ViewCast’s Niagara 4100 Takes Streaming On the Go

ViewCast has unveiled the Niagara 4100, the next evolution in ViewCast’s portfolio of portable, high-performance streaming media appliances.  Compact for on-the-go mobility, the Niagara 4100 enables the ingest and transformation of high-definition (HD) video for delivery to the web, from anywhere.

“Once the exclusive domain of professional studios and broadcasters, high-definition programming is now within reach for any organization with the desire to capture and stream live action wherever it happens,” says ViewCast President and CEO Dave Stoner. “With the Niagara 4100, we’ve synthesized our best-in-class streaming capabilities and rich system design expertise to elevate the state-of-the-art for on-location streaming. Portable, pro-caliber streaming has never been more accessible, more cost-effective, or more intuitive.”

The Niagara 4100 is suited for live sports, news, and event coverage, webcasting, or other streaming applications that requires mobile flexibility. Organizations spanning broadcasting, athletics, corporate enterprise, government, higher education, and worship can equip for on-location streaming, yielding new opportunities to expand viewership and associated marketing and sponsorship revenue.

With the ability to simultaneously stream in multiple resolutions at multiple data rates in multiple streaming formats – including MPEG-4, Adobe Flash H.264, Windows Media (Silverlight compatible) and Apple HTTP Live (iPhone) – Niagara 4100 users are afforded a broad range of streaming options to reach a broad audience. The Niagara 4100 can ingest SD or HD video sources through its SDI input, and can accommodate a variety of audio input formats, including embedded SDI, AES/EBU, and balanced or unbalanced stereo.

It features a portable, streamlined chassis, an easy-to-use web interface, and intuitive front panel controls. The Niagara 4100 comes standard with front panel A, B, C buttons that can be pre-configured independently to activate different streaming profiles to meet the needs of any streaming application. Users can control all key functions from the front-panel controls, or the unit can be accessed remotely anywhere on the network through its built-in web interface.

The Niagara 4100 is compact and self-contained in an impact-resistant shell, precluding the need for a keyboard, monitor or mouse. All rear-panel connections are recessed for maximum protection, and it features a built-in handle.

Time-saving pre-processing features provided standard with the Niagara 4100 include scaling, cropping, de-interlacing, inverse telecine and closed-caption extraction and rendering capabilities.  Users can also customize streams with bitmap overlays that accommodate logos and/or graphics.