ViewCast Corp. has released its next-generation streaming media encoder, the Niagara Pro II.
The Niagara Pro II is the newest in the line of Niagara encoders, which are utilized for their high-resolution video capture and streaming. Niagara Pro II captures, encodes, and streams video and audio over the Internet and mobile networks for live viewing and video-on-demand applications.
The Niagara Pro II comes standard with ViewCast's Simulstream and Niagara SCX Pro control and management software. These applications allow users to manage their streaming workflow from a Web interface and enable a video source to be streamed simultaneously at multiple resolutions and data rates, and in a variety of streaming formats including H.264, MPEG-4, Adobe Flash, Windows Media (Silverlight compatible) and 3GPP/3GPP2 for mobile applications.
The Niagara Pro II can crop, scale and de-interlace video streams. It also includes standard-definition SDI video, bitmap overlay and closed-captioning features. Its 19-inch rackmount form-factor includes a built-in frontpanel video confidence monitor, LCD status display, and three programmable "A-B-C" buttons that can activate one-touch, preprogrammed encoding and streaming profiles.
"Today's broadcasters, studios, and other service providers are looking for every competitive advantage, and one advantage is being able to encode and stream robust, high-quality video efficiently and in the most easy-to-use manner possible," ViewCast Chief Executive Dave Stoner said. "The Niagara Pro II was designed to meet the needs of the higher-end market, and as a result, no other media encoder offers such intuitive features, convenience, and high degree of flexibility along with high levels of performance suitable for Internet TV applications."
