Kansas City, Mo.-based International House of Prayer (IHOP) is expanding its 24/7 Web streaming ministry with Haivision KulaByte live Internet video encoders.
IHOP relies on Haivision encoding of HD video using the H.264 compression standard for live Internet streaming of its prayer room services, as well as for high-quality video feeds between IHOP University (IHOPU), other live ministry event locations and broadcast centers.
The new systems complement established Haivision video encoding technology, including Mako hai1000 and Makito products, by providing direct-to-Internet HD streaming capability.
As a central component of IHOP's global ministry, the prayer room in Kansas City operates around the clock with 12 two-hour prayer meetings conducted every day. To stream the prayer meetings live to the IHOP Web site with HD video quality, IHOP recently upgraded its legacy encoding platform to Haivision KulaByte H.264 encoders. The KulaByte encoders provide efficient compression of HD video to H.264 combined with exacting bandwidth control to maximize video quality over fixed-bandwidth connections for video delivery to Flash and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)-based Web sites.
IHOP also has installed other Haivision video encoding technology to support its diverse operational footprint. IHOP provides a direct, high-quality live stream of the prayer room to GOD TV, an international Christian television network that broadcasts the prayer room at various times during the day, in addition to live streaming on its own Web site. IHOP is currently supplying the stream via point-to-point satellite links between Kansas City, Washington, D.C., and the GOD TV broadcast facility in Jerusalem. To reduce related transmission costs, IHOP has installed the Mako hai1000 encoder systems to allow the ministry to transition the GOD TV connections to much lower cost public Internet connections.
In addition to Internet streaming and global distribution of the prayer room feeds, IHOP relies on Haivision encoders to backhaul live-event coverage from its conference center and various locations throughout the IHOPU campus to the master control center. IHOP deploys Makito H.264 HD encoders at event sources, decodes the signals in the master control, routes the signals through production and then sends the HD video on to the KulaByte encoders for streaming to the IHOP Web site.
