Looking for high AV quality, low-latency transmissions, reliability and ease of use, Liaocheng Media chose Dante AV-A to replace its multipoint control unit for internal video conferencing.
Liaocheng is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, China. The administrative division ‘prefecture-level’ means that Liaocheng is simultaneously a city and a prefecture with subordinate county-level cities and counties – in other words, it is quite big and is home to five million residents, located at the intersection of the Yellow River and the Grand Canal.
The local news outlet for the city is the Liaocheng Media Integration Centre, which consists of a central office supported by six sub-centres distributed around the city. Until recently, the Media centre used a multipoint control unit (MCU) for internal video conferencing between the centres. However, the system suffered from poor audio quality and long latency times that resulted in inaccurate lip sync.
From MCU to Dante Network
To replace the ageing MCU and improve internal communications, the Media Centre needed a system capable of high AV quality, low-latency transmissions, reliability and ease of use. The staff looked into alternative approaches and consulted with Jiang Wei, Head of the Technical Department at ENNE professional AV equipment manufacturers, for recommendations on replacing the control unit with a more robust system.
In Wei’s estimation, these requirements could be met with a Dante system. “Dante AV over IP networking can be integrated very easily into existing infrastructures while expanding video capabilities,” he said. “It increases flexibility and ensures that the quality of the delivered content will be preserved.” Liaocheng Media Centre has installed a system of ENNE’s Dante AV transmitters and receivers connecting all locations.
To address the latency issue, the Media Centre worked with its local telecom provider to install dedicated fibre between each sub-centre and the central office. Wei’s team deployed an ENNE IPE5100 transmitter and ENNE IPD5100 receiver at each sub-centre, while the central office used one transmitter and six receivers, one for each sub-centre.
Direct Integration
The ENNE IPE5100 / IPD5100 pairs integrate directly with the Dante AV-A platform, making it possible to transmit high-quality video and audio streams at low latencies. The devices support 4K UHD resolution (4Kp60 4:4:4) and allow flexibility in signal routing design. They are compatible with HDCP 2.2/2.3 (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection for digital copy prevention) and handle LAN and long-distance fibre connections.
Dante AV video endpoints are interoperable across manufacturers using the same codec. Designed to send video alongside Dante audio over standard 1 GbE networks, and with audio channels that are compatible with the other Dante-enabled audio products, system design requirements are simplified.
In-Room Video Experience
The AV-A version of the platform extends Dante AV networking software to hardware that is based on the ASPEED AST1530 SoC, and makes hardware redesigns unnecessary. Dante AV-A adds control for one channel of video at resolutions up to 4Kp60 4:4:4 and 2x2 channels of Dante-enabled audio to ASPEED chip designs, making them compatible with existing Dante software and installations.
With its ultra-low video latency, Dante AV-A sets up a natural, immersive in-room video experience and is a good match for one-to-many AV distributions like the Liaocheng Media Integration centre. Pleased with the improvements in latency and performance, the staff have found that system management and monitoring are also more convenient for users than the previous system, reducing the workload for news staff. www.getdante.com
