NewTek’s revolutionary new 4K TriCaster
By Jim Bask
So here it is: the new TriCaster TC1. It supports full functionality with 4K, and eschews physical connections for video over IP. (SDI baseband video is fullly supported too, but this too is done unconventionally!)
All of the usual TriCaster goodness is in there. This is a full live production platform. None of the familiar TriCaster cleverness has been thrown away. But it’s more scaleable than ever.
An entire ecosystem
To understand the new TriCaster, you need to grasp the distinction between traditional video interconnects – SDI, in other words – and IP video. With video over IP, the video signal is moved around using network instead of video protocols. This means that live production quality video can be transported over “traditional” IT networks, without the need for dedicated video connections. Virtually all of the advantages of networks then become available to live video.
But you can’t simply plug an SDI cable into a network connector. A lot has to happen first. And it is here that NewTek has made some very significant advances. While other companies are locked in seemingly endless discussions about interconnectivity, codecs, standards and ownership, NewTek has taken an alternative route with NDI, its system for working with video over a network.
NewTek has invented an entire end-to-end Video over IP ecosystem, and it’s available to anyone to use. It’s “open” but not “Open Source”. NDI includes a fast, high quality and very low latency codec that compresses incoming video to make the best use of available networks.