Streaming Media's Gear of the Year, 2014-15

Tim Siglin's Picks

Workstation: HP Z1 G2 All-in-One

When the HP Z1 all-in-one workstation came out in 2013, we were interested in the product. After all, it combined a 27" IPS monitor with a 2560x1600 resolution, a desktop-grade graphics processor unit (GPU), and two decently fast 1TB 2.5" hard drives in a RAID configuration. But there was something missing, something we couldn’t quite put a finger on.

The next-generation HP Z1 G2 (Figure 9, below) handily solved the problem by adding a touch-sensitive overlay to the 27" monitor. Suddenly, Windows 8.1 just worked, with the Metro interface becoming a key part of the Z1 workflow—critical to our operation, given the fact that the Z1 G2 was the only Windows machine in our Unix- and Linux-only production workflow.

Figure 9. The HP Z1 G2 all-in-one workstation with touchscreen overlay

The Z1 G2 added something else to the mix: dual mSATA solid state drive slots. Now we were able to do RAID 0 (striped) configurations for our most graphics-intensive projects, backed up by the power of Kepler-based Nvidia graphics from the field-swappable GPUs.

The Z1 G2 ships with the K4100M, which adds a higher number of GPU cores at a faster processing speed. In addition, the Z1 G2 was the first HP workstation equipped with Thunderbolt 2, although the tradeoff on the slim, all-in-one form factor requires trading out the Blu-ray Disc burner to gain the dual Thunderbolt 2 ports.

4K Monitor: Seiki 39" UHD Monitor (SE39UY04-1)

We’d heard, around CES 2014, that 4K Ultra HD would be all the rage in 2014. While we’ve heard similar punditry before—3DTV or HD Audio are two failed examples—this consumer-grade 4K scenario intrigued us.

Still, we didn’t want to spend more than $1,500 for a 4K monitor, so we looked back to the future and snapped up a 2013 Seiki 39" SE39UY04 UHD monitor (3840x2160 at 60 Hz) for testing. The fact that it cost only $499 at the time of initial purchase added to its appeal, and we’d read enough about the ability to use the Seiki televisions as computer monitors that it was worth the cash outlay to see whether we could reach pixel nirvana.

The truth was out there, but it took us almost 2 months to sort out the discrepancies. First, we had to flash the 39" monitor’s firmware to the Seiki 50" UHD monitor, then we bought a Seiki 50" UHD monitor (Figure 10, below), then we sent it back, then we tried a MacBook Pro with Retina display, then we tried a Linux-based Intel NUC.

Figure 10. 8,294,400-pixel nirvana: The Seiki 50" UHD monitor

This last test worked like a charm, especially with Ubuntu 14.10, and we were sold on the benefits of all those pixels when it came to everything from database design to massive spreadsheets to video production. After all, who wouldn’t like to have both a nonlinear editing timeline and three, count ‘em, three 1920x1080 images on the screen at the same time?

While the first version of the SE39UY04 presented us with all those barriers to reaching pixel bliss, our second purchase of the same monitor, with the -1 designation at the end, made life incredibly simple. Not only were we able to generate 3840x2160 desktops for Windows 10 Technology Preview and Ubuntu 14.4 operating systems right out of the box, but this new SE39UY04-1 weighs less than half as much and costs almost 30% less than its original 2013 variant.

OS: Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn)

Not shy about their naming conventions, the Ubuntu team named the 14.10 version of the popular Linux operating system with triple alliteration: Ubuntu Utopic Unicorn (Ubuntu 14.10, Figure 11, below).

Figure 11. The alliterative Ubuntu Utopic Unicorn

Why would we name a Linux distro, which costs users exactly $0 to download and install, as one of our Gear of the Year picks?
Ubuntu is the OS that about 50% of all media servers run on, and probably about 28% of all encoders. The database itself is also what Drupal and Joomla run on; a number of production tools (including some Adobe apps) run on Ubuntu with PostgreSQL or RedHat with MySQL. At Braintrust Digital, we’ve switched our production from just Mac OS and Windows to allow for the open-source OS that can scale from phone to desktop to web servers. Not even Windows does that yet.

Ultimately, Ubuntu’s appeal comes down to four words: Four words: PostgreSQL and easy install.

The power behind Ubuntu builds has been that most powerful and flexible of open-source databases, PostgreSQL (postgres for short). This database, which has NoSQL features, such as JSON and JSON binary storage, as well as a robust and highly secure relational database management system (RDMS) core, offers the best open-source approach to both dirty and structured data. If you’ve got dirty data—content that’s without a schema or not structured in hstore, SQL, or even XML—you need the power of a NoSQL database that can handle key-store values or even object-driven database structures. You need, in a nutshell, PostgreSQL for enterprise or large-scale media and entertainment deployments.

The ability to store NoSQL content in PostgreSQL began in earnest in PostgreSQL 9.4, which just happens to be the native database package in Ubuntu 14.10.

The second reason we like Ubuntu 14.10, the ease of installation, is a lesson that both Microsoft and Apple could take to heart: parallel operating systems in use without forcing a permanent installation of the second operating system. Want to try out Ubuntu before installing it? Run a Live CD—essentially an active version of Ubuntu on a CD, DVD, or USB stick—without loading any Ubuntu applications, or even operating system, on to the host computer.

Decide you like Ubuntu 14.10 and want to load it on to the host computer? Even then Ubuntu plays more than fair, offering first to install itself alongside the pre-existing Mac or Windows operating systems, and only overwriting these operating systems with an explicit command. It’s a tester’s dream come true, and we found ourselves returning to Ubuntu many times over the course of late 2014 as we tested Linux versions of Firefox, Chrome, and other browser offerings against our media content.

Camera: HTC RE

The design of the HTC RE (Figure 12, below), a 16-megapixel still camera with full HD (1080p, 30 fps) video capability, is the first thing that catches your eye. Think of the camping flashlights of your childhood, then shrink it by a factor of 10 and you’d have the look that makes the RE camera distinct.

Figure 12. The HTC RE camera

We’ve used several of these cameras to capture b-roll content to the built-in Micro SD card, taping the diminutive 3.8"-high camera in corners or standing it on tables or other places from which we want to get wide-angle shots. The round 1" tube body stands on its own, using a small slip-on base. It can also be attached to bicycle handlebars through a unique clamp grip.

Speaking of grip, the RE doesn’t really have an on/off button, as gripping the camera turns it on via what HTC refers to as a “grip sensor” that shoots in standard 1080p mode. A button on the grip also allows for shooting in slow motion, although we’ve not really utilized this feature. The same is true with the waterproof capability (rated at IPX7), which HTC uses as a strong selling point, along with the concept of being able to use the RE in single-hand mode.

We’d personally like to see a better-quality image, but for wide-angle shots, we’ve found the quality to be acceptable. HTC hasn’t seen strong sales of the unit, at least based on the fact that Amazon and Best Buy both seem to offer frequent sales on the RE, but we think this form factor has yet to reach its peak.

Just wait ’til next year.