Tag Archives: streaming

Roland AeroCaster: The live streamer’s new best friend @ CES 2023



Roland AeroCasterLive streaming has become a big business. Between gaming platforms like Twitch and standard platforms like YouTuve and Rumble, it’s never been easier to stream video. Even podcasters have gotten into the video game in larger numbers than those of us who have done it for over a decade. But proper production setups can be incredibly expensive and require a lot of specific hardware. The Roland AeroCaster is the company’s answer to cumbersome production systems.

What is the Roland AeroCaster?

The Roland AeroCaster is a live and recorded video switching system for small and medium sized setups. The system integrates nearly everything that a broadcast might need and does it in an incredibly small format piece of hardware. The core device is a small switching board with a few core inputs. On the back is a pair of combo jacks, so you can plug in XLR microphones, instruments, or even a soundboard. There are also RCA jacks for a line level connection.

On the front are a series of controls. For audio controls, there are sliders for mic 1, mic 2, line-in, and main. This gives you the ability to control the individual volumes for each direct audio input on the back of the board. There are also audio quality controls, such as de-esser and low cut filters. There is also control for an on-board microphone, sync delays, and more.

For video, it is a pretty standard basic video switcher. You’ve got buttons for your four video inputs, as well as the ability to create split-screen variants between any pair of inputs. However, the controls on the board are just the beginning of the story. The real magic comes from the connected software.

Roland AeroCaster LIVE app

The Roland AeroCaster LIVE app is really what separates the system from its competitors, some of which we have tried out. The software is well thought out and gives a lot of capabilities that we have complained about with other devices. First and foremost, the system allows you to import photos, audio, and video from your iPad for broadcast. This means that you have the ability to run bumpers, advertisements, and more. This is a huge benefit and something that makes the system really attractive.

In addition, the software integrates with streaming destinations to create a single point of connection. For those who are looking for a simple setup, you can connect to Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, and more. You can also monitor chats and comments on these platforms all within the software. For those looking to broadcast on a bigger stage, you can use RTMP directly to a service like Restream or Wowza to stream to multiple platforms.

Mobile cameras

One thing that really makes the Roland AeroCaster unique is its use of mobile phones as cameras. Rather than having to purchase special hardware, you can use your existing phone or tablet as a camera. This makes sense, especially for startup broadcasters, as we all have our current phone and many of us also have our last generation phone. This gives older phones a new life while producing a video quality that is equal to most professional streaming webcams.

Summary

The Roland AeroCaster is available now with a retail price of $295. You can get it right now at Amazon, B&H Photo, and more. To learn more about it, check out the product page.

Interview by Allante Sparks of PLuGHiTz Live Special Events.

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Roland BRIDGE CAST makes game streaming a lot easier @ CES 2023



Roland BRIDGE CASTVideogame streaming has become a major part of the entertainment industry. In our offices, you can almost always find at least one Twitch stream running with one of the popular streamers. As the industry grows, new issues are introduced. For example, the RIAA has recently discovered what’s going on with Twitch and started handing out DMCA strikes for music usage. Gamers have been looking for a middle ground on this issue, and the Roland BRIDGE CAST might just be the solution they’ve been looking for.

What is the Roland BRIDGE CAST?

The Roland BRIDGE CAST is a new audio interface designed specifically for online broadcasters. This can be gamers, podcasters, and more. The device is a broadcaster’s dream with all of the inputs you can need. Across the back, it features an auxiliary input and a line out, both of which are 1/8″ jacks, as well as a 1/8″ headphone jack.

The interface has also got dual USB-C ports. One is a dedicated power port, which is a nice choice for those who aren’t going to have the device in a highly trafficked area. The other is for connecting the mixer to a computer for input and output of sound.

Most importantly, the Roland BRIDGE CAST features an XLR jack for a microphone. This allows you to use any type of professional microphone you might want to use. To make the offering better, the XLR jack has 48 V Phantom power to support the more powerful professional microphones like the ones we use in our studios.

What sets the Roland BRIDGE CAST apart?

One of the features that really sets the Roland BRIDGE CAST apart from the other competing options is its dual mix option. This means that you can have two separate and unique outputs coming from the same set of devices. The most common usage today would be for different music options for the streamer and their audience.

Why might a streamer want to hear something different from their audience? Because of copyright concerns. Many gamers like to listen to certain music to help get them in the zone to play better. But, to include that audio as part of a public broadcast, the streamer can be hit with DMCA strikes for using copyrighted music without permission. By using dual outputs, the gamer can listen to the copyrighted music that they want to listen to while playing something else, such as royalty-free music publicly.

On that topic, the Roland BRIDGE CAST system actually includes a large collection of royalty-free music that can be used safely on streams. So, those who are looking to keep their streams both entertaining and legal can use this collection as part of their public feed.

Summary

If you are a streamer or podcaster and are looking for a serious audio interface, the Roland BRIDGE CAST is a solid choice to consider. It is not yet available but is expected to launch in Quarter 2 of 2023. To learn more about the Roland BRIDGE CAST, head over to the product page.

Interview by Allante Sparks of PLuGHiTz Live Special Events.

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Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra adds high quality video live streams @ CES 2023



Razer Kiyo Pro UltraThe world lives on the internet today, even more so than even just a few years ago. Many types of work have moved from living in an office to working from home or on a hybrid schedule. Gamers spend their time playing games and sharing that gameplay with friends, family, and subscribers on services like Twitch. Even teachers have begun creating content for platforms like YouTube and Rumble showing off their skills. All of this requires a couple of things, but most importantly a solid-quality camera, and the new Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra is designed to improve all of these environments.

What is the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra?

The Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra is the latest entry in Razer’s line of high-end webcams. Don’t think of these as a standard webcam, however, as they are designed not just for use on Teams and Slack calls (though they certainly can be) but are also high enough quality to be used by content creators. This is because the whole line places a focus on video quality.

The Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra offers an adjustable resolution of up to 4K Ultra HD. While this is not the first 4K webcam, it separates itself from the crowd in several important ways. Most importantly, the camera is capable of producing not just a 4K video resolution, but it’s able to produce full uncompressed 4K video at 24 FPS. The uncompressed video is a benefit because it gives your streaming system the ability to process the video in the way that it needs without having a quality drop ahead of your software.

A virtual director included

If you’re looking for your camera to do a lot of the camera work for you, then the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra offers a collection of features to make your recording and streaming process easier. You can use the camera as a virtual director, with automated zoom, pan, tilt, shutter speed, ISO settings, and a whole lot more. These settings come to light using the company’s Razer Synapse software, which gives you fine-grained control over your camera or allows you to allow the camera to do the work for you.

Imagine if you will that you’re a solo content producer. You’ve got a big product that you want to stream a live unboxing for, but you’ve only got a single camera. Your choices are either to have a single shot that’s too wide to get good detail of the product during the unboxing, or you can crop yourself out to get detail of the product. With the settings within Synapse, you can have it both ways, and more. You can have the camera’s focus and viewport shift to keep you properly centered in the frame, and the system will recognize when you place the product in the foreground that it should become the focus instead of you. This makes it possible to stream the event live without having a production team to oversee your broadcast.

Summary

The Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra is available for pre-order now for $299. To learn more about the product or to pre-order one for yourself, head over to the company’s website.

Interview by Allante Sparks of PLuGHiTz Live Special Events.

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Pixelworks: 20-year leader in image processing innovation @ CES 2022



Pixelworks TrueCut Motion video perfectionFor content creators, one of the biggest issues can be ensuring that what the end consumer hears and sees is exactly what you intended. In theaters, this problem has been mostly remedied by creating industry standards that apply across theater chains and projector manufacturers. However, as more media has moved to home viewing, the experience changes significantly, depending on the hardware being used – particularly the television. This is exactly the problem that Pixelworks is looking to solve with TrueCut Motion.

Who is Pixelworks?

Pixelworks is a 20-year leader in image processing innovation, providing solutions and technology that enable highly authentic viewing experiences with superior visual quality. Their products are used by some of the biggest names in the consumer electronics, professional displays, and video streaming industries. The company is committed to delivering even more impressive image processing technologies in the years to come!

What is TrueCut Motion?

TrueCut Motion is Pixelworks’ new technology designed with the needs of content creators in mind. The goal is to ensure that motion picture quality and sound are delivered exactly as they were intended, regardless of which display or projector a viewer chooses to use. The company has created multiple levels of TrueCut Motion technology, allowing them to provide solutions for any budget or need.

As we move further into the era of streaming media, it’s more important than ever to have a technology provider that understands the challenges and intricacies of delivering high-quality content. Pixelworks is that company, and TrueCut Motion is their solution for ensuring an optimal viewing experience for everyone, regardless of their setup.

How does TrueCut Motion work?

TrueCut Motion technology has been developed over Pixelworks’ 20-year history and is an important part of their continued innovation. It works by manipulating pixels to adjust for perceived judder, which can make content feel choppy or unnatural when viewed on a television. The team has worked diligently to create algorithms that fully compensate for this, delivering a smooth and seamless picture.

The Pixelworks team has also worked on noise reduction, eliminating unwanted visual artifacts that could otherwise detract from the viewing experience. The company incorporates three different levels of noise reduction into TrueCut Motion technology – Ultra Precision, Precision, and High Efficiency – all depending on the budget or needs of their customer. They are the only company to offer this level of customization for noise reduction.

Pixelworks has big plans for TrueCut Motion and image processing in general. They want to continue developing technologies that will make it easier than ever for content creators to deliver an optimal viewing experience across all screens – from smartphones and tablets to large home theater displays. Pixelworks is also working on ensuring that their technology works with newer display formats like HDR, making it even more impressive and useful for content creators across all media!

TrueCut Motion and TCL

At CES this year, Pixelworks announced a new partnership with TCL – one of the world’s largest television manufacturers. This means that the TrueCut Motion technology will be integrated into select TCL televisions, delivering an even better viewing experience for consumers. With Pixelworks and TCL working together, we’re sure to see some impressive advancements in the near future!

Summary

If you want more information about Pixelworks, TrueCut Motion, or their partnership with TCL check out the Pixelworks website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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MGo Makes 4K Video Streaming a Reality at CES



Mgo logoIt seems like only yesterday we were crazy about our new high-definition TV’s. “We’ll never need anything better than this!” we proclaimed in pure satisfaction. But the times move on and so does the tech.

No doubt TPN followers are well aware of the arrival of 4K video. Marlo had a chat with Christophe Louvion, COO of MGO, a premium video-streaming service that specializes in 4K presentations. Louvion tells the story of how MGO was hoping to launch its 4K service at CES 2014, but they weren’t quite ready to go live. They did manage a successful launch later in the year, however, and MGO’s streaming capabilities have improved since.

Christophe also explains how MGO rebuilt the service after that failed launch, starting with the TV set and working back to the content provider.

Interview by Marlo Anderson from The Tech Ranch.

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Viotech Communications Creates New Way to Consume Content



Viotech Communications introduces eHome
Viotech Communications introduces eHome
At Eureka Park we saw a really cool product from Viotech Communications, which allows a user to access all of their content, from any device, from anywhere there is an Internet connection. The service, called my eHome, is a set-top box type of solution (the box is called “HomeB”), which lets you, as Viotech says, multi-play your home. Essentially, it’s one unique way to use multiple screens, with multiple types of content, from multiple services, with multiple users, from multiple locations. Viotech created eHome because they understood that each user who is in a household likes to view their own content in their own way, and there was no service that currently allowed each individual to do just that, as well as maintain control of their own content without letting others see their own personal files. That’s only the tip of the iceberg though, as there are a ton of different features and capabilities to make this suit practically anyone’s home and needs.

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Video by Scott Ertz of F5 Live.


Netgear: How Many Devices Are on Your Router?



Double the Count in One Year

Connected devices – tablets, streaming video, smartphones,thermostats – are growing rapidly, with the average home deploying over seven devices on a home router – almost doubling over the past year. Netgear announced eight new products, optimized to serve all of these devices. Products such as the Netgear N-900 Router give better range, and the ability to give priority to certain types of traffic, such as gaming or VoIP.

In the interview, we also discuss PowerLine Carrier as an alternative in the home. Netgear just announced a 500Mb/sec version, with a 1Gb system on the roadmap.

Interview by Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

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Shodogg: Fetch, Toss, Share Video



Stream Your Favorite Videos from Smartphone to Computer

It’s kind of like Apple’s Airplay, but with multiplatform support for Android, game consoles, internet connected TV’s, laptops, desktops and mobile devices. Shodogg is a video delivery platform that allows any smartphone the ability to send any streaming media content to any screen whether it’s a desktop, a tablet or an Internet enabled television.

 

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

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Wifi Compatible Sony Bloggie Live with Live Streaming from Qik



Sony Bloggie Live
Sony Bloggie Live

Monday, 9 am, Todd Cochrane and Jeffrey Powers head to Ceasar’s Palace and the Sony Lifestyle store to talk about the newest version of the Sony Bloggie – The Bloggie Live.

The Bloggie Live itself is an update of last years Bloggie Touch. With a big touchpanel and 1080p video (at 30fps), you can do video and stills on the camera with the 12 MP still image capture and 1080p /30 and 720p/60i. You can also do video and stills at the same time (but not while streaming).

“We keep the Bloggie very simple and easy to use,” says Amy. “The large red button remains, your power button and photo button are the other two. It is fully PC and Mac compatible.”

The fun comes in after you shoot. You can live stream into Qik (which needs to be set up ahead of time). People on Qik can send messages – you cannot respond, but you can see that information on the screen.

Play Memories Mobile Lets You Tether Your Bloggie

With a cellular signal, download the Play Memories Mobile (for iPhone or Android) and you can use your phone as a hot spot for your photos or video.

The Bloggie Live is available on January 10th for $249

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