Haivision Systems has announced that the Philadelphia Eagles are leveraging its ultra-low latency Makito X4 video encoder and decoder pair to stream synchronized multi-camera live video feeds from remote venues back to their broadcast studio.
This means it is able to produce unique and engaging pre-and post-game content for fans.
When the team travels to away games, Philadelphia Eagles live stream content to audiences watching on YouTube and Facebook, as well as to the philadelphiaeagles.com website and their mobile app.
When working at remote venues, there are many complexities to overcome to achieve the low latency required to enable two-way audio communications between the production studio and to give fans the experience of being alongside their team while they’re on the road.
On-field, sideline, and end-zone cameras need to be set up, and there are logistics involved in managing frequencies and wiring, often in an unfamiliar stadium.
Once the cameras are in place, video signals need to be synchronized and brought back at sub-second latency to their studio in Philadelphia.
This used to mean transporting a large amount of broadcast gear as well as the logistical challenges involved when traveling with up to seven staff members needed to operate the equipment.
With a focus on reducing setup time, costs, and logistical complexity, the Philadelphia Eagles turned to Haivision’s compact Makito X4 Encoder to encode four HD video inputs simultaneously at very low latency while keeping the outgoing streams in sync.
“No other company offers the compact form factor of the Makito X4 encoder, which allows us to simultaneously send streams from four cameras in sync back to our studio in 200 milliseconds,” said David Sullivan, Senior Broadcast & Media Engineer, Philadelphia Eagles.
“It’s been a total game-changer. We turned it on and immediately saw the benefits. Not only has the Makito X4 made our workflows easier and faster to set up, but it has also made our overall production look better.”
Brian Henry, Haivision’s Senior Vice President, Sales, comments: “We’re pleased to see that the Makito X4 is providing the Eagles’ media team with a stellar solution to streamline its workflows and deliver a wider range of content to fans.
“With its exceptional video quality, low latency SRT streaming, along with the highest available 4K UHD and HD encoding density, we’re extremely proud of the powerful potential that the Makito X4 offers for broadcast and remote production applications.”
By using the Makito X4 encoder, the Eagles have been able to reduce the number of staff needed to travel to away games as everything can be managed remotely, providing significant time and cost efficiencies as well as peace of mind when it comes to reliability and ease of use.
For more information about the Makito X4 video encoder, visit https://www.haivision.com/products/makito-x4-series/.