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

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The essential encoder and decoder for REMI workflows, Monarch EDGE enables live event producers with best-in-class video delivery at the lowest latency for broadcast-quality productions

MONTREAL, Quebec — July 28, 2020 — Matrox® is pleased to announce the availability of the much-anticipated Matrox Monarch EDGE 4K/multi-HD encoder and decoder offering for next-level remote production (REMI) workflows.

The essential platform for REMI and at-home productions, the cutting-edge Monarch EDGE technology delivers exceptional quality, low-latency 4:2:2 10-bit video at resolutions up to 3840x2160p60 or quad 1920x1080p60 over a standard one Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) network. Monarch EDGE includes next-generation connectivity—including 12G-SDI and SMPTE ST 2110 over 25 GbE connections—while supporting the popular MPEG-2, RTSP, and SRT streaming protocols. Equipped with tally signaling and talkback functionality for two-way communication between on-site and in-studio personnel, Monarch EDGE allows live event producers to optimize resources by keeping more staff and equipment in-house while providing uncompromised, broadcast-grade viewing experiences.

Big productions, minimal resources

Monarch EDGE extends the production studio by transporting up to four synchronized HD-/3G-SDI camera feeds or a single 12G-SDI signal—in both native progressive and interlaced video formats—with glass-to-glass latencies as low as 100 ms. As a result, these portable-yet-powerful appliances help broadcasters minimize the number of production staff and resources required in the field, making live, multi-camera event productions more efficient and highly affordable. For events with higher-density camera requirements, the Monarch EDGE’s compact design ensures that two units fit into a single 1RU rack space to easily meet the needs of any-sized production. Event producers can select between two encoder options: the 4:2:0 8-bit H.264 encoder version for programs destined for web or over-the-top (OTT) delivery, or the 4:2:2 10-bit H.264 encoder model for demanding, broadcast-quality productions.

“The broadcast industry has seen an increased demand for a wider range of both mainstream and niche content, and the Monarch EDGE platform provides broadcasters and live event producers with an efficient means to deliver more diversified, high-quality programming,” said Alberto Cieri, senior director of sales and marketing, Matrox Video. “With Monarch EDGE enabling users to centralize many productions, resources can be redistributed to offer more multi-camera events featuring new, never-before-seen camera angles for more immersive and engaging viewing experiences. Monarch EDGE provides a tremendous amount of remote production flexibility, whether it’s for sports, concerts, entertainment events, and more.”

Matrox shows off the key features of the Matrox Monarch EDGE encoder and decoder for remote production

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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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“We are looking forward to learning from and contributing to the community at SVG and working together to drive the future of sports-video technology,” says Alberto Cieri, senior director, sales and marketing, Matrox Video.

The Matrox Monarch family of products have become a staple for the company. The Matrox Monarch EDGE 4K UHD/multi-HD powers some of the most engaging sports-video workflows. Monarch EDGE delivers resolutions up to 3840x2160p60 or quad 1920x1080p60 — n 4:2:0 8-bit or 4:2:2 10-bit video — while offering flexible 3G/12G-SDI and SMPTE ST 2110 25 GbE connectivity with multi-protocol streaming options. The Matrox Monarch HDX is a simple and versatile dual-channel H.264 video-encoding appliance with SDI and HDMI inputs that is specifically designed for broadcasters and webcasters who need a flexible solution powerful enough to take on today’s demanding webcasting and recording workflows.

“With our latest generation of encoding products,” Cieri says, “we are not only trying to broaden the reach of the workflows we have traditionally enabled but are now also creating new tools in order to lower the cost of high-quality sporting-event production.”

The Monarch family also simplifies efficient production of live web streams. The Matrox Monarch LCS video-encoding appliance makes live webcasting simple, delivering high-quality streams to Facebook Live, YouTube, or a favorite online video platform (OVP) with multicamera production values, without operator assistance. Monarch LCS supports productions with two HDMI video sources or with one SDI and one HDMI video source. The Matrox Monarch HD is a small, easy-to-use video-streaming and -recording appliance designed for professional video producers to stream a live event from any HDMI input source while recording a higher, master-quality version for post-event editing or archiving.

Recently, Matrox has been involved with numerous universities and international sports entities, including the Universidad La Salle, FIBA’s AEK Basketball Club, and the University of Dallas.

Says Cieri, “We are committed to remaining at the forefront of industry developments by powering new video innovations, like multi-angle and 4K UHD high-frame-rate webcasting and remote production, that allow sports-rights owners to deliver new and immersive viewing experiences while also making it affordable enough to cover more events with smaller staff.”

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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

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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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CI: The way people are using social media broadcasting seems to be evolving, how is the Matrox Monarch HDX helping this growing trend?
FS: Social media has evolved. We’re seeing organizations like churches, corporations and educational institutes using social media to communicate to their intended audiences.

Now, let’s dive into the broadcast side. Live video broadcast has always been a way to distribute live content [such as] sports, sermons to a very specific audience. Traditionally, these audiences had to tune in and go to a channel and find that live broadcast.

Now, with the ability to live stream a webcast or anything to the Internet, we’re at the point where we can combine these two concepts and make it a lot more convenient for audiences to find and experience the events they want.

If we can make it so these live events are already at the social media platform that the audiences are using on a daily basis — Facebook, YouTube, Twitter — that’s where social media broadcast is born, and becomes the most effective way to communicate to the audiences.

So here at Matrox, we believe that the content creators’ audiences use different platforms to get their information — whether it be personal or not — even if they belong to the same organization.

By embracing this diversity and understanding that social media preferences exist, we designed a unit, the Monarch HDX, that is able to cast one live event to different platforms simultaneously. Our customers are saying that, with the Monarch HDX being able to [do that], they’ve seen their viewership skyrocket.

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