Matrox Monarch EDGE enables Vizrt to deliver low-latency, strikingly realistic virtual int\erviews

The Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder pair alongside Vizrt’s software-defined visual storytelling tools for broadcasters allowed Vizrt to ‘teleport’ resident experts Chris Black, Vizrt’s Norway-based Head of Brand and Content Team, and Gerhard Lang, Vizrt’s Austria-based Chief Technology Officer into a virtual studio in Vomp, Austria – along with guest experts from anywhere in the world. With the ability to seamlessly execute both remote and cloud-based productions during different episodes, the Monarch EDGE has become Vizrt’s go-to broadcast-quality encoding and decoding appliances for delivering low-latency, strikingly-realistic virtual interviews.

Matrox Monarch EDGE coupled with Vizrt digital storytelling tools give Vizrt the ability to teleport guests to the studio

No travel? No problem.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, what began as a means of internal communication to unite and inspire more than 700 Vizrt employees in 30 offices around the world quickly became VizrTV: an external platform focused on issues currently impacting the broadcast industry while demonstrating how Vizrt’s broadcasting tools can help solve them in real-time. While broadcasters around the world were unable to return to their broadcast studios and forced to report the news from their own homes, Vizrt’s in-house and guest experts found themselves in the exact same predicament.

To show the world how Vizrt’s software-defined tools can help broadcasters create a more realistic live reporting experience for their viewers, Lang did not want to simply talk about the tools. Instead, he wanted to demonstrate their capabilities during live interviews. “We wanted to create a talk show format that looks natural and resembles what viewers are accustomed to seeing on TV,” said Lang. “Zoom-style interviews may become the norm, but with our technology, we can do better. We wanted to inspire our customers by showing them what is possible. How do you bring two storytellers together in one place? This is the question we were trying to answer when we decided to use the Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder devices. The 4:2:2 10-bit video that the Monarch EDGE provides was critical to allow us to achieve the quality of keying we needed to make the production truly convincing.”

The Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder pair met all of Vizrt’s requirements for a high-performance solution that would allow them to create the image of multiple individuals having a seamless interview in one location despite their physical distance from one another. Vizrt’s ‘location’ for VizrTV is a virtual studio, exquisitely rendered by Vizrt’s Viz Engine 4.1 compositing, real-time 3D rendering, and video playout platform. An essential tool to realizing this illusion is the Monarch EDGE, which is able to deliver 4:2:2 10-bit H.264 streams that translate to flawless green screen compositions. Furthermore, SRT support on the Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder pair allows for ultra-low-latency video transport over public Internet – and ultimately – a smooth and realistic viewing experience for those watching the VizrTV live stream.

Bringing Storytellers Together

For VizrTV episodes featuring a one-on-one dialogue between Black and Lang, cameras capturing each individual are stationed in separate studios in Bergen, Norway and Vomp, Austria, respectively. During these productions, the Monarch EDGE encoder was housed in the Norway studio, while the Monarch EDGE decoder was located in the Austria studio. SDI cameras send HD video along with embedded audio to the Monarch EDGE encoder – which encoded at 6 Mbps and streamed in SRT – with delivery latencies that allow for a natural flow of conversation. The Monarch EDGE decoder received the stream, then output an HD-SDI feed with audio to the Viz Engine 4.1 system housed in the Austria studio.

A second SDI camera in studio sends SDI video with embedded audio to the same Viz Engine 4.1 system, which generates the final composition for delivery to a Viz Vectar switching system. This system provides cuts between clips and live and encoded program delivery to Vimeo, Facebook Live, and LinkedIn, as well as proxy feedback to Black for program monitoring on his laptop. Although the Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder pair does have an independent, bi-directional analog audio circuit available to users, Black and Lang opted to use Microsoft^® Teams for their real-time audio communications during these broadcasts.

Productions involving three participants follow a similar setup with an encoder required at each remote location. A single Monarch EDGE decoder and take up to four streams. In an example of a three-participant VizrTV production, Dr. Andrew Cross, President of Global Research and Development for the Vizrt Group, appeared on screen while being filmed in San Antonio, United States, alongside Lang and Black. The Monarch EDGE encoder was used to capture and encode the feed captured by the camera in the U.S. studio and transport it to the Monarch EDGE decoder in Austria. There, the device was also used to decode feeds coming from the other Monarch EDGE encoder in Norway. The end result was three individuals appearing side-by-side-by-side in a realistic virtual studio environment rendered by the Viz Engine 4.1. Despite participants being located in three separate cities across the globe, VizrTV was able to deliver a realistic live interview.

Matrox Monarch EDGE delivers 4:2:2 10-bit H.264 streams that translate to flawless greenscreen compositions

The Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder pair’s ability to encode multiple 4:2:2 10-bit video feeds and transport them using SRT over public Internet with ultra-low latency has made it easy for Vizrt to create a realistic virtualstudio setting for VizrTV, in which multiple individuals can come together from separate locations and in real time. “We wanted the end result to be a seamless viewing experience for the people watching,” said Lang. “We didn’t want the viewers to say, ‘Wow, this is great technology.’ Instead, we wanted seamless interaction with the video so viewers can focus on the story. We could not have accomplished that without the Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder.”

Lang noted that Vizrt plans to leverage the Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder for its upcoming VizrTV productions. “We are looking forward to being able to use the Monarch EDGE devices alongside our own solutions in future VizrTV episodes and more,” he said. “We are eager to see what else we can accomplish with this dynamic combination.”

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Part of the Vans US Open of Surfing held from July 27 until August 4 in Huntington Beach, California, the Vans Showdown featured some of the best-of-the-best skaters competing at one of the biggest skateboarding events of the year. Meanwhile, during the competition, fans used their smart devices and desktops to head to the Vans US Open of Surfing’s official website and watch the B Live interactive user interface’s live streams of the action at the skate park.

Giving viewers total control

In order to give fans a seamless viewing experience, New York City-based live event production company, B Live needed an encoder that could accept four discrete SDI inputs and deliver a stream as a single quad-split composition. Before B Live purchased its Monarch EDGE encoder, its user interface did not allow viewers to watch multi-camera video with continuity. Instead, the player would need to buffer each new camera angle selected by the user before the video would become available for viewing.

“Before we got the Monarch EDGE, we were doing things ‘the old way,’”said Jay Kopelman, Director of Digital Engineering for B Live. “That is to say, every time the viewer switches camera angles, it loads a new independent stream. Because we can now do quad-HD streams with Monarch EDGE, it has enabled us to feed a single 4K stream into the player. That is why it seamlessly switches on the B Live interface.”

During the competition, viewers could watch live feeds of their favorite skaters by visiting the Vans US Open of Surfing official website. The B Live user interface gave fans the chance to feel as if they were on their own decks alongside their favorite skaters at the Vans Showdown by allowing them to select from and switch between three different isolated camera angles of the athletes or the director’s cut – all thanks to the robust and dynamic H.264 encoding capabilities of Monarch EDGE.

Monarch EDGE Carves Up Live Webcasts

B Live’s camera crew captured each competing skater separately. Four 1080p30 video streams, including three isolated views of skaters and one director’s cut produced on-site by a different team, were sent back to the B Live office. There, Monarch EDGE received the three isolated feeds and director’s cut, and encoded these feeds into a single 4K, 20-Mbps stream that was then sent to the B Live platform. On the B Live user interface embedded in the Vans Open of Surfing official website, fans were able to easily decide which skater they wanted to view from the three isolated feeds available in addition to the director’s cut – all from their smart devices or desktops.

The ultimate no-fail, no-bail encoder

With Monarch EDGE’s ability to encode four 1080p30 video feeds together into one 4K stream has made B Live’s work of bringing best-in-class, live, multi-camera event footage to viewers around the world more feasible than ever. During the Vans Showdown, viewers of B Live’s interactive user interface enjoyed seamless switching between views of their favorite skaters without all the buffering required from outdated methods of displaying multi-camera content. Thanks to Monarch EDGE, fans saw every ollie, kick flip, and more from this year’s elite competition without missing a beat.

Kopelman said that B Live is also looking forward to leveraging Monarch EDGE’s upcoming closed captioning support capabilities in addition to continuing to use the device for live events with demanding quad-stream requirements. “One thing I haven’t seen on anything except Monarch EDGE is the 4:2:2 10-bit encoding. It is a hardened platform,” he said. “You know it’s going to keep working.”

Finalists at the Vans Showdown women’s competition, encoded with Matrox Monarch EDGE

Matrox Monarch EDGE will be in action at ISE 2020 (booth 11-D120) and NAB 2020 (SL 5616).

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Webcasting Workflows

Monarch EDGE features a robust and dynamic H.264 encoding engine that enables users to generate over 16 streams simultaneously to target top online video platforms (OVPs) including YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, IBM Cloud Video, and LinkedIn—for unprecedented reach and exposure. Delivering an experience beyond that offered by traditional linear programming, Monarch EDGE can capitalize on the latest in live-event-webcasting innovations—such as high-frame-rate (HFR) 4K, 4K 360 VR, and multi-camera selection—to allow video professionals to stream compelling live content to laptops/desktops, smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.

REMI Worklows

Monarch EDGE allows broadcasters to produce live, multi-camera events with increased operational efficiency, while minimizing on-site expenses by keeping talent and/or production crew in-studio. The compact, low-latency, low-power REMI encoder delivers up to four synchronized, secure camera feeds from the field over IP to a centralized, in-house or cloud-based production system to produce high-quality live programming. With remote production, fewer production staff and equipment are required in the field, lowering travel expenses and logistical costs.

High Density Contribution Workflows

The contribution- or mezzanine-level encoding capabilities of Monarch EDGE provide broadcasters with a means to add additional or complementary backhaul feeds, or redundant contribution channels to their primary feeds. This small-footprint, low-power appliance delivers four channels of 4:2:2 10-bit, broadcast-quality streams. Monarch EDGE also has enough encoding horsepower to generate simultaneous low-bitrate 4:2:0 proxy streams for each input, which can be monitored by any device on the network.

Monarch EDGE Control Hub Software

The powerful Matrox Monarch EDGE Control Hub application provides remote-control management and configuration of all network-connected encoders from a central location. This powerful software provides authorized users with high-level views of all devices, and enables full access and control from a single, easy-to-use interface.

“Giving broadcasters and live-event producers the ability to create more immersive live content, along with deploying workflows that minimize on-site personnel and equipment costs, is why we developed Monarch EDGE,” says Alberto Cieri, senior director of sales and marketing, Matrox Video. “Thanks to Monarch EDGE’s high-frame-rate encoding capabilities, video professionals can deliver pristine 4K/multi-HD content more efficiently than ever, and their viewers can get the most out of interactive, multi-camera experiences being popularized by the mainstream online video platforms.”

Availability

The Matrox Monarch EDGE 4K/multi-HD encoder 8-bit (part number: MDG4/E18/I) and 10-bit (part number: MDG4/E10/I) models are now available through Matrox’s worldwide network of authorized resellers.

Priced at just $7,495 the Monarch EDGE 4:2:0 8-bit encoder model is ideal for webcasting and over-the-top (OTT) delivery, while the Monarch EDGE 4:2:2 10-bit encoder version at $9,995 is tailor-made for REMI workflows.

Monarch EDGE is already a highly-decorated addition to Matrox’s distinguished lineup of encoding appliances. At NAB 2019, Monarch EDGE was honored with Product of the Year in the “Remote Production” category, and Best of Show presented by Video Edge. Monarch EDGE has also been trialed and selected by some of England’s top-tier association football and rugby teams as an integral part of their in-match video playback solutions.

At InfoComm 2019, technical marketing manager Daniel Maloney displayed Matrox’s newest 4:2:0 8 bit encoder for 4Kp60 or multi angle webcasting applications. This encoder can also be used for 4:2:2 10 bit broadcasting applications. Monarch EDGE made a lasting impression, walking away with the Best of Show for Sound & Video Contractor.

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Football is the most-watched sport in the world, with global viewership for the 2018 World Cup final having reached a record-breaking 1.12 billion people, according to FIFA.com. For football fans, the sport is in their blood, and tuning in for match day is as essential as oxygen.

What fans are not always aware of is exactly what goes into their favorite teams’ preparation. Few might guess that sports video technologies play a key role in training regimens. One powerful combination, Matrox Monarch EDGE and SBG Focus, provides best-in-class video quality and highly-interactive performance. Click here for full article.

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Football is the most-watched sport in the world, with global viewership for the 2018 World Cup final having reached a record-breaking 1.12 billion people, according to FIFA.com. For football fans, the sport is in their blood, and tuning in for match day is as essential as oxygen.

What fans are not always aware of is exactly what goes into their favorite teams’ preparation. Few might guess that sports video technologies play a key role in training regimens. One powerful combination, Matrox Monarch EDGE and SBG Focus, provides best-in-class video quality and highly-interactive performance.

Check out the full article HERE

Learn more about Matrox HERE