SAN FRANCISCO—Held June 15 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Newbay Media's first-ever Video Edge Live expo will focus on the topics and technologies that are driving the expansion of online video. This free event will highlight advances from industry-leading manufacturers and developers, and will offer a full schedule of in-depth discussions, gathering experts for conversations, case studies, viewpoints and industry predictions. Here, we present some of the products you’ll find at the event. For more information or to register, visit www.videoedge.net/live.
EPIPHAN
Epiphan is a worldwide leader in professional audiovisual capture, recording and streaming products. At Video Edge Live, we’re going to be talking about our brand new 4K USB video grabber and IP camera support for our streaming and recording product line.
Regarding the future of streaming, I predict significant investment in adapting the tools, products and services of the traditional broadcast industry to the needs and competencies of everyday users. The following categories of innovation will empower everyone to virtualize their events with professional results, creating a worldwide internet of events.
Unattended Live Production Engaging live video streaming will become more affordable through advancements in self-producing, unattended live production solutions. New products in this space will act as local content aggregators that programmatically choose the best possible aspects for the streaming production.
Simplified, Tailored Workflows Solutions for producing live events (whether recording or streaming) will target specific use cases and will therefore be easier to use. Cohesive end-to-end integration of post-processing, CDN, cloud-based storage and OTT playout options will be integral parts of this solution.
Postproduction in the Cloud Inexpensive post-event editing, clip extraction and social media integration in the cloud will be possible through refined cloud-based tools. These same tools will also provide low-cost alternatives to post-producing large ISO files into engaging video on demand assets.
The days of requiring substantial budgets and large, experienced production crews to create credible, watchable content from live events will be behind us.
—Mike Sandler, CEO, Epiphan
HARMONIC
At Video Edge Live, Harmonic will showcase two new cloud media processing offerings. An extension of our VOS software-based media processing platform, VOS Cloud is a cloud-native solution that enables content and service providers to manage the video production and delivery workflow for broadcast and OTT applications via standard IT hardware over public or private cloud infrastructures. The second offering, VOS 360, is a media processing service that provides operators with a software-as-a-service solution hosted in the public cloud and maintained and monitored by Harmonic, enabling customers to launch revenue-generating broadcast-quality OTT services in a matter of minutes.
There is a fairly rapid move in the industry toward a virtualized cloud environment for media processing and delivery. Many have been waiting for technology providers to take a fresh look at what it takes to build and operate the media factory of tomorrow and then start from the ground up to build cloud-native solutions that are innovative not only in the technology aspects, but also the commercial schemes they enable. The drive for cloud is not for technology’s sake; it’s for infrastructure flexibility that delivers both technical and commercial value.
—Tom Lattie, Vice President, Market Management & Development Video Products, Harmonic
LIVEU
Broadcasters and online video content creators are looking to differentiate their content by delivering quality live streams, maintaining reliable connectivity, and sharing content seamlessly. These goals can be accomplished with LiveU Solo, our new ‘plug-and-play’ live streaming portable encoder.
As our lives become ever more mobile, an increasing amount of live video content needs to be captured on the fly—and out in the real world. LiveU Solo takes multiple signals and bonds them together for consistent bandwidth even in the most unpredictable network conditions, enabling organizations to live stream HD video content directly to Facebook Live or any online video network.
Solo has been implemented for news, entertainment and sports applications, among others. Organizations including the Huffington Post have used LiveU Solo to stream directly to Facebook Live. They’ve seen tremendous success in live streaming and understand that live streaming content connects audiences to high-quality video on the fly.
Optimized for online video performance, Solo delivers the rock-solid video streams LiveU is known for by using the LiveU Reliable Transport (LRT) protocol’s integral adaptive bit rate and forward error correction technology. The technology that we developed for our broadcast product line is now available in a product that is affordable and easy to use for the online streaming market.
LiveU will also be participating in a portable live production panel at Video Edge Live and will highlight Global Streaming Sports’ use of the Solo unit to live stream professional boxer Manny Pacquiao’s road to his final match.”
—Claudia Barbiero, Director of Marketing, LiveU
NEWTEK
At Video Edge Live, JB&A will be previewing NewTek’s TalkShow VS 100, 3Play Mini, TriCaster Mini and NewTek Network Device Interface (NDI) applications.
With NewTek TalkShow VS 100, users can integrate Skype video calls with any contact they can reach online for compelling live conversation, expert analysis, real-time commentary and in-depth discussion—in distraction-free, broadcast-quality HD.
3Play products are already a hit with producers of stadium sports because of their ability to generate audience-engaging programs for projection and broadcast from a mobile unit or video booth. 3Play Mini is for producers who are at the mercy of their equipment size, budget, and ability to react and move quickly to catch the action.
TriCaster Mini gives anyone wishing to use video to communicate with others the ability to create content that looks like professionally-made television—achieved in minutes, where traditionally it took hours or days. No other system in the world makes it as easy to create sophisticated broadcast content, webcasts and presentations, and stream them live, publish to social media or upload to a web site from the office, an event or any location with an internet connection.
NDI, our open protocol for IP production workflow, has led to the creation of a number of powerful applications. NewTek IsoCorder Pro provides the equivalent of racks of expensive recording equipment. With NewTek Connect Pro, up to four simultaneous video signals can be made available over the network in any combination of formats and standards.
—Scott Carroll, Director of Public Relations, NewTek
QUANTUM
At Video Edge Live!, Quantum will be showcasing the latest innovations that help content creators and owners “power what’s next” to meet ever-increasing challenges: more higher-resolution content, more cameras, more content reuse and more platforms for delivery. Everything seems to be getting tighter—including the timelines for new projects and the turnaround times for monetization—and budgets aren’t increasing.
Further adding complexity to the workflow, content is being streamed or downloaded to more devices in more payment models. Everyone has to “do more with less,” and that means streamlining infrastructure to lower costs while remaining nimble to capitalize on new opportunities.
With a converged architecture built on the power of StorNext, Quantum’s Xcellis workflow storage offers built-in NAS capabilities that allow content to be shared between IP and Fibre Channel SAN clients. At the same time, its tighter storage footprint enables customers to start smaller and scale smoothly and indefinitely as their business grows. For even greater convergence, Xcellis can reduce cost and space requirements by running embedded applications in a hypervisor on its workflow director: media asset management, transcode, render, production automation and more.
To streamline monetization and delivery, Quantum also now offers partner integrations for Lattus that enable transcode and delivery directly from object storage-based content libraries, without restoring to online storage first. With converged solutions from Quantum, storage infrastructure can take an even more active role in the processes that make workflows the heart of our customers’ content business.
—Janet Lafleur, Product Marketing, Quantum
TERADEK
At Video Edge Live, Teradek will be highlighting Sphere, its newly announced 360°/VR streaming solution. Sphere compresses, stitches and streams up to eight 1080p cameras directly to the web at bit rates up to 10 Mb/s, offering a high-resolution 360° experience for online audiences. The product is camera-agnostic, which means it works with any VR rig, and its stitching software is iOS based, giving users a new level of mobility compared to PC-based systems. Sphere received five awards at the 2016 NAB Show, including Video Edge’s Best of Show Award, and will begin shipping in late June for $2,990.
We believe the industry is rapidly moving toward more dynamic and engaging online content, which is why 360°/VR content is exploding onto the scene. With a product like Sphere, professional broadcasters and independents alike can bring new experiences and stories to audiences worldwide, all from a box the size of an Apple TV.
—Jon Landman, Vice President of Sales, Teradek
TVU NETWORKS
Today’s consumers have enormous control over what video content they want to view and how they want to view it. To remain competitive, broadcasters need to deliver additional content, but at a lower cost, and deliver it where consumers are watching. TVU Networks understands these challenges and has developed live video solutions from the ground up designed specifically to address them.
At Video Edge Live, we’ll showcase our IP-based family of products for live video streaming workflows. In our booth will be our fifth generation compact mobile cellular transmitter, TVU One, featuring our patented Inverse Statmux Plus (IS+) transmission technology for resilient video transmission and excellent picture quality. Also on display: TVU Grid, which enables rock-solid IP video routing, switching and distribution to multiple locations anywhere in the world; and the TVU Anywhere app, which turns any smartphone into a live video transmitter. Garnering much attention at its introduction at the NAB Show this past April, our TVU RPS (Remote Production System) uses existing control room infrastructure and public internet to provide broadcasters synchronized multicamera production truck capabilities in a cost-effective solution.
Digital media continues its rapid evolution, with video content increasingly featured. Nowhere is this more evident than in new live video platforms such as Facebook Live. As broadcasters embrace new digital social media platforms, TVU remains committed to the successful integration of its IP solutions in support of streaming workflows. Our platform’s technology-leading hardware and cloud-based software incorporates easily into existing operations.
—Eric Chang, Vice President of Marketing, TVU Networks
USTREAM
Ustream, an IBM company, is a leading provider of cloud-based, end-to-end video solutions for media and enterprises. From internal meetings to press conferences to worldwide entertainment events, Ustream powers live and on-demand video for 80 million viewers per month.
Ustream’s suite of products includes Ustream Align, for secure internal video communications to employees, and Ustream Pro Broadcasting, for broadcasters and marketers who need a scalable and reliable live video streaming platform to reach massive external audiences.
Ustream Align helps you share information, create alignment and encourage buy-in throughout your entire organization, while boosting employee engagement, increasing productivity and improving satisfaction. Live video creates an authentic, personal rapport between people that connects and engages far better than e-mail, conference calls or web meetings.
Ustream Pro Broadcasting is the all-in-one video solution that meets all your broadcasting needs. Broadcast, record, publish, manage and measure, all from a single integrated platform to reach your audience anytime, anywhere, on any device, with live broadcasts, VOD, live playlists, syndication and mobile support. Flexible publishing options make it simple to reach your audience in the manner you choose.
Ustream customers include NASA, Samsung, Facebook, Nike and Discovery Communications. Ustream was founded in 2007 and is located in San Francisco and Budapest. In January 2016, Ustream was acquired by IBM and is now part of IBM Cloud Video services.
This story originally appeared on TV Technology's sister site Video Edge.
