The town of Maple Heights, OH, was looking to upgrade the existing streaming infrastructure in both the local high school’s athletic center and the Board of Education facility. Equipment from JVC Professional Video provided an affordable way to complete both projects.
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For the Maple Heights Board of Education, the first goal was to provide a live streaming platform that was available to both board and community members who were unable to attend a meeting for online viewing. The board also needed the ability to record and archive meetings.
The upgraded system includes two JVC KY-PZ200N PTZ cameras, plus a RM-LP350G desktop control surface, RM-LP5G PTZ camera controller, and KM-IPS84 vMix switcher. Nearby NPI Audio Visual Solutions handled the projects for the town. Sam Avellone, director of sales, has completed multiple installations for schools, house of worships, and sports facilities using JVC products.
“What's happened is you now have customers that see the difference between a good stream and a bad stream," he offered. "There are three things that make a good stream: superior-quality video, high-quality audio, and animated graphics. This is reinforced with the ability of having different camera angles and the ability of flying a lower-third in and out to keep their attention."
In the board room of the Administration Building, the ability to use multiple presets for the PTZ cameras was a big plus. Individual presets for each of the board member’s chairs, as well as the podium where speakers present to the council, provides instant access to a variety of shots instantly for the camera operator, providing viewers with a dynamic viewing experience.
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Board members can also share their presentations or documents by bringing them into the KM-IPS84 vMix Switcher easily from a laptop. “The features of the vMix switcher with the built-in graphics, the ability to build layers, and use lower-thirds and graphics over the top—it's a no-brainer from a cost standpoint,” Avellone explained.
Next on the upgrade agenda was the athletic center at Maple Heights High School, the local public high school. Its AV system installation is also powered by JVC gear. The integration included providing the program out of JVC’s KM-IPS84 switcher to the facility’s new videoboards as well as the athletic center’s video control console for streaming to the web. The 2RU device can manage a minimum of eight NDI inputs at 1080p/60 and offers several output options.
JVC's NDI|HX-enabled KY-PZ200N PTZ cameras, combined with the additional JVC workflow tools, were chosen with the idea of using them capture a variety of sports as seasons change. But the center also uses the PTZ cameras to capture events such as assemblies and presentations.
“The optics are superior with JVC cameras, I will never compromise the quality of the image because of the name on the camera,” said Avellone. “We have worked with other brands and found with some the image quality is inferior, pixelated, and when you're doing broadcast, especially when streaming, you've got to have a good quality image.”
