Bryce Button, AJA's Director of Product Marketing joined us in the DigiBox studio for an update on all their latest product news from MPTS and NAB, including BRIDGE LIVE, BRIDGE NDI and the brand new HELO Plus H.264 advanced streaming and recording device.
HELO PLUS
H.264 streaming and recording devices with the debut of HELO Plus. Portable and resilient, HELO Plus offers the same flexible streaming and recording advantages as the extremely popular HELO, with a vastly expanded feature set inspired by user feedback. Offering powerful new production capabilities, HELO Plus features dual streaming outputs and multi-input processing; SRT support; advanced encoding/decoding; improved scheduling options and device operation; layouts and graphics insertion; and more.
Designed to help video professionals achieve a higher production value with greater cost efficiency and a smaller gear footprint, HELO Plus includes a range of standout feature additions. Dual streaming outputs allow users to create assets with different parameter settings per output (bit rate, GOP length, frame rate, picture geometry, b-frame cadence, etc.), and feed each into one of two destinations, so that they can easily create assets with different parameter settings from a single input. HELO Plus users can also opt to select either of the device’s two encoders to drive USB, SD card, or NAS recording, so that it can include the output of the layout.
BRIDGE LIVE
The latest update for BRIDGE LIVE v1.13, is a feature-rich software update for its multi-channel UltraHD and HD live video solution for remote production, contribution, collaboration, streaming, and delivery. BRIDGE LIVE v1.13 introduces a range of powerful new features for live video production, including new Synchronous Multi-Channel/Multi-System Transport; dual-channel UltraHD support to enable full bi-directional UltraHD exchange; and multichannel end-to-end HDR support over SDI to preserve full image quality during transport from site-to-site.
A turnkey enterprise solution, BRIDGE LIVE simplifies the transport of multi-channel UltraHD and HD video between uncompressed SDI to and from a wide range of streaming and contribution codecs, including NDI, H.265, H.264, MPEG-2, and JPEG 2000. For multi-camera workflows across a pair or multiple units, BRIDGE LIVE v1.13 introduces new multi-channel synchronous transport to enable separate UltraHD and HD channels to be transmitted and received in sync. For SDI backhaul, this enables the use of one or more pairs of BRIDGE LIVE systems to transport incoming SDI cameras and other feeds from one location to another, then output the SDI signals with the sync relationship preserved. This feature also allows for contributing multi-channel synchronous sources to cloud platforms and services.
BRIDGE NDI 3G
The new v1.5 update for BRIDGE NDI 3G, brings new NDI® 5 support and a host of performance enhancements to AJA’s high-performance gateway appliance for high-density conversion to/from SDI and NewTek’s NDI® video over IP protocol. Feature enhancements include discovery server compatibility, new low-latency settings for time critical workflows, timecode support, expanded system time options, and dynamic connection bandwidth sensing for remote management.
BRIDGE NDI 3G features dual 10GigE onboard NICs for NDI I/O and remote control over the web, as well as high-density 3G-SDI connections for up to 16 channels of SDI I/O – providing up to four channels of 4K or 16 channels of HD, or a mixture of HD and 4K NDI encodes/decodes in a compact form-factor. BRIDGE NDI 3G v1.5 expands support for NDI 5, the newest version of NewTek’s widely adopted IP protocol that simplifies sharing live, high-quality, low-latency video with any device in any location worldwide. For large scale or growing NDI infrastructures, BRIDGE NDI 3G v1.5 also introduces discovery server support, helping teams maintain performance of NDI devices for production environments with hundreds of NDI sources on a network.
To simplify integration of SDI sources into NDI workflows – where timecode is not widely supported – BRIDGE NDI 3G v1.5 adds new timecode capabilities, enabling VITC, LTC, or TOD to be assigned for SDI/NDI conversions. Expanded time controls further enable local time zones to be displayed for online systems and custom times be used for offline systems. For seamless remote management over public internet or unpredictable networks, BRIDGE NDI 3G v1.5 adds dynamic bandwidth sensing, which automatically adjusts to bandwidth fluctuations to ensure uninterrupted remote access and control. Additionally, new low-latency settings allow users to fine tune production environments, maintain high-quality video feeds, and support time critical workflows, where network conditions allow.