Panasonic Advances Software-Driven IP Workflows with NewTek Connect Pro

Panasonic today announced support for software-driven IP workflows using NewTek Connect Pro software enabling Network Device Interface (NDI) connectivity. The Connect Pro Software application makes Panasonic PTZ cameras recognizable as a source by NDI-enabled applications and devices connected to a standard Ethernet local area network. NewTek’s royalty-free NDI technology allows video and audio sources to be shared bidirectionally across a network, eliminating the need for costly direct connections, expensive cable runs and infrastructure upgrades, while turning every source into a destination instantly available anywhere on the network.

IBC 2016 conference attendees recently had a chance to see how far this technology has come in just a few years.  At the NAB 2015 conference, Panasonic and NewTek first showed IP connectivity between Panasonic AW-HE130 IP streaming capable PTZ cameras and TriCaster® multi-camera video productions systems. This same connectivity also allowed camera control over the same network. At the InfoComm 2016 conference, Panasonic and NewTek showed integration between NewTek Connect Pro and Panasonic AW-HE130 and AW-HE40 series PTZ cameras, increasing the number of cameras that could connect. At IBC 2016, NewTek and Panasonic for the first time demonstrated IP interoperability between multiple NewTek Connect Pro-enabled Panasonic AW-HE130 PTZ cameras and multiple NewTek video production systems located at both companies’ booths using the convention center’s standard Ethernet infrastructure

“When we first showed the ability to connect Panasonic PTZ cameras like the AW-HE130 and AW-HE40 with IP streaming directly to a TriCaster that was an eye opener, but as we enable NDI using NewTek Connect Pro software in the system, possibilities increase dramatically,” says Panasonic Senior Business Development Manager Michael Bergeron. “We have been talking to customers looking for IP-based video systems across all video markets from broadcast to audio-video. There are many requirements for different applications but the emerging markets are looking for IP on a simple Gb Ethernet like this. Panasonic PTZ customers continue to become more diverse as these configuration options have increased.”

“Software-driven IP workflows are quickly becoming ubiquitous in video production,” said Michael Kornet, executive vice president of Business Development for NewTek. “NewTek Connect Pro with NDI technology now allows customers with Panasonic PTZ cameras to exponentially increase the video sources available for live production. NewTek and Panasonic are demonstrating efficiencies and opportunities for customers that simply did not previously exist. NDI is the most widely adopted IP technology on the market, epitomized by the millions of customers with access to it today.”

NewTek is also providing additional features in NDI version 2 in an updated software development kit (SDK) available in Q4 2016.The NDI SDK is royalty-free for any company looking to establish IP workflows within their organization, or in commercial products and applications they deliver. Building on the widely adopted Network Device Interface announced at IBC 2015, NewTek’s NDI version 2 adds higher performance, resolution independence, 16-bit per channel support for the highest precision color of any IP standard, 16 channels of floating point audio, improved cross subnet support, integrated fail-safe support, network-based re-routing support, and more.