networked AV with an open mind to see the obvious benefits may decide the traditional matrix system model is not broken, so why fix it?

We are big boosters of supporting the channel through education. We have started a dual-tracking webinar series with SIGNAL Sessions that explore best practices for AV distribution in key market segments (such as enterprise, higher education, hospitality, etc.) and Certified Solution Partner Trainings that dig deep into SDVoE and AV over IP and award participants with AVIXA CTS credits. In addition, we are a founding member of the SDVoE Alliance and support the organization’s SDVoE Academy, its training and education programs.

We believe that once the benefits are better understood, the prospect of transitioning from traditional matrix systems to networked AV will be normally aspired to, rather than feared.

Zigen: Ed Dellalyan, President & Lead Engineer

The industry has been slow to move to the SDVoE 10Gb network while it has adapted to installing the 1Gb AV-over-IP solutions quite well. There are several reasons for this. The main reason is lack of understanding about bandwidth requirements, compression, and their effects on installations. The industry has done a great job marketing 4K solutions and content, but has failed to educate about what is necessary to pass through true 4K60 4:4:4 content from source to display.

Traditional 1Gb solutions add roughly 64:1 compression, and that makes high-bandwidth 4K60 4:4:4 content look like 4K30 4:2:0 at best. This compression creates artifacts, granularity, and limits feature sets like HDR. Therefore, when an integrator mistakenly thinks 1Gb solutions have enough bandwidth to pass through true 4K60 4:4:4 content and that the content that is passed through is “good enough,” why would they push their clients to the more expensive 10Gb solutions? We haven’t done our job as an industry to educate about the feature sets of 10Gb (SDVoE) solutions. 10Gb solutions have the bandwidth for true 4K, instant switching, virtually zero latency, tiling, and flexibility to grow the ecosystem over time, and won’t be antiquated anytime soon. The higher cost is balanced out as updating and adding on to the system in the future will cost significantly less than having to install an entire new ecosystem.

The latest AV-over-IP products

Adder ADDERLink XDIP

Well suited for small to medium businesses looking to remotely manage and multicast critical computers or a video distribution network, the ADDERLink XDIP is a high-performance IP KVM matrix and point-to-point extender designed to bridge the gap between KVM and AVoIP. The XDIP delivers the advantages of enterprise-grade IP KVM without the unnecessary complexity and cost. Recent enhancements to the XDIP platform comprise of an expansion for the receiver to access 16 sources and the transmitter to broadcast to 256 receivers, the introduction of secure remote control via a RESTful API or web browser, and support for power over Ethernet (PoE) in the United States.

AJA Io IP

Transition to AV-over-IP with the AJA Io IP, a portable Thunderbolt 3-enabled ingest and playback device for professional video and audio over IP. Io IP supports HD and UltraHD SMPTE ST 2110 and SMPTE 2022-6/7 uncompressed video IP standards with redundant signal reliability, enabling users to bridge 10 GigE to the most popular NLE, and live production software applications. Io IP offers flexible monitoring, allowing users to edit, playback, and deliver remotely from virtually anywhere within a network. Flexible architecture ensures that as IP protocols advance, workflows are future-proofed for compatibility with the latest IP standards via firmware updates.

Arista RS-124-31 Series

With six models—the RS-124-A31-TX01, RS-124-A31-TX02, RS-124-A31-RX01, RS-124-B31-TX01, RS-124-B31-TX02, and RS-124-B31-RX01—Arista’s IP Flash Caster family changes the dynamics of the pro AV industry by letting installers and system integrators replace proprietary AV matrix switches with off-the-shelf Ethernet switches that deliver higher performance, flexibility, and scalability. Arista’s RS-124 Series is a 1U rack-mount AV-over-IP product that can be configured with either dual SDVoE encoders/decoders with copper or fiber interface and a variety of different video signal format inputs and outputs. The IP Flash Caster RS-124 Series provides numerous configurations and functionalities to meet changing pro AV requirements.

AtlasIED IPX

The IPX networked mass communications platform expands existing VoIP or SIP communications systems by enabling the integration of IP endpoints, such as speakers, paging stations, and digital displays. Adding these devices to the IPX network improves the effectiveness and coverage of messaging for routine, daily use and emergency situations.

ATEN VE66DTH

Delivering uncompressed, close-to-zero-latency digital audio signals across a standard IP network, ATEN’s VE66DTH is a Dante-enabled six-input/six-output audio interface with HDMI. Audio inputs can support line input and dynamic and condenser microphones. With built-in PoE, the VE66DTH can be powered through Ethernet cable. It provides flexible audio capabilities with de-embedding and embedding and can de-embed and embed audio signals to HDMI. The VE66DTH is tailor-made for a wide range of environments that require implantation of Dante-based professional audio devices for extended and flexible networked AV applications.

NewTek TriCaster Mini 4K

The TriCaster Mini 4K is a complete, compact live multicamera video production system that comes with features like Live Story Creator and LivePanel, designed to make the production of network-quality shows even easier for lone producers or small teams—whether they are beginners or seasoned video professionals. By utilizing the free-to-use NDI network protocol, the ability to send AV signals over standard 1Gb networks empowers creators to turn any spare room or office—or, perhaps, living room, garage, or basement—into a professional studio reflecting the identity or brand of any business, house of worship, school, or agency.

Atlona AT-OMNI-112

Atlona’s AT-OMNI-112 (OmniStream 112) is a single-channel networked encoder within the OmniStream Pro AV over IP family. OmniStream 112 processes two channels of encoding in a single, half-width rack enclosure, offering cost-efficient, high-density integration. Operational benefits include enterprise-level/campus-wide scalability, built-in security and network error resilience, and broadcast-quality 4K performance with visually lossless compression. OmniStream 112 also maximizes uptime with automatic failover and recovery when deployed in redundant configurations, and in alignment with IT systems and best practices.

Zigen IP-Logic

IP-Logic is Zigen’s premier AV-over-IP product to extend, distribute, and convert 4K video in a scalable platform for deploying an almost unlimited number of HDMI sources and displays. Utilizing 10GBase-T networks, IP-Logic will stream any HDMI source to any display with no compression (or visually lossless 1:4 compression of 4K60 4:4:4/4:2:2 HDR) and virtually zero latency. The Encoder and Decoder units come equipped with autonomous EDID management and independent scalers to allow seamless video distribution in mixed-display environments. Employing the latest SDVoE and AES67 standards, IP-Logic is well suited for commercial, residential, broadcast, military, and government applications.

Black Box MCX

The new Black Box MCX multimedia distribution and management system takes advantage of SDVoE and modern 10GbE infrastructure to allow AV and data payloads to exist on the same IT networks. Through advanced chipset technology, common control APIs, and interoperability, SDVoE technology ensures zero latency and uncompromised video while offering significant cost savings along with enhanced system flexibility and scalability. While enabling truly converged network AV, Black Box MCX ensures almost zero latency, instantaneous switching, bandwidth efficiency, and high-quality video and audio. MCX simplifies and accelerates the process of consolidating AV and data on a single network, enabling organizations in virtually any industry to reduce network management time and costs, as well as total cost of ownership. Users can take advantage of the software-defined solution to deliver better-quality audio and video, which can translate to greater customer satisfaction and faster time to revenue.

Biamp Tesira

Tesira is the world’s only integrated, networked audio and video processing and distribution platform, according to the company. Sophisticated, adaptive DSP is the core of what Biamp does and what Tesira delivers. Tesira SERVER and SERVER-IO are configurable I/O DSPs, while TesiraFORTÉ devices are fixed I/O DSPs available in different models optimized for specific applications. Rounding out Tesira DSPs are the TesiraLUX video encoders and decoders. All Tesira products can be configured and managed using Tesira software, helping to create dynamic, efficient AV systems.

Audinate Dante AV

Dante AV is a solution for manufacturers that allows any 1Gb codec to be used to send and receive video and eight channels of Dante audio over a standard network. It employs the same well-known control software and tools as Dante audio. Dante AV consists of a hardware module that handles networking aspects of a product, while the included Dante AV Product Design Suite provides a complete hardware and software design for implementation of Rx and Tx products using the included JPEG2000 codec, optimized for low latency and high fidelity. Dante AV allows manufacturers to jump into the AV-over-IP space with confidence in performance and user acceptance.

Bose ControlSpace EX

Bose ControlSpace EX is a family of digital signal processors with an open-architecture, single-rack-unit design with analog I/O, Bose AmpLink outputs (for use with Bose amplifiers), and up to 64x64 channels of Dante I/O. ControlSpace Designer software simplifies the setup process with drag-and-drop programming. ControlSpace EX has the features to support installed systems of various sizes and the flexibility to meet future needs, and with new Dante Domain Manager compatibility it increases the IT team’s ability to manage Dante-enabled devices. The EX-1280C, EX-12AEC, and EX-40C variants are also available for conferencing applications, adding acoustic echo cancellers (AEC), VoIP, and PSTN support.

ClearOne VIEW Pro

VIEW Pro is a professional multimedia streaming solution for existing IP networks, with ultra-high-quality 4:4:4 (4K30) and 4:2:0 color space, and 24 bits per pixel. The system supports high resolution—4K SKUs support up to 4K60 DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives) and 4K60 UHDTV (Ultra High Definition TV). It is a highly efficient codec with lossless compression and ultra-low bandwidth, and has low glass-to-glass latency for 1080p streams, typically below 60ms. VIEW Pro supports RTSP/UDP standard transport protocols for compatibility with third-party products such as cameras, PCs, and more.

Meyer Sound Galileo GALAXY

Among the first products to receive Milan certification is Meyer Sound’s Galileo GALAXY Network Platform, including GALAXY 816, GALAXY 816-AES3, and GALAXY 408. Milan certification ensures that Galileo GALAXY processors will offer seamless interoperability with all other Milan-certified devices in the signal chain, regardless of function or manufacturer. GALAXY can connect to other GALAXY processors and can also serve as a master FOH processor by connecting to third-party, Milan-certified array processors or processor-amplifiers, either directly or through a certified network bridge. GALAXY also can connect via Milan to a certified mixing console without the need for its own network switch.

HDBaseT Spec 3.0

HDBaseT Spec 3.0 is the only solution that enables uncompressed, long-distance distribution of HDMI 2.0 (4K60 4:4:4), for superior quality and zero latency, according to Valens, creators of the technology standard. Valens’ Stello family of chipsets is the basis of Spec 3.0, including integrated on-chip features and HDBaseT port duality, enabling the same chipset configuration as either transmitter or receiver for significant cost reduction. It also enables convergence of several native interfaces over the same HDBaseT link, simplifying installations, and guaranteeing interoperability and full backward compatibility with previous HDBaseT specs.

d&b audiotechnik Milan DS20

The DS20 is d&b audiotechnik’s first product offering for connecting its loudspeaker systems to the open-standards-based Milan protocol. The Milan is a deterministic network that inherits all the technical benefits of Audio Video Bridging (AVB) technology: improved reliability, optimum synchronization, and hassle-free network setup. Integrating seamlessly as part of a d&b system, the DS20 Audio network bridge interfaces between Milan networks and AES3 digital audio signals, while also providing distribution of Ethernet control data.

Panasonic KAIROS

KAIROS, Panasonic’s new IT/IP video processing platform, offers an open architecture system for live video switching with maximum CPU/GPU processor utilization for virtually unlimited ME scalability, resolution, and format independence.As a native IP, ST 2110 system, KAIROS supports transitions to live, uncompressed IP workflows and can eliminate the constraints of dedicated hardware. KAIROS creates new production opportunities involving a mosaic of IT ecosystems with a variety of COTS components from vendors in multiple industries.

Matrox Maevex

The Matrox Maevex family of encoders and decoders deliver AV infrastructure over IP capabilities that balance security, latency optimization, features, quality, open standards, and bitrate management for low invasiveness on existing capacity. When using Maevex encoders to Maevex decoders, the included Maevex PowerStream Plus software provides an out-of-the-box experience. But Matrox believes that AV-over-IP products need to be good citizens on networks of interoperable products. This is why, in addition to the supplied software, Matrox provides different APIs and developer tools to allow for integration with third-party hardware and software. This interoperability is not limited to the command and signal management. Even the high-performance content payloads can work with third-party products. For even deeper developers, Matrox also provides tools to personalize user experiences and create workflows that best serve customers.

RGB Spectrum W4000

The W4000 video wall processor is the latest addition to RGB Spectrum’s Zio AV-over-IP platform, a suite of hardware and software products optimized for enterprise-class video distribution. Enterprise AV-over-IP accelerates collaboration by sharing information-rich visual displays across the enterprise and between organizations. Zio distributes video from baseband and IP sources across LANs, WANs, and to mobile devices. Integration with Zio enables the W4000 and other video sources across the enterprise to be managed through a browser-based interface. The W4000 is the first full-function video wall processor fully integrated with an enterprise class AV-over-IP platform.

Kramer KDS-6 Series

Part of the Kramer AV-over-IP family of solutions, the Kramer KDS-6 Series are scalable, cost-effective, end-to-end AV-over-IP solutions designed for IT. Users can build any size AV distribution system on their existing IP network with Kramer KDS-6 encoders and decoders (including built-in scaling and control signaling with RS-232, IR, and USB), and manage it all from Kramer Network, Kramer’s enterprise management platform. Regardless of latency, resolution, or compression requirements, the Kramer AV-over-IP lineup of devices pairs value and versatility with uncompromising quality.

Opticis IPVDS-700-ED

The Opticis IPVDS-700-ED is a 4K HDMI IP Video Wall Control solution for playing multiple sources of audio-video on a video wall and other displays simultaneously. It also splits a high-quality video into multiple videos and plays it on the video wall and other displays. IPVDS-700-ED provides the optimal solution for large video wall systems in control rooms, security, and traffic control; it can be also be used in general fields like conference, education, or presentation rooms. The PC program can be used for host allocation and previewing, equipped with drag-and-drop operation with simple mouse use. Users can easily merge, split, overlay, and clear for host allocation.

Extron NAV

NAV is an AV-over-IP solution for distribution and switching of ultra-low latency, high-quality video, audio, and USB 2.0 signals over an Ethernet network at low bitrates. Utilizing Extron’s patented PURE3 codec, it delivers high performance with real-time, lossless video over IP at resolutions up to 4K60 with 4:4:4 chroma sampling and ultra-low latency. The NAV Series can be deployed as an IP-based video and audio matrix, combining the flexibility of an IP-based system with the integration-friendly video and audio switching features found in conventional Extron matrix switchers.

L-Acoustics P1

The multifunctional P1 AVB processor and measurement platform has established itself as an indispensable tool for many audio pros. Designed from the very start to be compliant with Avnu Alliance’s new Milan interoperability protocol, P1 became one of the very first two products on the market to officially receive Milan certification through Avnu Alliance as a fully compliant Milan device earlier this year, according to the company.

EvertzAV NUCLEUS Platform

EvertzAV recently introduced three new additions to the NUCLEUS platform. The UXP-TRXS-USB2-P is a transceiver with video (HDMI/SDI), audio, serial, USB HID, and USB 2.0 capabilities. The UXP-TXS transmitters and UXP-RXS receivers are cost-effective, single-channel HDMI gateways with serial functionality. In addition to being compact and quiet standalone devices that can be remotely powered using PoE+, all three gateways support resolutions up to 4K and can be deployed on 1GbE and 2.5GbE networks.

Hall Research POLARIS-1

The Hall Research POLARIS-1 is an IP controller with internal web servers to support up to 32 users simultaneously. Designed for GUI control of large AV-over-IP installations, it enables administrators to create various zones or rooms and assign displays to each zone. Display names and video source names are programmable. Layouts or maps can also be uploaded to aid users in identifying the physical position of the displays in each zone. Each specific user can be assigned the zones that they are allowed to view and control. Users can access the controller using any browser from any smart device.

DVIGear DisplayNet DN-150-TX-Quad

The DisplayNet DN-150-TX-Quad is an HDMI SDVoE Input module for the Netgear M4300-96X network switch. Compatible with all SDVoE systems, this module adds four HDMI input ports to the Netgear M4300-96X network switch, enabling lossless, zero-frame-latency matrix switching for 8-bit 4K60 signals with 4:4:4 color sampling. The DN-150-TX-Quad delivers excellent value, and is equivalent to four standalone DN-150-TX units, at half of the cost per port, and with significantly higher physical density. DisplayNet Manager SDVoE Controller software enables easy access to advanced SDVoE features, with a web-based user interface and transparent access to the DisplayNet API.

Just Add Power Warp Engine

Just Add Power’s Warp Engine is a 1RU transmitter/receiver that allows installers to easily deploy video walls with eye-catching designs featuring mixed-and-matched display models mounted at any angle. With the Warp Engine, installers can rotate any HDMI source—cable boxes, media players, game systems, cameras, and more—in a Just Add Power matrix in 0.1-degree increments in real time to achieve incredibly low latency. The rotated image can then be sent to an unlimited number of receivers in the network, allowing for the creation of massive artistic video walls using a single Warp Engine.

Vaddio EasyIP

Vaddio’s EasyIP Ecosystem includes AV-over-IP solutions that are designed to be easy to use, easy to install, and provide industry-leading video quality. EasyIP products send audio and video over IP, eliminating the need for more expensive video switchers, controllers, and extension systems. Joining the EasyIP Ecosystem in summer 2020 are the all-new EasyIP Mixer and EasyIP CeilingMIC D. 

Neutrik Milan

As an open standard and collaborative effort, Milan is continuously evolving, and members are focused on finding new ways to make the protocol an even better solution for end users. A Milan Module certification program was recently developed, for example, and made available for manufacturers that wish to implement a Milan-certified module into their device and submit for certification, without having to go through the full certification testing. This will help speed the adoption and growth of certified product availability.

SAVI Controls SAVI 3

Coming in August, SAVI will debut its next-generation system, SAVI 3. Built with deep commercial AV expertise, SAVI 3 streamlines installation, programming, and expense with simple programming tools, intuitive end-user software to manage the system on site, and a whole new line of hardware. To unveil this system, SAVI will host SAVI.Connect on August 26, a virtual event that will showcase demonstrations and online booth tours for a hands-on, immersive look at the cutting-edge SAVI 3 system.

WolfVision vSolution MATRIX

vSolution Matrix is a unique AV-over-IP solution for active learning classrooms, meeting spaces, and courtrooms that is designed to be cost effective, easy to install, intuitive, and enjoyable to use. Multiple WolfVision Cynap and Cynap Core presentation and collaboration appliances can be deployed to stream video and audio between screens, using a unique and highly intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes controlling multiscreen working and learning environments with up to 40 individual workstations easier than ever before.

ZeeVee ZyPer

The ZeeVee ZyPer product families provide a market-proven solution for the distribution and management of AV over IP, including support for uncompressed 4K, UHD, and 1080p in a variety of form factors and input types. Evolved from decades of experience in video encoding and IP networking, ZyPer enables AV and IT integrators to rapidly deploy AV solutions of unlimited scale, unsurpassed performance, and unrivaled reliability over industry-standard IP networks. A robust feature set includes built-in support for video walls, multiview, zones, signal transport over cable or fiber, and a network management platform that speeds and simplifies system setup and expansion.

The What: NewTek has released the TriCaster 2 Elite, the company’s most powerful live video production system to date. TriCaster 2 Elite enables studios, broadcasters, large scale campuses, and enterprise facilities to harness nearly every major video calling application in use today, delivering them a myriad of creative options. To further amplify the flexibility and scalability, both future-proofed video over IP and more traditional SDI are supported by the platform. 

The What Else: TriCaster 2 Elite is designed for production in today’s multisource world with new core functionality. Nearly every web conferencing tool, including Skype, Microsoft Teams, Zoom Meetings, and GoToMeeting is supported, as well as all IP video sources including NDI, SRT, RTMP, RTP, HTTP, SRC, and smartphones. These, along with almost unlimited traditional SDI sources, can be accessed and used simultaneously, meaning show producers will be able to connect with in-studio guests and remote video callers without worrying about connectivity. 

Related: NewTek Launches New Global Channel Program 

At the heart of TriCaster 2 Elite is a high-speed 60x45 video crosspoint that includes 32 external inputs that automatically determine video format and resolutions up to 4Kp60. Each input includes proc amp tools, independent keying, and cropping for crisper video, as well as triggers for automation. No tradeoffs are required with eight configurable mix outputs in HD or two in 4Kp60, direct NDI outs of media players, multiple streaming encoders, continuous NDI conversion of all eight SDI inputs, and eight independently selectable recorders for immediate replay. 

When it comes to integration, the TriCaster control API and automation tools deliver creative video production and IP workflow solutions that are highly interoperable with existing equipment, such as control room systems, video walls, multiviewers, media platforms, and the like.

TriCaster 2 Elite affords eight mix/effects (M/Es) with four layers each to enable greater creativity, enhanced by integration with Adobe Creative Cloud tools. Reducing risk and effort, visual storytelling automation tools with simplified teleprompter-based scripting with Microsoft Word document files are included. Virtual and augmented reality scenes can be rendered in real time from Adobe Photoshop files while non-standard framerate and aspect ratios such as 9:16 make it easier to deliver engaging content to a plethora of modern media screens. Other features include frame sync on every input, animated GIF support in buffers, social media publishing, audio mixing and routing, including support for Dante and AES-67, among others.

“Serving the needs well of those who make visual storytelling a key part of their business is made possible by combining IP networking, software-defined solutions, and a focus on the customer experience,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, president of R&D for the Vizrt Group, parent company of NewTek. “TriCaster 2 Elite currently has no equal in terms of capability and value and I believe that it is the best product we have ever made. More than ever, businesses, governments, schools, houses of worship, and other organizations tell us they are adopting broadcast techniques to communicate their message to their world more effectively as they seek to stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment.”

The Bottom Line: The new flagship TriCaster 2 Elite provides video producers, visual storytellers, and system integrators with broadcast functionality and enhanced flexibility. The platform allows content creators to produce simultaneous mixes, deliver multiple 4K streams to different places at once, feed video walls and accommodate separate branding and language packages, record program and line cuts, and much more.

TriCaster 2 Elite is now available at $27,995 USMSRP.

The What: NewTek is shipping the latest version of the TriCaster Mini 4K. New enhancements to the compact, live multicamera video production system include features like Live Story Creator and LivePanel, designed to make the production of network-quality shows easier for lone producers or small teams.

The What Else: Live Story Creator allows an individual to run an entire production from a Microsoft Word document. A script built in Microsoft Word includes triggers actions when loaded into the TriCaster Mini 4K, allowing the storyteller to concentrate solely on delivery of the message rather than on technical setup and production.

Related: NewTek Ships Accessible UHD PTZ Camera

LivePanel introduces customizable, browser-based remote control of the TriCaster Mini 4K from anywhere on the same local area network, letting anyone including the presenter control live switching, compositing, mix/effects, media playback, audio, automation, and more, from devices including tablets, smartphones, and laptops. Configurable macros are now also supported, allowing routine but complex tasks and sequences to be executed at the push of a button.

Two channels of Skype input allow simultaneous guest contributors to participate from their studios, laptops, or phones across the globe, all presented with broadcast graphics for titles, double box effects, and more. TriCaster Mini 4K will also ship with two recently announced Spark Plus IO 4K p60 encode/decode converters, enabling IP-based, NDI-first workflows using existing inputs and outputs.

“NewTek’s mission has always been to make it possible for a single person or a small team to deliver a show that looks like real television. There has never been a time when this has been more relevant,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, president of R&D for the Vizrt Group. “The new TriCaster Mini 4K allows anyone from CEOs to ministers to teachers to create amazing shows and get them online from virtually anywhere.”

The Bottom Line: The enhanced TriCaster Mini 4K is designed to provide easy setup with extensive live production capabilities including broadcast-quality, fully customizable virtual sets to turn any living room, garage, or basement into a professional studio reflecting the identity or brand of any business, house of worship, school, or agency. Broadcast graphics, media playback, one-touch automated control, multi-channel remote Skype video calling, integrated replay, social media integration, and more are all delivered at up to full UHD p60 resolution.

TriCaster Mini 4K is now available at $7,995 USMSRP.

NewTek has announced a new channel program for resellers across the globe. The NewTek line of products, most notably TriCaster, 3Play, and NDI-based camera and encoder technology products will be sold exclusively through the reseller channel.

“We place a premium on a customer’s experience with NewTek solutions, and we realize the best way to assure that end users have full support and service close at hand is through a robust and well-trained reseller channel,” said Barbara Spicek, senior vice president of NewTek. “We are 100-percent committed to our channel, and to support our valuable and critical partnerships across the globe, we have designed a program with a focus on high-quality product and implementation education, as well as additional benefits ranging from increased margins to robust marketing support.”

Related: NewTek Ships Accessible UHD PTZ Camera

The program offers three tiers of partnerships with benefits and requirements tailored to assure NewTek customers are near a channel partner who can provide sales, service, and support that meet their needs. The NewTek Channel Program features a series of benefits from Demand Generation and Marketing support elements, to a compelling discount and rebate structure.

Additionally, the program provides an extensive training program through NewTek University. Certification classes offered both in person and online provide expertise in selling NewTek solutions, live video production, NDI and IT network infrastructure for video, sports production and instant replay, production graphics, and system automation. Certification will be awarded for completion and demonstrated competency in each of the NewTek University courses. Resellers gain status in the program based upon achieving levels of qualification. Platinum status provides the highest level of benefits, other channel levels include Premier and Plus, with corresponding levels of education, competency, and benefits. Further, Platinum resellers will have the exclusive opportunity to offer NewTek hardware product service and repair, as well as product training.

The What: NewTek is now shipping the PTZUHD, a pan-tilt-zoom camera that transmits full 4K60 video directly to NDI-compatible receiving devices across a standard network. The NewTek PTZUHD camera allows content creators to capture and deliver UHD video with native support for resolutions up to 2160p60 using a 30X optical zoom lens and a high-quality Sony CMOS sensor. 

[NewTek Launches Next-Gen TriCaster Mini With UHD and Mobile Integration]

The What Else: The NewTek PTZUHD camera represents NDI|HX implementation. The result is reduced latency output at low bandwidth, which puts less strain on the network. NewTek PTZUHD is a broadcast-quality camera solution for NDI-powered video production workflows, and enables the future-proofing of broadcast and sports workflows. It can also enable professional audiovisual producers to deliver critical stories and content. 

“Right now, nothing is more important than the transmission of valuable information fast and effectively. With this 4K PTZ camera, one person with a TriCaster can produce an incredible live show,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, president of R&D for the Vizrt Group. "This has never been more relevant than today, when both cutting costs, keeping fewer people on a set and getting a story out to the internet is more important. PTZUHD is the first accessible broadcast quality PTZ camera that is ready for the future with IP that solves real problems and helps further our mission that matters more today than ever."

The Bottom Line: Requiring only a single Ethernet connection for setup, power, operation, and signal flow, digital media producers and content creators can explore new ways to evolve their productions into 4K. The camera pairs natively with the TriCaster Mini 4K and TriCaster TC1 for a configuration-free NDI experience.

The NewTek PTZUHD cameras are available now and are priced at $4,995 USMSRP. 

Whether you are new to producing visual media or an experienced hand, there is always a constant challenge of how to best use resources to create consistent and high-quality content. Entire books have been written about the process of video production, and there is plenty of material and online resources to be found. There is also an increasing number of software applications and utilities to assist with tasks such as scheduling, scripting, production planning, and more.

Whatever an organization’s reasons are for starting up or expanding in-house broadcasts or streams—be it for C-suite communications, marketing, HR, training, customer support, or other strategic content initiatives—there are a few starting points that should be integrated into a video production workflow.

The Modern Broadcast Workflow

To create programs that cover events in real-time—and/or to be recorded for later viewing—a production system that acts as the central hub for production is critical. At the core of the production system is the ability to switch between multiple cameras in real time at the touch of a button. These are called production switchers, and there are a number of services and technologies that can be integrated into these production systems to help users of all levels improve efficiency and quality. They are no longer just for tier-1 broadcast organizations; all types and sizes of institutions are finding ways to more effectively engage with their audiences using these systems.

That said, there is still a standardized format to content. Most productions consist of a series of scripted, repeatable actions. It is often known when a specific camera gets switched to, how a graphic appears on screen, or which media clips gets played. These known events can be planned for and programmed into production systems.

A production system often includes a comprehensive macro automation system to record, store, edit, and automate favorite settings and custom command sequences. Typically, macros can be run manually on control interfaces or can be set to perform actions automatically. Macros are used to automate favorite settings, frequent actions, and complex operation sequences—all triggered with a single action. Triggering macros manually can be done with a mouse click, keyboard shortcut, control panel button, MIDI button, GPI trigger, hotspot interaction, or other compatible control method.

A macro editor is then used to adjust action and timing, to insert and delete steps, and to easily modify macro data with cut, copy, and paste commands. To account for and adjust to real-time production pacing, pauses and manual cues can be inserted to create multi-step macro command sequences. Macros can be triggered based on a particular change or event associated with audio, graphics, media playback, tally, and other specific activities.

While macros help to automate functions within the production system, it can also be useful to bring a level of automation to an entire show. There are various types of production automation software offering varying degrees of functionality and comprehensiveness. When the need arises for staff to deliver stories more autonomously—regardless of their level of technical expertise—an application can be used that works from a script in Microsoft Word with triggers for actions. Once loaded into the production system, this script easily executes the entire show. As most productions need to start with a script anyway, this can be a simple way for anyone to get programs completed.

A teleprompter system should also be set up. Teleprompter operations including stop, play, forward, reverse, jump to segment, eyeline position, and scroll script can be performed without affecting the output of the production system, even when it is automated.

Simultaneously with the teleprompter operations, the productions system selects, takes, dissolves, and wipes the input sources such as cameras. The production system can perform fades, keys, and macros. The production system is also able to start and stop video clip playback, record, and stream out.

The Software Layer

Most production requires graphics of some sort. Working in conjunction with the production system, show openings, closes, animated titles, and lower thirds can be inserted into programs. Graphics cues, speeds, and durations can all be controlled. In addition to automating systems and shows, control of productions is another area where efficiency and flexibility can be realized. Control of production operations can be extended to everyday devices to remotely access the production systems from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Remote software interface applications often also include a creation tool, making it easy to create custom controls for any type of production or operator. The tool can provide the ability to define grid squares as buttons or video windows, assign macros to buttons, and create multiple tabs for different panels. 

The Network

Perhaps the greatest innovation taking place within broadcast and live streaming equipment today is the ability to move video (and audio, metadata, and other key signals like tally and pan-tilt-zoom camera controls) across a local area network in real time. Whereas typical broadcast equipment uses SDI or HDMI cables that only send one signal at a time in one direction only, emerging technologies like NDI and SMPTE 2110 can carry multiple video signals in any direction across a network, eliminating the need for long cable lengths and opening up new creative possibilities by simply plugging into an Ethernet port on the network.  

NDI is free to use, already installed in a growing number of NDI-compatible products. The likes of Sony and Panasonic are adopting the technology into their PTZ cameras. It works on 1Gb Ethernet networks, which are standard in most facilities, be it an office park, school, church or other business. SMPTE 2110, meanwhile, requires a 10Gb network and likely some extra hardware. That said, both rely on IP, an approach that many in the broadcast and AV space believe will become the future connectivity standard for video production.

These are just a few of the latest concepts being used to enable producers at all levels of experience to be able to tell their stories better with both efficiency and quality. With a little research and experimenting, all types of producers can lean into their unique brand of visual storytelling.

Matt Allard is the product marketing manager for Vizrt Group.

The What: NewTek has introduced the next-generation TriCaster Mini, the newest addition to the TriCaster product line of video production systems. This latest model adds UHD capability and features such as the ability to import streaming 4K video from iOS devices into a production mix over Wi-Fi. 

The What Else: The plug-and-play setup of TriCaster Mini is designed to allow new video producers to get started quickly and easily work their way up to creating more sophisticated programs in resolutions up to 4K, for delivery to all of today’s screens. Also included are hundreds of entry-level and advanced production tools like built-in virtual sets, animated transition effects, replay for sporting events, streaming, recording, projecting, one-touch social media publishing, and more.

“We believe a lot of our customers for this system might not have any technical production expertise at all, so we’re trying to make it as easy as possible to get them set up and going quickly,” said Matt Allard, product marketing manager at NewTek. “So we’ve got a quick start guide that tells you what’s in the box, how to cable up your system… there’s a URL to videos that teach the basics of production. And of course, there are more advanced options as you grow in your knowledge of the machine.”

TriCaster Mini’s eight external video inputs will support any combination of compatible sources in resolutions up to 4K UHD, giving storytellers more options, more angles, and more points of view. TriCaster Mini’s four plug-and-play NDI connections with power-over-Ethernet (PoE) makes video, audio, tally, power and control as easy as plugging in an Ethernet cable. Two included input modules with PoE directly connect to existing HDMI devices, instantly upgrading them to NDI-compatible sources. 

Exclusive to the new TriCaster Mini is the NDI|HX Camera Application for Mobile Devices available as a download from the Apple App store. This allows video, up to 4K UHD from an iOS device, to transmit over Wi-Fi as an NDI source and connect with TriCaster Mini systems on the network, enabling footage from iPhones to be incorporated into the production on the fly.

According to Scott Carroll, director of public relations at NewTek, the TriCaster Mini is particularly well suited for applications in education such as serving as a hub for automated lecture capture workflows and for student-run event production. The device also has potential as a communications tool in corporate environments, functioning as an adjunct to meetings and enabling the swift production of quick video messages. 

The Bottom Line: Featuring UHD and enhanced production capabilities, the TriCaster Mini is designed to enable operators of all capability levels to produce high-quality content. The NewTek TriCaster Mini will be available this month with packages starting from $8,995 USMSRP.

The What: 1 Beyond has begun shipping the 1 Beyond AutoTracker 3 camera with NDI, enabling universities, corporations, and government organizations to add automatic presenter tracking to AV over IP workflows.

The What Else: The camera produces high- and low-resolution NDI video streams and the bitrate of the stream is adjustable in the camera. Once the camera is configured over the network, it can be controlled from any third-party control device that supports VISCA over IP to turn tracking on or off.

NewTek’s NDI technology is the most widely adopted IP technology on the market and a built-in NDI | HX encoder allows the camera to provide video streams that can be viewed by NDI-compatible software or hardware devices anywhere on the same network. 

[Feature: The Latest in Lecture Capture]

The AutoTracker 3 camera with NDI retains the key features of previous AutoTracker versions which include seamless tracking, high-quality Sony sensor, dual 1080p or 720p HD-SDI output, PoE+ power, 20x optical zoom, and automatic camera functions such as focus and white balance.

Only a single standard network cable needs be connected to the AutoTracker 3 camera with NDI to provide power, control, and the NDI video stream, making it cost- and time-effective to scale presenter tracking across multiple rooms.

“1 Beyond AutoTracker 3 cameras with NDI now not only feature the leading auto tracking technology but also are the easiest to integrate into rooms,” said Terry Cullen, founder and CEO of 1 Beyond.

The Bottom Line: Using a combination of facial and motion detection to enable seamless speaker tracking, AutoTracker is well suited for lecture capture, videoconferencing, training, and many other applications at universities and corporations, eliminating the need for camera or system operators.

AutoTracker 3 cameras with NDI are shipping immediately and are priced at $7,595. 

The What: Magewell will unveil the second NDI decoder device in its Pro Convert family at the upcoming IBC2019 exhibition. The new Pro Convert for NDI to HDMI model will make its global debut in stand 8.A84 at the event, taking place September 13-17 in Amsterdam.

The What Else: The Pro Convert for NDI to HDMI decodes NDI streams up to 2160x1200 at 60 frames per second for output over its HDMI 2.0 interface. Leveraging built-in, FPGA-based video processing, the device can also up-convert HD or 2K source streams to 4K for viewing on Ultra HD displays. The plug-and-play decoder features DHCP-based network configuration and can detect the video and audio characteristics of the target display device via EDID metadata, automatically selecting optimal output parameters or providing the user with a range of compatible choices.

Users can control advanced settings, select between NDI source streams, and monitor the status of the decoder through a browser-based interface; wired or wireless keyboard or mouse; or using two on-device buttons that overlay an intuitive menu on the HDMI output. The device supports eight channels of audio in the NDI stream, with user control of audio gain, sample rate, channel selection, and on-screen VU metering. Additional convenience and integration settings include image flip for inverted projector installations; safe area controls for ensuring the display of important content; and remote control of PTZ source cameras.

The Pro Convert for HDMI to NDI is the eighth model in Magewell's growing Pro Convert product line, which also features six encoders with a flexible choice of input connectivity and encoding resolution. 

"Our Pro Convert products continue to earn industry accolades and customer acclaim for helping video production, broadcast and professional AV end users and integrators easily and cost-effectively join the IP workflow revolution," said James Liu, VP of engineering at Magewell. "We are pleased to continue expanding it with new models and feature enhancements that add more value and allow customers to choose exactly the right configuration for their infrastructure needs."

The Bottom Line: While Magewell's Pro Convert encoders enable users to bring traditional video signals into IP workflows, the low-latency Pro Convert for NDI to HDMI decoder completes the chain by transforming a live NDI stream into a high-quality HDMI output for connection to a monitor, projector, or other baseband device. This simplifies the use of NewTek's media-over-IP technology in presentation and delivery applications such as digital signage, video walls, image magnification (IMAG), multi-site video distribution, and long-distance, network-based media transport.

SCN: What is your position, and what does it entail? What are your responsibilities?

MICHAEL KORNET: I get to come to work each day with a singular focus on helping manufacturers develop and successfully release their Network Device Interface (NDI) products to customers worldwide. In a few short years, NDI has grown an ecosystem to thousands of products and millions of customers. An example is Skype for Content Creators, which now allows hundreds of millions of customers with Skype on their PC or Mac to have their Skype video calls available as a source in real time on their local network.

How long have you been in this position?

Three—what seems like very short—years. That said, I have been with NewTek for over 17 years. I’ve worked in a number of roles, including serving as executive vice president of business development and as chief marketing officer.

How has your background prepared you for your role?

I had a chance to build NewTek’s Developer Network, and through that experience I gained critical relationships in the industry. What looks like an overnight success was really many years in the making for NDI. NDI began as IP technology we created for our own products over 10 years ago. From there, it went through technological advances and we opened it up to our developer network—which I had earlier created for the company—so that third-party products could easily integrate through the IP network input on NewTek products.

AV over IP and other trends in 2020

But about three and a half years ago, we crystallized in our minds that it’s is a foregone conclusion that the video world is going to IP and that we should open up the technology we had created more than 10 years earlier for our products and for our developer network tied to our products. We wanted to make it available to everyone, all products (including our competitors), and make it free. That is what we have done, and although you can imagine how controversial this was internally with some of our teams in the beginning, it has proved to be the right decision many times over.

What are your short- and long-term goals?

We believe there is no doubt that the world is moving to IP video. My goals always come back to one thing: to help IP video grow as rapidly and widely into the hands of customers as possible. NDI is the standard NewTek created that allows for bidirectional transport of video, audio, and data over standard networks. It is the quickest and easiest way for manufacturers and customers to get the benefits of IP video because NDI is software-centric, royalty-free, and already connects to the largest ecosystem of IP products in the industry, including cameras, monitors, CG, encoders, and many other NDI products from respected companies in the AV market, like the industry-leading lecture capture products from Mediasite by Sonic Foundry and Panopto.

The promise of AV over IP for the pro AV market

What is the greatest challenge you face?

We are also seeing a major shift to AV over IP, just as IP video is taking over the broadcast world, the gaming market, the enterprise market, and is used every day in our phones. So, choosing what opportunities not to spend time on is a great challenge for me. These opportunities are all so fun and there are so many of them, but we don’t have the ability to go after them all. That said, we believe the AV market is a huge one for IP video, and so these days, providing NDI to the AV market is at the top of the list of my priorities and passions.

What’s the status of the AV over IP transition?

Where do you see the AV market heading?

I see it moving to IP video with software that auto-detects thousands of products bidirectionally in real time, and away from fragmented hardware proprietary solutions. This is important because customers needing solutions for sports arenas, education, house of worship, enterprise, and other verticals are seeing the need to connect more and more video content with the audiences they serve.

By offering this level of simplicity driven by software, networks, and computers, we’re enabling these customers to become more efficient and more creative in how they implement and access video. For integrators, this is a tremendous opportunity because it means they have a chance to move deeper into the businesses they serve in terms of value and expertise, to grow their business, and become leaders in what we know is where everything is going: IP video.

Moving forward with the adoption of AV over IP

Are there new initiatives we are likely to see from NewTek?

Yes, an IP solution on monitors, new types of IP cameras and encoders from NewTek, and a continuing dedication to advancing NDI—we are currently working on NDI 4.0. All I can say is, stay tuned!

How can systems contractors better position themselves to profit from products and/or services you offer?

If you know that the world is moving to IP video, then NewTek’s NDI is your conduit to providing solutions for customers who want to gain the freedom of an IP video-connected world. Systems contractors can partner with the many manufacturers that are making NDI products, understand the value of IP video so they can pitch it to clients, and be prepared to offer it as a core competency of their business. Systems contractors can access those resources at www.NDIcentral.com.

The What: Magewell has begun shipping a pair of feature-rich models in its new Pro Convert family of standalone IP encoders: the recently introduced Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus, and a previously unannounced 1080p counterpart.

 The What Else: The latest expansion of the Pro Convert family offers users and systems integrators a flexible choice of input connectivity and encoding resolution. The Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus transforms sources up to 4K Ultra HD at full 60 frames per second via an HDMI 2.0 input interface, while the newly unveiled Pro Convert HDMI Plus encodes HDMI source signals into full-bandwidth NDI streams up to 1080p60 HD. The Pro Convert HDMI Plus can also accept a 4Kp60 HDMI input signal, down-converting it automatically to HD for encoding.

A third model, the Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus, converts 6G-SDI signals up to 4K at 30 fps into NDI streams. It is slated to ship early in 2019.

"The ability to connect existing HDMI or SDI equipment investments into IP-based media networks is a key to making the new IP production paradigm affordable and practical," said Nick Ma, CEO and CTO at Magewell. "Pro Convert devices are designed to help customers effortlessly connect their current sources into NDI workflows, and we are excited to now be shipping the first models. Our flagship 4K models are ideal for users who are currently producing in Ultra HD or plan to in the future, while our 1080p60 models offer a lower-cost alternative for users who only require HD."

All Pro Convert models feature extremely low latency and are plug-and-play, with automatic input format detection and DHCP-based network configuration, eliminating the need for manual setup. For users wanting greater control of the conversion process and the features of the Pro Convert devices, a browser-based interface provides access to status monitoring, advanced settings, and FPGA-based video processing including up/down/cross-conversion, de-interlacing, and image adjustments.

Power for the compact Pro Convert devices can be supplied via Power over Ethernet (PoE) or the included power adapter. Loop-through connectivity on each unit allows the input signal to be sent simultaneously to additional displays or equipment without external splitters or routers, enabling sources to be easily used in new IP workflows without disrupting existing video infrastructures.

Additional features for live production applications include a 1/4"-20 thread for standard camera-mounting accessories, preview and program tally lights, and NDI-based PTZ camera control. An included breakout cable allows extension of the tally lights and PTZ control interface for increased connection flexibility.

The Bottom Line: Designed to enable users to bring traditional HDMI video signals into live, IP-based production and AV infrastructures using NewTek's NDI technology, the two converters will be showcased alongside other Magewell innovations in stand 8-G430 at the upcoming ISE 2019 exhibition in Amsterdam.

The What: Magewell has introduced the second member in its Pro Convert family of standalone hardware devices for bringing traditional video signals into live, IP-based broadcast and AV infrastructures using NewTek's royalty-free NDI technology. 

The What Else: The new Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus encoder converts SDI input signals up to 4K Ultra HD into full-bandwidth NDI streams with extremely low latency, enabling users to connect SDI-equipped sources to NDI-enabled media networks, devices, and applications.

"We received tremendous response to the launch of our first Pro Convert model at the IBC Show, and we're excited to expand the product line with the new Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus," said Nick Ma, CEO and CTO at Magewell. "Many video professionals would like to take advantage of the flexibility and efficiency of IP-based production, but have significant investments in SDI equipment such as cameras. Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus helps them maximize these investments by providing an easy-to-deploy and reliable bridge between their existing products and the thriving NDI ecosystem."

The plug-and-play Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus supports video up to 4K at 30 frames per second with embedded audio over a 6Gbps SDI interface. Automatic input format detection and DHCP-based network configuration eliminate the need for manual setup. Users can simply connect the device, and the encoder will convert source video automatically at its native resolution and frame rate. An SDI loop-through connection allows the input signal to be sent simultaneously to additional displays or equipment without external splitters or routers, enabling sources to be easily used in new IP workflows without disrupting the customer's existing traditional video infrastructure.

For users wanting greater control of the conversion process and the features of the Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus device, a browser-based interface provides access to status monitoring, advanced settings, and FPGA-based video processing. Functions such as up/down/cross-conversion, de-interlacing, and image adjustments are performed directly within the hardware, reducing unnecessary network bandwidth and CPU usage to maximize resource availability for other applications in the NDI workflow.

The Bottom Line: The Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus offers a wide range of valuable features for live production use. The compact device features a 1/4-inch 20 thread for use with standard camera-mounting accessories, while preview and program tally lights provide visual indication when the output NDI stream is being used by another application. A PTZ camera can be connected to the converter and controlled via NDI, while power for the unit can be supplied via Power over Ethernet (PoE) or the included power adapter.

The new 4K SDI model is the second offering in the Pro Convert product line. It joins the recently introduced Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus, which can convert HDMI inputs up to 4K60. Additional Pro Convert models, including 1080p60 configurations for users not requiring 4K resolution, are also planned.

The What: NewTek has released LiveGraphics as part of the Premium Access monthly subscription service. LiveGraphics allows users to go directly to air with 10 channels of real-time animated graphics authored in Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe After Effects CC for live output from TriCaster TC1 and NewTek IP Series. In addition to LiveGraphics, Premium Access gives subscribers, five additional highly innovative applications including LivePanel, NDI KVM, Advanced Audio I/O, Virtual PTZ, and NewTek’s entire Virtual Set Library. Premium Access is the gateway to new advanced software features; subscribers will receive automatic updates as new capabilities are implemented.

The What Else: First demonstrated at NAB 2018, LiveGraphics innovative approach to graphics creation allows users to replace text, images, and create links to live data, and then play those graphics back in real time. The result of extensive development, LiveGraphics does not require a proprietary hardware graphics engine and delivers on the promise of Adobe Creative Cloud in real-time.

“Our software-centric approach to innovating tools for live video production allows us to develop at a fast and relentless pace,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, president and CTO of NewTek. “Premium Access is an affordable and highly convenient way to make our current and future software innovations accessible and available to customers. We are proud to initiate this service with truly revolutionary features like LiveGraphics and a robust selection of other ground breaking advancements.”

The Bottom Line: Premium Access requires the latest version of TriCaster TC1 and NewTek IP Series software now available to all users. This free software upgrade includes more than 20 new features. NewTek Premium Access is available now for the limited time special introductory subscription price of $99USD per month, or $1,149USD per year. International pricing will vary.

The What: Magewell has launched two new products designed to help users reliably bring traditional video signals into live, IP-based production infrastructures using NewTek’s royalty-free NDI technology. The new Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus IP encoder hardware provides a standalone, plug-and-play onramp from HDMI sources to NDI-based production networks, while the Magewell Bridge software for NDI enables users of Magewell’s capture devices to convert one or more channels of source video into live NDI streams.

The What Else: Magewell’s self-contained Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus encoder converts HDMI 2.0 signals into full-bandwidth NDI streams with low latency and is plug-and-play, with automatic input signal format detection and DHCP-based network configuration, eliminating the need for manual setup. With Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus, source video is converted at its native resolution and frame rate by default, while a browser-based interface offers users control of FPGA-based up/down/cross-conversion, de-interlacing, image adjustments, and other video processing. Performing these functions can reduce network bandwidth usage and processing requirements for subsequent tools in the production workflow.

Supporting the growing adoption of 4K video in professional production workflows, the Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus transforms sources up to 4K Ultra HD at full 60 frames per second. Measuring 117.5mm by 66.7mm (4.63 by 2.63 inches) and 23.4mm (0.92 inches) thick, the compact and energy-efficient device can be powered over its Ethernet connection (PoE) or the included power adapter.

For existing users of Magewell ingest products or customers who prefer a software-based conversion solution, Magewell Bridge for NDI allows video and audio from any Magewell capture device to appear as a live source to any other NDI-enabled software and systems on the network. Running on the Windows operating system, the software is compatible with Magewell’s USB Capture and USB Capture Plus external devices, Pro Capture PCIe cards and Eco Capture M.2 hardware.

“The use of live, IP-based media transport has expanded from its roots in content distribution to become an integral part of many professional production workflows, giving customers massive flexibility while helping reduce deployment costs,” said Nick Ma, CEO and CTO at Magewell. “NDI has been one of the key enabling technologies driving this transition. While some new products such as cameras support NDI directly, many customers want to use their current equipment with NDI-compatible production software. The Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus and Magewell Bridge for NDI give users a choice of easy-to-use, cost-effective, and reliable hardware or software solutions to connect their existing sources to NDI-enabled networks, systems, and software.”

"Magewell's award-winning video interface products are highly regarded by media professionals for their reliability and simplicity in bringing high-quality video signals into software-based production workflows, and we are excited that they are now offering similar benefits for NDI-enabled workflows," said Dr. Andrew Cross, president and CTO, NewTek. “Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus and Magewell Bridge for NDI will let users easily connect existing gear into NDI-based infrastructures, helping more producers join the NDI ecosystem.”

The Bottom Line: The Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus can make HDMI input signals from any type of device available on a network as an NDI source, and offers value-added features for camera-mounted use including tally lights and NDI-based PTZ camera control. Additional Pro Convert models—including 1080p60 configurations for users requiring only 2K or HD resolution—are also planned.

The Magewell Bridge software supports all resolutions and frame rates available through the associated capture device—including Ultra HD video with Magewell’s 4K capture models—plus up to eight channels of audio. The software can convert multiple input channels to NDI simultaneously when used with multi-channel capture card models or several Magewell capture devices in the same computer.

Both products will make their world premieres at the IBC2018 exhibition in Amsterdam, where Magewell will exhibit in stand 8.A84.

When people visit a museum of a historical event—of a Civil War battle, for example—they expect to be transported to that era by means of artifacts and period-costumed staff. But what about an event so close to the present, one that nearly every adult watched unfold live on television? The answer, of course, is absorbing audiovisual elements, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum has them in spades.

“Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing that morning, and I think the audiovisual aspect of the museum really brings you back to that moment in time,” said Fernando Mora, the museum’s manager of audiovisual and multimedia technology. “You walk through those doors of the historical exhibition, you hear the 9-1-1 calls from the first responders, and you get a real sense of the initial confusion and chaos of the moment, followed by the panic after the second plane hits the South Tower, then the subsequent collapse of the towers. I believe audiovisual experience plays a large part in this effort without overshadowing the physical artifacts. I think the exhibit designers struck the perfect tone in this regard which is no easy task.”

Telling the Story

Located largely beneath the accompanying 9/11 Memorial in the foundations of the original World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan, the museum features some 150,000 square feet of exhibition space and more than 90 AV exhibits that add to its educational, experiential, and memorial functions. Designed by integration firm Electrosonic and opened in May of 2014, the AV operations have been fully under the care of the museum’s own team, led by Mora.

Since then, the AV team—which consists of Mora as manager/engineer, AV engineer Jose Vazquez and two technicians, Chris Fraley and Marc Thompson—are in charge of all day-to-day operations and internal upgrades.

“The vast majority of the AV projects are designed, engineered, and installed in house,” Mora said. “We very rarely go out to integrators for these projects. I have an integration background, and so does our engineer, Jose Vazquez."

This may seem like a tall task—even more so, considering that much of the AV equipment is due for a refresh, owing to an unforeseen setback that delayed the museum’s opening.

Projectors are a big part of the upgrade process, according to Mora. Of the museum’s 64 projectors, 24 have been replaced with Christie G Series laser-based models; of the others, 27 lamp-based Digital Projection models will be exchanged with laser units in 2018 saving us approximately $400,000 in lamp costs over the life of the projector. This is an important consideration, given the museum’s extensive hours of operation and inaccessibility of some of the units: in the cavernous Foundation Hall, for instance, three lamp-based projectors are mounted within the 60-foot-high ceiling, and lamp changes and maintenance necessitate bringing in a very large scissor lift.

Getting signals to all the exhibits around the sprawling facility isn’t easy either, and is another area ripe for enhancement in the coming years. On the audio side, Peavey MediaMatrix NION DSPs in the three control rooms use CobraNet for audio distribution; Mora said that the museum is in the midst of gradually moving this process to Dante. On the video side, Adtec SignEdje Watchout and 7th Sense players send signals via Extron transmitters and receivers via DVI-D.

“This is still a traditional AV system, but it has a lot of IT components to it,” Mora said. “Every device here has an IP address; I can get to anything remotely. Our network has five VLANs, but they’re mostly for control, monitoring and intersystem data communication. We’re putting small amounts of video on it, little by little, as we ramp up. The idea is to completely go AV over IP over the next three years.”

One way that Mora is selling the idea to upgrade to AV over IP to the museum’s budget decision makers is the “disaster recovery element,” as he calls it: the freedom from relying on so many physical devices that could be damaged in a future flooding event. “If one control room gets flooded, this entire wing of the museum is down, and we have to find a way to get system operational again quickly,” he said. “But if we were to go AV over IP, we are less reliant on where the sources originate from. We can take the show, bring it over another control room, and drive the content from there.”

However, Mora acknowledges this transition can’t be rushed: with as many as 90 individual exhibits and 120 video streams (accounting for blended exhibits) playing at once, the move to full IP requires patience. “Those are things you have to scale up for,” he said. “You have to buy the hardware, give your IT managers a chance to balance the load, and be able to handle it, or else all we’re doing is going from a stable system to an unstable system, and that’s not going to help.”

While audio and video presentations play a powerful part in telling the story of the events of 9/11, they are equally moving in aiding in the memorial aspect of the space. A central feature of the museum is the memorial exhibition. Lining four walls within the footprint of the original foundation of the World Trade Center South Tower are portraits of almost all of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the 2001 and 1993 attacks. Around that space are several ELO 3243L interactive touch display tables, where visitors can look up more information on each victim. Visitors can then choose to send a person’s profile into an interior room or what the museum calls “Inner Chamber” where their name and information are projected onto a screen and a recording of their name is played. There is also a wing featuring recording booths, where visitors can record testimonial videos about loved ones or their memories of the event.

In the atrium, there is an auditorium that, while normally functioning as a theater that screens films every 30 minutes over the course of the day, can also serve as a lecture hall and event space with sophisticated broadcasting abilities. Using a NewTek 460 video production switcher, the auditorium’s control room can pull from the space’s Sennheiser SKM5200-II wireless mics and three Sony BRC-H700 PTZ cameras, and broadcast out a streaming feed of the occasional large event, such as when Yankees’ erstwhile manager Joe Torre spoke about the importance of baseball in restoring normalcy to the city after the attack.

Maintaining the Message

Keeping a facility of this scale running smoothly would be a challenge for any size team; with just four technicians, the museum’s AV team certainly has its hands full. With a weekly operating schedule of nearly 80 hours and more than 11,000 visitors streaming through its exhibits on an average day, a lot can go wrong.

“Every day there are some exhibits that are problematic,” Mora said. “Ninety-five percent of our exhibits, if they’re having a particular technical issue, they happen in the morning: as PCs boot up, players start, or projectors turn on after being off overnight.”

Sometimes, a particular piece of equipment will require some clever troubleshooting. One of the touch-tables in the memorial exhibition area would have issues turning on, and Mora’s team eventually figured out it was the result of a problem with the hot-plug detection on those screens, so they changed the entire design of it. Several projectors in a film screening room would blow their lamps in the middle of the day; they discovered the cause was outdated firmware. The Macs capturing a visitor’s testimonial in the recording booths would frequently crash, so the team wrote a script that delayed the launch of the recording software one minute after booting up, exponentially reducing the incidence of failure.

Mora says the key to staying on top of maintenance for over 1000 devices is assiduous documentation. Using a database management system called Atlassian Jira, he keeps detailed reports on every issue in each exhibit. “[In the database,] the problems have a line of issues month by month, and it’ll show you right when we made a change, and how that affected the fault reporting,” he said.

Meticulous reporting also prevents small problems from persisting. “If there’s an audio wand that’s not working, one of the technicians fixes it I wouldn’t typically know about it,” Mora said. “But because I keep track of it in JIRA, I can tell how many times that one wand has failed, that allows me to provide resources to it, monetarily, or equipment wise, that helps resolve problems.”

All of these preventative and reactive measures have so far kept malfunctions mostly invisible to the public, allowing the audiovisual elements to meld with and enhance the transformative gravity of the space. Mora said he’s read many reviews of the museum on TripAdvisor extolling AV’s role in enriching the experience.

“I feel that in many ways we are the custodians of this incredible content; it’s a very important part of the museum, because of the time in which it happened,” he said. “We were in an audiovisual age at the time, and there were many cameras in the hands of the public, as opposed to something that happened during World War II where many events went undocumented, for example.”

But ultimately, Mora believes that AV—no matter how moving—is merely an instrument for conveying the solemnity of the space, and for retelling the events of a day that changed America forever. “I think that when people come here, they leave with a completely different perspective on what that day was,” he said. “For us, it’s not the audiovisual; it’s what’s being displayed here, and our job is to make sure the story is told clearly, that it looks good, sounds good, and we’ll let the story tell itself. The story is powerful enough; it’s not something that we need to add anything to.”