Review: Cerevo LiveWedge FullHD Video Switcher

Audio Control

Audio control is similarly impressive in the LiveWedge app. You have ready access to all five inputs, with an input trim for each one, and a fader for each one as well. There's also the ability to turn unused inputs off. Then, there's a master fader for everything. That's pretty comprehensive and it is laid out well.

I would have only wished for Pan control as I wanted to pan my microphone to mono but I had to find a way to do that before feeding it to the camera as there's no way to do that in the LiveWedge. There's also a delay for the audio, which I did not use. Every now and then, various meters would flash, as if there were some spurious noise, but I never heard anything audible. Also note that the Fade To Black button does not fade the audio--you still have to do that manually.

Remember that the LCD panel on the LiveWedge itself offers none of this customization or audio control, so the free LiveWedge app is pretty essential to getting a lot more performance out of the LiveWedge itself.

Streaming

When it comes to streaming, the LiveWedge app enables me to hook directly to Ustream (or various other providers) and it essentially puts a small web browser inside the app, so I can interface directly to Ustream on my account. However, the Ustream page is taller than the window allowed for a 7" screen, so it requires scrolling within that window to see the buttons at the bottom of the Ustream page. This took a bit of figuring out.

With this direct access to UStream, I can tell UStream to start the live broadcast, to record the broadcast, and access various settings and parameters in UStream itself. I actually liked this better than if Cerevo tried to create a "layer" in between my Content Delivery Network and me. I liked being able to interface directly with my CDN for streaming.

Tapping the Record tab merely brings up a record button on the right side of the app interface.

Going into Settings brings up seven areas where you can more easily set the same settings you can access on the LiveWedge's small LCD, but its much easier to see, adjust, and fill out the various parameters on a tablet compared to using the LiveWedge itself (Figure 10, below).

Figure 10. Recording settings. Click the image to see it at full size.

Caveats

There's always something, and in the case of the Cerevo LiveWedge, there are several things that I bumped against as I used it for streaming.

First: The device really wants to stream. There were several times, after I entered my Ustream information, when the device simply started streaming and went live, seemingly on its own. Maybe it was user error, or I had not turned some "auto" preference off.

Second: When it's streaming, it won't record. Yes, this is a known given, but the added hassle is that even when I didn't think I was streaming, it still wouldn't let me record internally. As if being prepared to stream also prevents internal recording. I never really got this figured out completely.

Third: In an effort to shut down streaming completely, I changed the LiveWedge from WiFi client to be its own access point. This way I could control it from the tablet over WiFi, but it couldn't stream. However, my tablet could not see the LiveWedge as an access point at all. I tried this for a bit and then moved on to other tests. Internal recording did work so I was able to record the clips of me doing the picture-in-picture, and the lower-third chroma key, by recording to the internal SD card. I used these 720p clips in the video that accompanies this article.

Fourth: The internal recording options are fairly limited. No 1080p24, or 1080p30, no 720p60, and being able to say "high, medium, low" to me is not enough control over the internal recording capabilities. It offers an odd 20 fps setting for 1080. Here's hoping they can tweak the firmware and get that up to 24 at least. I recorded the sample clips at 720p30.

Fifth: The source previews on the tablet would drop out, while control remained. As laggy as they were, and low frame rate, they help confirm that I am indeed switching to the source I want. So I would like them to be more reliable.

Sixth: Cerevo says to use a 7" tablet. Usually I think that's a recommendation. But when I saw how the app was unable to recognize a larger tablet, I understood the specificity of their recommendation.

I don't think any of these issues are deal-breakers for me. They are, of course, important to know about and be aware of so that when they happen you understand what's happening.

On the plus side, the Cerevo app was very responsive and fast. When I was changing various settings on the LiveWedge, and getting my connection bumped off from the app, it reconnected very fast. A window would appear with the LiveWedge highlighted. Tap and I was connected. No watching a spinning icon waiting for things to load. I appreciated that.

Conclusion

Looking at this little video "appliance" as a stand-alone device, the Cerevo LiveWedge handles four HDMI inputs of varying types, syncs them internally, and mixes the audio from those four HDMI inputs, plus an analog Aux input. It can cut, dissolve, wipe, do a customizable picture-in-picture, and save that as a preset. It can do an internal chroma key, and save that as a preset, it can stream, or it can record internally, it can work stand alone, it can work better coupled with a 7" tablet. It's thin enough to fit onto a 1 RU drawer because it doesn't have a "T" bar.

The feature set is especially compelling because you get all of this for just under $1,000 street price. You might find a budget mixer for about that. Or a good streaming appliance for that. Or a stand-alone recorder for a bit less. But all three in one box for this price is pretty unique.

Yes, it has a few caveats. But I was able to, just after receiving it, hook up four HDMI sources, two monitors, and get it on my network without issue. That's quite a testament to the package that Cerevo has put together.