Top 32 Reasons to Choose Haivision Bonded Cellular & IP Mobile Encoder Technology

At VidOvation, we are asked every day, “What is the one thing that makes Haivision different?”  There is no simple answer to this question. Please read the top 32 reasons to choose Haivision technology below. These reasons collectively allow production crews and videographers to get more shots.

1. 1. At-home Remote Production or REMI – Turner Sports transported 20 live video feeds between Paris and Atlanta over the Public Internet while maintaining perfect Gen-lock and Lip-sync across all 20 cameras.  Turner Sports minimized personnel and equipment at the remote production site producing the entire show thousands of miles away in Atlanta.
   2. Gen-lock and Lip-sync – The Haivision family of field encoders and transmitters all maintain perfect video and audio Gen-lock and Lip–sync across Cellular Networks and the Public Internet.  This is ideal for multi-camera remote field production.  A perfect example of this technology in action is VidOvation and Haivision’s work with the team at Big Fish Entertainment and A&E for cable TV’s number one show, “Live PD”.
   3. Multi-viewer Output – The StreamHub application features a video thumbnail grid that allows you to play out up to 16 incoming streams (4 x 4 with a custom layout) on a single monitor. You can also define audio sources and output standards and add information overlay for each source.
   4. Return Video – The Haivision Pro and Air series of bonded cellular and IP field encoders all support full bandwidth return video. Other systems offer return video at a very low bit rate and a reduced frame rate. The Haivision solution offers full-resolution video at a full frame rate so that you may have a high-quality program feed delivered to the field from the studio.  The only requirement is the Haivision RACK300 rack-mountable encoder on the studio side to encode and transmit the return video to one or multiple PRO or AIR-series encoders in the field.
   5. Dual Analog Audio Inputs on Pro & Air – The Pro and Air series of bonded cellular field encoders include two line-level analog audio inputs. Optional mini-XLR to XLR adapter cables are available. Most productions will have 4 to 8 audio channels with every video channel. This facilitates the need for more audio channels in your bonded cellular field encoders. Many customers, such as the PGA, Turner Sports, and Live PD have found the analog audio inputs highly useful for extra microphones, lapel mics on talent and commentators, parabolic microphones, and even the Toptrace golf ball tracking system.
   6. AWS Elemental MediaConnect Cloud Integration – VidOvation’s live video transport, distribution, and streaming services can now take full advantage of the high-quality and robust transport services of AWS Elemental MediaConnect. MediaConnect provides the reliability and security of satellite and fiber combined with IP-based networks’ flexibility, agility, and economics. AWS Elemental MediaConnect enables you to build mission-critical live video workflows in a fraction of the time and cost of satellite or fiber services. VidOvation fully integrates the Haivision Cloud StreamHub bonded cellular receiver, decoder, transcoder, and streaming hub with the AWS Cloud and MediaConnect. This integration is made possible by the StreamHub software with support for up to 16 IP inputs and 16 IP outputs supporting IP protocols such as SRT, NDI, RTMP, TS over IP, HLS, and others.
   7. Bonded Cellular Hotspot & Remote Internet Access – Customers always ask for better connectivity when in the field. The Haivision family of field encoders and transmitters are optimized for transporting video and audio. Now Haivision has a solution for the growing demand for a bonded cellular hotspot or Internet connection when working in the field.  When working in the field for other production activities such as email, VPN, web browsing, and more, customers can now have a reliable Internet connection.  The VidOvation video transmission technology from Haivision can provide a wireless and wired hotspot and access point to the public Internet via bonded cellular and satellite. Haivision SafeStreams technology (SST) also provides a secure virtual private network (VPN) by extending the network at your master control or command center to the field. Now you can have all your cameras and other IP assets in the field securely connected to the same subnet as your master control or control center.  This feature is ideal for remote camera control over unmanaged cellular and public Internet networks. VidOvation provides customers integration of Haivision bonded cellular technology with CyanView IP camera control and shading systems.
   8. Advanced HEVC Encoding – Customers say, “It is the best video quality they have seen in an HEVC encoder”. Haivision supports 4:2:2 10 bits and 4:2:0 8-bit hardware HEVC. Haivision is up to 65% more efficient than H.264 and up to 30% more efficient than other HEVC codex
   9. Patented High-gain Internal Antennas – Enables a stronger and more reliable signal with the cellular tower.  The system’s superior design avoids interference from the coupling effect found in competing systems when multiple antennas are nearby.
   10. High-Quality Cellular Modems – Any wireless system is only as good as the quality of its RF radios.  Using the industry’s best cellular modems makes a difference. The competition uses $50 modems.  Haivision uses $300 high-quality modems. The Haivision cellular modems connect faster and more reliably with support for more frequency bands, including the extended bands deployed by Verizon and other carriers. The competition does not support these extended frequency bands.
   11. Dual High-Quality Encoders – A second encoder dedicated to recording provides a better quality recording on the camera side.  The competition has a single encoder for both recording and transmission. When the system is in a fringe area, and the transmission is at a low bit rate, both the transmission and the recording will be of low quality. With a second encoder, the Haivision system will always have a high-quality and high bitrate recording under all transmission conditions.
   12. Robust Bonded Cellular & IP Transport – Haivision developed an Emmy Award-winning highly robust transport protocol called SafeStreams.  It can transmit video, audio, and data over unmanaged cellular and public Internet networks.
   13. Dynamic 2D Forward Error Correction (FEC) – Adds redundancy to the transport stream when needed.  Automatically turns off when not needed to preserve more bandwidth for higher video quality. 
   14. Packet Re-requests (ARQ) – When FEC is unavailable or unable to recover lost packets, the decoder automatically engages ARQ to request the re-transmission of lost packets.
   15. Variable Video Bit Rate – The system automatically adapts to changing network conditions.  When the receiving decoder senses a decrease in available bandwidth, it sends instructions to the transmission encoder to lower the bit rate. The system continually adjusts the video bit rate based on the available throughput and bandwidth.  This technique prevents interruptions in video transmission while maximizing the available throughput to achieve the highest video quality.
   16. Live Transcoding – The StreamHub receiver support transcoding for live video distribution to 3rd party CDNs and video platform that requires H.264-only or CBR constant bitrate or fixed resolutions.
   17. IP Outputs Built-in – The StreamHub offers up to 16 IP outputs with multiple streaming protocols, such as Haivision’s SafeStreams, RTMP, RTSP/RTP, HLS, TS/IP, NDI, SRT, and ST2110 (Coming Soon), which allow video contents to be freely distributed over virtually any IP network. Up to 16 IP outputs are supported to re-stream the video contents over LAN or WAN to CDNs, Media Servers, Streaming Platforms, Social Networks, IRDs, or other StreamHubs.
   18. IP Inputs – The StreamHub is vendor-agnostic and universally compatible with third-party encoders and transmitters. Using StreamHub, you can receive transmissions from various types of field encoders and transmitters, enabling you to quickly, easily, and simultaneously share high-quality live content with multiple affiliates or other broadcast facilities.
   19. Transport over the Public Internet – Many customers can save the cost of expensive Satellite, Telecom, and fiber optic transport and use the low-cost Public Internet for reliable video transport by using Haivision technology. As an alternative to expensive satellite, telecom, and fiber, many VidOvation customers are using Haivision technology to save on satellite, fiber, and telecom costs. The Haivision safe streams unique transport protocol cuts contribution and distribution costs in multicamera, Live-Action Productions making the impossible possible.
   20. External Antennas – Passive & Active – When operating Haivision Pro Series field encoders with bonded cellular connectivity, there are certain situations where an external cellular antenna is

       needed.  When transmitting from inside a vehicle, the metal body can block or attenuate the RF cellular signal. The Pro series supports up to 2 QUAD external passive antennas.  Haivision has introduced the QUAD CellLink active antenna with four high-quality internal cellular modems. The QUAD CellLink can be used to add cellular connectivity to products such as the Rack4 HEVC HD and 4K Encoder.

   21. Advanced Store & Forward – The Haivision product line simultaneously supports Progressive Store and Forward. A high-resolution video file can be recorded locally in the PRO or AIR Field Encoder and Transmitter. The file can be immediately and continuously forwarded to the receiver in master control or can be forwarded at a later time. This feature is ideal if you’re in a location without any cellular connectivity. The advanced recording and storing capabilities of the Haivision PRO and AIR field encoders give the ability to broadcast live in a fringe area at a lower bit rate while simultaneously recording at a high bit rate using the second encoder. In this situation, a low-resolution proxy can be broadcast live, followed by a higher-resolution recording that is automatically pushed to master control to air later in the broadcast as an alternative to the lower bit rate live video.
   22. Advance File-Based Workflow – Support for file transfer and management with the WiFi hotspot, local FTP server, and automatic file forward from our transmitters to the StreamHub receiver in master control. Please read the blog post “Accelerated Video & Photo File Transfer – AFP Delivers Real-Time Coverage of 2018 Tour de France” To learn more about Haivision’S advanced file-based workflow.
   23. Cloud-Based Management – The Manager is a powerful application that enables broadcasters and video professionals to monitor and manage an entire Haivision live video contribution system, including fields units (Pro Series, Air Series, Rack2, Rack3, and Rack4 Series, plus MOJOPRO Series), StreamHub transceivers, as well as third-party equipment.  The Manager transforms remote live video production and newsgathering by enabling an operator to manage and control many devices through a single tool’s intuitive web-based user interface.  It can be deployed on-premise or operated as a cloud-based solution and brings simplicity, flexibility, and efficiency to any news or live video production organization.
   24. Advanced Receiver Functions – The Haivision StreamHub receiver and distribution platform is a single 1RU appliance that decodes, transcodes, and encodes both HD and 4K video.
   25. Highest Input & Output Density – The StreamHub supports up to 16 inputs for field encoders and transmitters with up to 32 IP outputs and 4 SDI outputs.  The competition does not come close to the StreamHub receiver, decoder, and encoder density.  This translates into savings and rack space, electricity, and HVAC.  The Haivision StreamHub is a versatile receiver, decoder, playout, and distribution platform or cloud-based service, supporting a large panel of functions and protocols for the easiest integration in existing workflows.
   26. SDI & HDMI inputs – It is common for photographers to use a wide variety of cameras throughout the workday. Photographers and engineers asked for an autosensing SDI and HDMI input. Whichever input is active, the Haivision field encoder and the transmitter will automatically select it. This prevents mistakes where a camera operator selects the wrong video input.
   27. Integrated Intercom and IFB – The StreamHub includes an IFB application that enables you to communicate with remote transmitter operators over up to 16 independent two-way audio channels. Both SIP-based, and legacy IFB intercoms are supported.
   28. Dual Intercom and IFB (Coming Soon) – The Haivision Pro supports a single-channel intercom, as mentioned above, with support for a second Bluetooth wireless intercom or IFB channel.  Now the camera operator will communicate on the first hardwired intercom channel with the talent or reporter on the second wireless Bluetooth intercom channel.  This approach improves communication so the talent is not distracted by camera instructions over the intercom.
   29. MOJOPRO App for iOS & macOS – Complete range of mobile applications running on Android, iOS, and macOS. The Swiss Army knife for Mobile Journalists to broadcast HD Live from the field or record, edit, add a logo, add voiceover, and forward fully produced video clips ready for air.
   30. Story-Centric Workflow – Support for a story-centric workflow with EVS, Dalet, Newsbridge, and more.
   31. 4:2:2 10 Bit Encoding – The Rack400 HEVC HD and 4K encoder provide what customers say is “the industry’s best HEVC encoder on the market for video quality, especially at low bit rates”.  Superior video quality is due in part to 4:2:2 10-bit encoding.
   32. Optional Manager – Haivision has an optional cloud or physical Manager. The In-house server or cloud-based Manager provides a central management system that allows you to manage and control an entire fleet of Haivision mobile devices and reception platforms. The Manager provides information about the real-time performance of all the devices in the ecosystem, the resources availability and the potential warnings. Many of the competing Bonded Cellular platforms require the mandatory use of a centralized management system.  For small deployments, a central management system may not be needed.  Many customers and government agencies prefer a secure and isolated ecosystem with full control of the entire transmission chain.  These customers do not want their transmission routed through a vendor-controlled and operated cloud management system.