Matrox Adds QuadHead2Go Q155 at ISE 2020; Monarch EDGE Handles Encoding for B Live’s Tommy Hilfiger Webcast

Matrox has added Matrox QuadHead2Go Q155 multi-monitor controllers to Matrox QuadHead2Go family range. In addition,
While Tommy Hilfiger showcased a ‘70s-inspired collection for the upcoming season, the designer’s online multi-camera webcast was anything but retro. Thanks to the Matrox Monarch EDGE encoder’s ability to receive multiple HD feeds and composite them into a pristine quad-split stream, and B Live’s innovative user interface that allows for seamless switching between multiple camera views, adoring Tommy Hilfiger fans got to have their own show credentials just like fashion industry VIPs.

ISE 2020
Featuring HDMI input support on both appliance and PCI Express card form factors, the units are purpose-built to drive four Full HD displays from a single 4K HDMI source, offering a simple, yet elegant approach to digital signage-based video wall designs. OEMs, system integrators, and AV installers can also conveniently combine multiple QuadHead2Go Q155 multi-monitor controllers to deploy artistic and emerging video walls of any type and size, while delivering pristine and engaging video content across all screens.

Matrox QuadHead2Go Q155 multi-monitor controllers will be in action at ISE 2020 (booth 11-D120).

Complete flexibility
QuadHead2Go Q155 controllers capture a single video signal—of up to 4Kp60 and 8Kx8K—for display across up to four screens, at resolutions up to 1920×1200 per output. The input content could be from any HDMI source—including digital signage players, media players, laptops, and more—while displays can be arranged in a variety of artistic configurations or classic rectangular 2×2, 2×1, 3×1, 4×1, 1×2, 1×3, or 1×4 setups. Multiple QuadHead2Go Q155 units can be used together to easily build ultra-large video walls under any operating system, including Microsoft Windows 10 and Linux.

Ease of deployment
QuadHead2Go Q155 guarantees out-of-the-box plug and play when using the default 2×2 landscape configuration, without having to install software or connect to a video source. On-device buttons on the appliance enable users to cycle through pre-set configurations to easily select and set the display layout, as well as access a pre-saved image to set up display positions and fine-tune bezel-displaced pixels. The controllers also include High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) support for playback of protected audio and video content from HDCP-compliant devices.

Software and APIs
Matrox PowerWall is an advanced, yet easy-to-use management software that allows users to customize configurations and control the display outputs independently, in either offline or online mode. The Matrox QuadHead2Go REST API is also available for integrators and developers looking to create custom functions and applications.
“Matrox QuadHead2Go controllers have quickly become an invaluable video wall tool for OEMs, system installers, and professional users, and the new HDMI input options provide them with additional value-add hardware for their digital signage projects where HDMI sources are the norm,” said Fadhl Al-Bayaty, business development manager, Matrox. “With native HDMI input support, these new QuadHead2Go Q155 controllers translate into a true plug-and-play approach to video wall installations, irrespective of the size, layout, or scale of the project.”

Availability
The Matrox QuadHead2Go Q155 Series multi-monitor controllers, in both appliance and card form factors, will be available in Q1 2020. To learn more about these new multi-display solutions, contact Matrox Graphics.

Tommy Hilfiger
During the autumn show, viewers visited the Tommy Hilfiger website to watch live webcasts from the Apollo Theater in Harlem. On the website, live event production company, B Live provided runway, overhead, and head-to-toe views of the models as isolated feeds, as well as a director’s cut that the company produced on-site.

Giving viewers an all-access pass
In order to give fans a seamless viewing experience, B Live needed an encoder that could accept four discrete HD inputs and deliver a single 4K stream as a quad-split composition. Before the company purchased its Monarch EDGE H.264 encoder, its user interface did not allow viewers to watch multi-camera video with continuity. Instead, the player would need to buffer each new camera angle selected by the user before the video would become available for viewing.

“The Monarch EDGE has allowed us to update our player to provide seamless switching on the user interface,” said Jay Kopelman, Director of Digital Engineering for B Live. “Before we got the Monarch EDGE, every time the viewer switched camera angles, it loaded a new independent stream. Because we can now do quad-HD streams with Monarch EDGE, we can feed a single 4K stream into the player – which is why the switching is so seamless.”

During the show, viewers could get an exclusive first look at the next season’s hottest designs by visiting the Tommy Hilfiger website. The B Live user interface gave Tommy Hilfiger fans the chance to feel as if they were at the Apollo Theater runway by allowing them to select from and switch between three different isolated camera angles or the director’s cut – all thanks to the robust and dynamic H.264 encoding capabilities of Monarch EDGE.

Monarch EDGE struts its stuff
B Live’s camera crew captured each angle separately. Four 1080p30 video streams, including three isolated views and one director’s cut that B Live produced on-site, were sent back to the B Live office via satellite. There, Monarch EDGE received the feeds and encoded them into a single 4K, 20-Mbps stream that was then sent to the B Live platform. On the B Live user interface embedded in the Tommy Hilfiger website, fans were able to easily decide which part of the show to follow from the three isolated feeds available in addition to the director’s cut – all from their mobile devices, laptops, or desktop computers. These viewers – numbering over 500,000 – were also able to watch the show live on Tommy Hilfiger’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube channels.

The must-have encoder for this season and beyond
Monarch EDGE’s ability to encode four 1080p30 video feeds together into one 4K stream has made B Live’s work of bringing best-in-class, live, multi-camera event footage to viewers across the globe more feasible than ever. During the Tommy Hilfiger show, viewers of B Live’s interactive user interface enjoyed seamless, buffer-free switching between multiple camera angles.

“The experience is a lot smoother from both a technical and viewer perspective – clearly,” said Kopelman. Thanks to Monarch EDGE, fans had the chance to see and shop Tommy Hilfiger’s latest collection first-hand without leaving home.