Elaine Poppell,  Senior Broadcast Engineering Technologist at UNF turned to Matrox when she had to design a distance learning classroom. After coming across a YouTube video featuring the Matrox Monarch HD she knew she had to have it. “I looked at everything available at the time, but it was the Monarch HD that stood out above the rest” she said.

UNF’s distance learning classrooms are equipped with PTZ cameras, broadcast equipment, and lecture capture software and hardware, including the Monarch HD. When recording distance learning classes, they use two or three SDI cameras around the lecture hall. The camera captures video and audio which is sent to a switcher and mixer. Those feeds are then sent to the Monarch HD encoder. The files are then uploaded to the UNF learning management system and the lecture is all ready to go. Students can then access the lecture at their own convenience.

For bigger productions, such as a graduation ceremony more SDI cameras are used to cover views of the audience, stage, speakers, and more. The video fed to Monarch HD is streamed at 720x480p and at 1,200 Mbps – using RTMP – to Discover Video’s Arcas video distribution platform, where students’ friends and family can tune in to watch the live stream of the ceremony.

The Matrox Monarch HD has been a staple at UNF and has provided high-quality lecture capture and helped s stream its commencement ceremonies in real time. Poppell say’s it’s her go-to streaming and recording appliance.

Even at lower resolutions, the videos recorded with the Monarch HD are amazing. The Monarch HD makes every production smooth. I know I can count on Matrox every time!”

Elaine Poppell

Check out the full Case Study here!

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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).

Check out the full article HERE

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Ben lives with the family of his best friend in the capital city of Lusaka in Zambia. Both of the boys are strong, healthy, and now completing their last few years of high school with formidable marks. When they are not studying, they take their talents to the soccer field. On the surface, Ben probably seems like a child you know, but his success today is nothing short of extraordinary, perhaps even a miracle, brought about by the passion and dedication of Capital Christian Ministries International (CCMI).

Building an International Ministry Through Video

Using a Matrox® Monarch HD encoder, CCMI has been able to live stream online, spreading its reach far and wide, and gather the necessary tools, human power, and financial resources to give more children like Ben a future to look forward to. “Using the Monarch HD to do live streaming from these remote sites, we’re able to take a message that, two or three years ago, would have been trapped inside a building,” said Randall Rike, Director of Technical and Media USA for CCMI. “With live streaming, we’re literally worldwide and anyone with internet can get on and see it.”

Ben was orphaned shortly after being born, with neither his mother nor his two triplet siblings surviving childbirth. As one of the thousands of orphans of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Ben was sent to a transition home, where he would await adoption for the first five years of his life. With the resources available at CCMI, including the help from parishioners in different specializations, Ben was able to receive the medical care, education, and emotional support he needed to make the full transition into his new life. “He’s very intelligent and we’re looking forward to seeing him go on and do much more,” said Bishop George Mbulo, President and Senior Pastor at CCMI.”

Showing the World CCMI’s Local Impact

Making a positive impact is at the core of Mbulo’s work. In order to bring about change, he and CCMI use video technologies, like Monarch HD, to send live streams of CCMI church services from all four of its campuses, international conferences, and speaker series to Facebook so that the rest of the world can join in. “Social media has become kind of a social event in Zambia,” said Rike. Oftentimes, groups of individuals will gather around their smartphones to watch videos on social media, including CCMI live streams.

For CCMI, live streaming was not always part of the media strategy, but when it came time to begin live streaming the organization’s message, choosing a streaming and recording appliance was a no-brainer. Despite some skepticism about streaming technologies, particularly regarding expensive price points and complicated hardware setups, Rike decided to give Monarch HD a chance. “When I saw this tiny box, it resolved everything, and moreover, I was blown away,” said Rike. “I knew that many ministries were live streaming, and I knew that CCMI needed to get involved sooner rather than later, and seeing Monarch HD made me realize this was now a very real possibility. I personally purchased Monarch HD for CCMI. The price point was well within my budget for these types of projects, and easy-to-use is an understatement.”

Reliable and Robust On-The-Go Live Streaming

When producing live streams from the different venues, the CCMI media and technical team packs a road case filled with cables, converters, adapters, and Monarch HD so that it can connect to any type of equipment a venue may have. The team finds that using Monarch HD is not only effortless, but also enjoyable. “When I shipped this to my team in Zambia, they discovered how cool and easy-to-use it was,” said Rike.

Once on site, the team captures services and events using cameras, which are connected to a video switcher. The video switcher then sends feeds to Monarch HD via HDMI. Because internet connectivity can prove to be unpredictable at different venues, the team has gotten creative with its means of finding internet to support its live streams. Some venues, such as the Mulungushi Conference Centre, have a high-bandwidth internet connection. Most other facilities do not have high enough internet bandwidth, and therefore require the team to subscribe to a local Zambian phone company. The phone company provides 3G/4G-capable routers, and the team purchases a reloadable, pre-paid SIM card. The team can then connect its routers to the Ethernet of the host venue. “We are building a new sanctuary and soon it will be our own, so we’ll have more control over the internet,” said Rike. “Right now, we’re using rented facilities, and because of that, we’re at the mercy of whatever their internet is like.”

When internet bandwidth is sufficient, the CCMI team connects the HDMI video source to Monarch HD, and sets the device to stream 3 Mbps video to Facebook at 720p and at 30 fps. In cases when bandwidth is insufficient, the team sets Monarch HD to stream 1 Mbps video at 360p and at 30 fps. This lower format allows CCMI to ensure live streams are sent no matter the quality of the internet connection. The team also often uses both Monarch HD’s SD and USB ports on separate occasions to record copies for director’s cuts during live productions. Thanks to independent streaming and recording settings, Monarch HD can record at the highest possible resolution and quality regardless of streaming bitrate. While using an SD card is ideal for the team, they find that having the USB option has come in handy on multiple occasions. “Having both options is great and ideal,” said Chikombe Chela, Media and Technical Supervisor for CCMI.

Monarch HD’s future with CCMI

Monarch HD has secured a permanent role at CCMI. The device’s ease of use, small form factor, and the Matrox brand it comes from – according to Rike – make it an indispensable tool in helping CCMI bring leadership training, Christian teaching, and stories of hope to audiences across the globe. “As a long time Matrox customer, I knew that the product would work as advertised, but more importantly, Matrox support would ensure complete customer satisfaction,” he said.

About Monarch HD

Matrox Monarch HD takes an HDMI input from a source such as a camera and generates an encoded stream compliant with IP protocols (RTSP or RTMP). While encoding the video at bitrates suitable for live streaming, it can simultaneously record a high-quality file (MP4 or MOV) to an SD card, a USB drive, or a network-mapped drive.

Check out the article from Matrox HERE

Learn more about Matrox HERE

Solution
Bell, had been visiting Matrox at InfoComm for many years, and already knew Monarch encoders supported Crestron’s control module. “As a certified Crestron Integrator, I was already interested in Monarch HD due to its Crestron control module. Wowza then recommended Monarch encoders as compatible hardware. After that, the choice was simple!” recalls Bell.

Live webcasts give students commuting between campuses and remote students the ability to tune in from home, or even watch from their phone while on the go. The Pit is equipped with an HD camera that is set up to get an overall shot of the audience and performers. The camera feeds directly to a Crestron DM matrix switcher that connects to the Monarch appliance via HDMI. There are two different types of audio; the presentation’s audio is captured from a mic, and the applause and questions from the audience are captured from an ambient mic. “For a well-rounded experience, we take the submix output of the audio sources into the Monarch HD, resulting in a very similar experience to being there in person,” explains Campos.

Monarch HD sends RTMP streams at 1080p at 10 mbps directly to Wowza Cloud. Wowza then automatically connects, transcodes, and pushes webcasts simultaneously to Facebook Live, and a designated page on the school’s website where viewers can tune in and watch.

Full HD recordings are saved locally to an SD card as H.264 MP4 video files, and are mostly used for archiving purposes at FIU. Alternatively, recordings can also be stored on local USB drives or network-mapped drives. Monarch HD provides the ability to create split files while recording; particularly useful when recording for extended periods of time, if storage capacity is reached, or something happens to the power, the event is saved up until either of those possibilities occur. Monarch HD’s ability to stream and record simultaneously in two independent processes, gives operators the choice to record at a higher bitrate than what is being streamed.

For larger events, the school creates highlight reels which are then posted to the Graham Center’s Facebook page. The Diwali Dance Festival, one of the most important holidays of the year for Hindus, received more than 8,000 views within the first two days of being published on Facebook.

Results
Campos is more than pleased with Monarch HD’s performance in the Pit, and has since purchased several Monarch HDX dual-channel H.264 encoder appliances, capable of streaming to Facebook Live and YouTube directly. Both Monarch HD and Monarch HDX are now in various classrooms across campus.

FIU and A.R.T. plan to further expand by building a giant matrix for the entire campus. This will give the events team the ability to stream presentations, lectures, and events to overflow rooms and classrooms across campus, expanding audience reach, and improving school spirit.

Click here to read the full article on Matrox

By simply copying a unique Facebook or YouTube access token from the Monarch’s powerful Command Centre control software and pasting it into their respective Facebook or YouTube account(s), users can now stream directly to their followers with the click of a mouse or push of a button.

“Matrox has been making enormous contributions to streaming and recording since the launch of the Monarch family four years ago,” said Francesco Scartozzi, Matrox Video’s Director of Sales (Americas). “In the meantime, live video over social platforms has shown itself to be a powerful medium. With this significant update to our professional encoders, users can stream their content quickly and easily to the social network of their choice.”

Availability

The latest Monarch HD and Monarch HDX firmware—with Facebook Live and YouTube Live integration—is now available to registered users as a free download from the Matrox website.

Monarch HD: Download Here

Monarch HDX: Download Here

About Monarch HD

At $995 the Monarch HD is ideal for simple installations where only a single HDMI feed needs to be webcast to Facebook Live or YouTube Live, while simultaneously recording a master-quality version for post event editing. Matrox Monarch HD takes an HDMI input from a source such as a camera and generates an encoded stream compliant with IP protocols (RTSP or RTMP). While encoding the video at bitrates suitable for live streaming, it can simultaneously record a high-quality file (MP4 or MOV) to an SD card, a USB drive, or a network-mapped drive.

About Monarch HDX

Matrox Monarch HDX is a versatile dual-channel encoder designed for today’s most demanding video delivery workflows. At $1995 USD, the Monarch HDX is ideal for use in broadcast or wherever a SDI or HDMI source needs to be sent to Facebook Live or YouTube Live, while simultaneously recording or streaming to a second location. Able to retrieve closed-captioning data from the SDI VANC, the Monarch HDX’s caption-enhanced H.264 media can be streamed to video hosting platforms such as Ustream®, media servers such as Wowza™, or a variety of content delivery networks (CDNs). MOV/MP4 files recorded with Monarch HDX preserve captions, which can be included in video on demand (VOD) or archiving workflows.

Click here for more information on all of our Matrox Monarch streaming products.

H.264 encoder offers transparency and convenience to every citizen

Ever wondered if it’s ok to feed the squirrels that come out foraging after hibernation? Or use pesticides on the lawn? The City of Orem, Utah communicates its stand on such common and not so common issues through periodic council meetings and by-laws. Feeding wild animals, watering regulations, parking vehicles on the streets overnight, building permits, fencing restrictions, bringing pets to events, budgets and voting results; these are merely a few of the topics to which the City of Orem residents seek answers. The onus being on the residents to be aware of changing rules and by-laws, the city sought to find newer, better ways of communicating information to them.

Before webcasting came into the picture, the residents needed to be physically present at council meetings to know and understand the outcomes. Now, they get the same information from the comfort of their homes. When the meeting timing is not convenient, residents are able to view the video on demand (VOD) version at their own leisure. Furthermore, live streams and VOD of internal committee meetings have brought greater transparency to the public.

Steaming and recording are driven by the Matrox Monarch HD H.264 encoding appliance together with a real-time meeting manager application by Prime Government Solutions (PrimeGov), a world leader in legislative management software solutions. Monarch HD is used for live streaming videos of the council meetings and simultaneously recording them for later VOD use. PrimeGov lets the public search for an item of particular interest from the meeting agenda and view related video snippets. In addition, the application is also used to manage meeting minutes noted by the clerk, staff records, automated agendas, internal committee approvals and votes.

Workflow

At the council chambers in Orem, cameras capture and send HDMI feeds to the onsite Monarch HD device, which outputs RTMP streams compatible with many popular CDNs including YouTube and Ustream for video streaming over the internet. With the City of Orem benefitting from access to publically owned fibre network, the streaming is set at a higher than average bit rate of 12 Mbps with 720p resolution. Monarch HD is also set to record the meeting simultaneously to a USB drive with the same bit rate and resolution. In future, they propose to go for full 1080p resolution Blu-ray quality recording. With Monarch HD, the recording bit rate can be set even higher, independent from the streaming bit rate, with the combined bit rate as high as 30 Mbps. [Continue Reading…]