ViewCast Doubles its Streaming Media Processing Power With the Introduction of the Niagara 7550

New Niagara streaming media appliance delivers high-quality high-definition performance for professional broadcasting applications

Plano, TX(19 Jul 2011)

ViewCast Corporation (OTCBB: VCST), a developer of industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation, management and delivery of professional quality video over IP and mobile networks, today announced immediate availability of the Niagara 7550. The newest release in the Niagara 7500 series, the Niagara 7550 takes advantage of the latest multi-core processing technology, greatly expanding its adaptive streaming capabilities and making it the most powerful, feature-rich streaming appliance for Web-based delivery of high-definition video currently available from ViewCast. By enabling users to simultaneously leverage multiple adaptive streaming formats, including Apple HTTP adaptive streaming for Apple iPads and iPhones, and Adobe® Flash®  dynamic streaming, the Niagara 7550 is able to meet the needs of the most demanding professional broadcasting applications and other professional-level high-definition video distribution requirements.

"The Niagara 7550 brings a new standard of quality and performance to ViewCast's Niagara line of professional streaming solutions," said John Hammock, ViewCast President and COO. "With its increased processing power and expanded memory, customers may deliver video in multiple adaptive formats simultaneously with a single streaming system, maximizing their investment and allowing them to reach a larger web-based audience."

About the Niagara 7550

The Niagara 7550 offers complete plug-and-play capability that enables users to quickly capture and stream premium quality audio and video to IP and mobile networks in multiple formats and at multiple bit rates - all simultaneously. It offers a sleek, innovative touch control interface that streamlines and simplifies operation. A brilliant high-resolution widescreen monitor on the front panel displays captured video, and multi-segment LED meters and a headphone connection are provided for audio monitoring.

The Niagara 7550 accepts standard- or high-definition video through its SDI interface, and can switch on-the-fly between HD or SD sources without having to re-initialize the system. An SDI loop-out is also provided to facilitate workflow. Audio inputs include analog stereo (balanced and unbalanced), two channels of AES/EBU, and eight stereo pairs of embedded SDI audio.

The Niagara 7550 also includes ViewCast SimulStream technology, which enables a single video source to generate several video streams at once, with each stream configured differently for laptops, cell phones, or mobile devices. It allows simultaneous streaming in many popular formats, including Windows Media® (Silverlight), Flash and H.264, including live streaming to Apple® iPhones and iPads. The Niagara 7550 also supports 3GPP and 3GPP2 for mobile applications.

Closed-caption extraction and rendering, de-interlacing, and inverse telecine are standard on the Niagara 7550, as well as bitmap overlay, scaling and cropping. If its incoming signal is interrupted, the Niagara 7550 will even default to a standby message that the user can customize.  

Like all professional-grade ViewCast streaming appliances, the Niagara 7550 comes standard with Niagara SCX, which allows remote management of all the key features of multiple units in the same easy-to-use interface, over the network. An SDK is also available that allows users to customize their experience, or interface with broadcast automation systems for highly customized applications.

About ViewCast

ViewCast develops industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation, management and delivery of professional quality video over broadband, enterprise and mobile networks. ViewCast's award-winning solutions simplify the complex workflows required for the Web-based streaming of news, sports, music, and other video content to computers and mobile devices, empowering broadcasters, businesses, and governments to easily and effectively reach and expand their audiences. With more than 400,000 video capture cards deployed globally, ViewCast sets the standard in the streaming media industry. ViewCast Niagara® streaming appliances, Osprey® video capture cards and VMp video management systems provide the highly reliable technology required to deliver the multi-platform experiences driving today's digital media market.