NewTek Goes Full 4K with the IP-Based TriCaster TC1 Live Production System

Today the NewTek team revealed a two rack-unit (2RU), the TC1 (下面的图1), that resets the TriCaster line with four physical HD-SDI 3G inputs that support acquisition resolutions up to 4Kp60.

图1. TriCaster TC1. 单击图像以查看其全尺寸.

将水, NewTek的产品营销总监, joined NewTek CTO and President Andrew Cross to discuss the industry workflows that the TC1 helps enable. “People are no longer just producing a show to go to one place,克罗斯说。. “For producers to be able to produce content that goes to many platforms is critical.”

流媒体功能

流媒体是新TC1的关键组件. The company notes that users can “stream directly to Facebook Live, YouTube生活, 微软Azure, 潜望镜, 抽搐, 以及其他流媒体网站.”

除了, 查看记录在TC1上的内容, the unit allows producers to “deliver video clips directly to social media sites right from the TriCaster TC1 interface… One of our goals with the TC1 is to produce content that can go to multiple platforms simultaneously,克罗斯说。.

“当我们创造新产品时, we absolutely need to embrace tried-and-true production techniques,克罗斯补充道, acknowledging that five decades of workflow techniques can’t just be jettisoned because of the advent of IP. Cross noted that the new tools are designed to work for producers, rather than requiring producers to learn a new workflow.

Skype功能

也就是说, Cross also noted that the company’s TalkShow technology, 基于Skype的商业和Skype TX, makes it easier to bring on-air talent from multiple locations that traditionally may have been hard to reach.

The company’s press release notes that “any one of the TriCaster TC1’s 16 external inputs can be designated for live, 广播质量的Skype视频通话, giving producers the capability to reach any one of the 300 million monthly active users of Skype and deliver a pristine HD video call with balanced audio.”

To accomplish this requires a call-control feature that runs on an “external laptop or workstation running the Skype TX controller application” to configure and monitor calls externally to the traditional TriCaster workflow.

“Without impacting the TriCaster TC1 operator’s workflow, other active call channels from NewTek TalkShow systems can be managed from the controller for additional call capacity and streamlined management,新闻稿称.

输入

在物理接口方面, 新的TC1提供了四个3G HD-SDI BNC连接器, 提供全高清(1080p)和4K支持.

“我们增加了输入数量，实现了全4K,克罗斯说。, adding that NewTek “did not want to go to full 4K until we could go to p60” which allows 60 frames per second (FPS) needed for fast-action content such as sports.

该公司的新闻稿有点令人困惑, 因为它称这个装置为16输入的滴录机, and noting that the “TC1 supports 16 external inputs of up to 4K UHD 60p resolution without sacrificing functionality.然而，物理背板(下面的图2)清楚地显示只有四个HD-SDI输入.

图2. TC1背板. 单击图像以查看其全尺寸.

So if only four are 4K-enabled, where are the other 12 inputs? They’re virtual inputs, connected across the dual Gigabit ether网 ports. 用NewTek的术语来说, external inputs aren’t actually external to the TC1—unless IP-based inputs count as external inputs, since they connect to remote cameras—since the TC1 makes extensive use of the NewTek NDI transport technology.

有利的一面, 虽然, NDI is an interface the TC1 can use to connect to cell phones, 平移-倾斜-变焦(PTZ)生产相机, 甚至是基于ip的监控或安全摄像头.

“当我们两年前推出NDI时, 很明显，未来将是基于IP的,克罗斯说。.

“相机正变得越来越便宜,克罗斯说。, adding that cell phones make the number of cameras much more prevalent.

“We’ve spent a lot of time make it more easy to access all these cameras,克罗斯说。.

定价

2RU版售价14美元,995美元, al虽然 the company provides a bulkier 3RU unit with redundant power supplied for an additional $5,000. It’s unclear if the additional $5,000 bump offers anything more than power redundancy.

除了, 因为TC1是TriCaster系列的新产品, the company is offering two different control panels—the TC1LP at $11,995和TC1SP控制面板定价为6美元,995—to accomplish a variety of different tactile workflow shortcuts.