5.0. SWCSR 12-01-2016 Sherburne Wright Cable Commission
Equipment and Technology Report
December 1st, 2016
VieBit Upgrade 2.0
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Leightronix is releasing a new upgrade to VieBit called VieBit 2.0 that will allow for many new
features: We have worked with them extensively to ask for additional features to this service and
they not only listened but went a step farther and expanded other options.
1) Enhanced Mobile Playback: Automatically adjusts dimensions based on whatever device is
viewing it. A separate mobile banner can even be created.
2)New Branding Features: The ability to add special mobile banners, advertising of specific
upcoming events like council meetings, candidate forums, city celebrations etc. Also the ability
to add the city logo on VOD videos.
3) Hyperlinks: The ability to add links to lead viewers to other spots on your web site such as
videos, agendas, maps, PDF's or any document on your web site.As an example: a video about
road construction could also have a hyperlink to another video about roundabouts.
4) New Design: Updated to the HTML5 video specification to support modem devices. This has
the added bonus of increasing resolution.
5) Upgrade of VOD Metadata Capabilities: Any information entered is now saved
automatically, addition folders can be generated to archive programs, or create sub folders of
parent folders.
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6) Easier Meeting Link Capabilities: It's now easier to add links to key agenda items so the
viewer can jump to specific agenda topics in videos.
7)Ability to Make Specific Videos Downloadable by the Public: Example: You can allow
developers to download your city economic development video or make specific videos available
for FOIA requests or big events like the city parade.
8) Links to Social Media Sites: There is now the ability to add links
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These and many other features have been improved. I'll be adding this upgrade during December
and plan on having it available in every city by the end of the year.
I'm still working with several cities to get the logos and images that they want to use for
branding.
It's important to note that Leightronix is not charging anything for this upgrade and they haven't
changed their rates. They have told me that they are still adding features and continue to
implement many that we have suggested. They also have free support.
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We have taken delivery of our new video file encoder that you approved at our last meeting. This
will allow us to start recording video files in the trailer which will make our job a lot easier.
It allows us to do many things at once such as live stream an event when we have an available
network, record a file in either SD or HD resolution video for later replay on a city or our SWTV
Channel. It can also create a point to point broadcast. An example of this would be to cover an
event in Elk River and send it back to our SWTV Nexus via network link for rebroadcast to the
area wide channel.
Currently we are able to only record events in the trailer to a disc and sneaker net it back to our
cities or SWTV.
DVD Recorders
We are running into problems finding and purchasing DVD recorders. In each of our cities we
make a DVD copy in addition to the file that is recorded live on our UltraNexus. The DVD copy
is sometimes used by council members or staff but mostly it has been used as a safety or archival
copy.
Manufacturers no longer make affordable disc recorders. Everything is moving to file based
recording. I mention this because there is going to be a time soon where we will not be able to
continue to maintain DVD recording in our cities.
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Smart Sympodium/Kramer VIA Connect PRO
All of our cities currently use the Smart Sympodium in their council chambers. It is the device
that allows you to annotate on your PowerPoint, Word and Excel documents.
Recently the Smart Tech company was sold and they made a decision to stop selling the
Sympodium. They are concentrating on the education market and focusing on selling only
SmartBoards. They will still support the software.
I have discussed this change with Mert and I have been researching alternate technologies for the
time when we can no longer support or replace a Sympodium.
One technology that I am currently testing is a product called Kramer VIA Connect PRO. It's a
product made by a well respected video manufacturer that allows the use of any device to display
video during presentations.
Kramer VIA Connect uses a technology similar to our Apple TV's Airplay,that allows the
images to not only be displayed but also annotated. Also multiple devices can be displayed in a
conference room environment for collaboration. It does this all via a special module that hooks
into the video presentation system that can link with the presenters Wi-Fi or LAN enabled
device. It works with not only Apple iOS devices but also Android and any display device with
Wi-Fi or LAN capabilities such as a Windows or MAC laptop.
It has security features such as user authentication and 1024 bit encryption, can display HD
1080P160 quality video and up to 4 participants can be displayed simultaneously. I will be
updating you at future meetings. I am not requesting any action be taken now by the commission.
I am only bringing it up now to address any concerns about losing the Sympodium capabilities. I
see this as a positive and viable upgrade option that has passed initial tests. The best part is they
cost considerably less than a Sympodium at a 4th of the price!
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Kramer VIA Connect PRO Connection Diagram
Watertown Upgrade
We are almost done with the upgrade of the Watertown TriCaster system. This was a challenging
upgrade as there are many obstacles now to deal with concerning HDMI and their HDCP copy
protection technology.
As computer and display manufacturers have moved more and more towards using only HDMI
and away from VGA, DVI and other connections it has presented many issues with interfacing
existing equipment. It is very hard to find composite SD video in any other piece of equipment to
link with the cable system.
Thankfully the main components we use, The TriCaster and the Nexus have dual SD/HD input
capability. Other devices such as monitors, scan converters and scalers are getting increasingly
hard to purchase.
While we try very hard to make the end result in the Control Room easy to use for city staff it is
taking more creativity to do this cost effectively. We really have no other option than to adapt to
change because we are no longer able to replace existing SD equipment.
This is also becoming an issue for equipment that uses Windows software as it's very hard to
disable the automatic updates in operating systems like Windows 10.
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A collection of photos from some of our events
One of the things both Mark and I love about our jobs is the outreach events we do
and all the people we meet that we introduced to SWTV and the Sherburne Wright
Cable Commission.
It truly is an amazing thing to have the opportunity to meet so many new people
from all our communities. Many have become friends or at the very least viewers
of our channels.
Please always think of us when you are planning city events and contact us to see
how we can take part and if there are ways that we can assist with the event. We
have become "self-proclaimed experts" at offering ways to enhance your city
related event.
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Some of the many people who toured our trailer at the Buffalo Pink Street Celebration October 6th,2016
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Some Highlights from the Big Lake Veteran's Celebration November 10th, 2016
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Equipment used at the Big Lake Veteran's Celebration November 10th,2016
Some Highlights of Rockford's "Rocktoberfest" October 8th, 2016
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Kat Perkins at Rocktoberfest October 8th, 2016
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Equipment Repairs, Upgrades and Miscellaneous Notes
Buffalo - Replacement of battery backup in the city council control room, Pink Street
Celebration outreach plus other repairs.
Elk River- Planning for playback system remodel that upgrades the Nexus system and hard
drive recorders. VieBit 2.0 upgrade
Big Lake—Conference room repairs, VieBit 2.0 work and streaming upgrade, Big lake
Veteran's event audio and video support
Cokato - work on VieBit upgrade plus serach for and order replacement DVD recorder
Monticello - Service calls for channel outages, audio issues, audio repairs, presentation lecterns,
council meeting producer support phone calls and site visits.
Delano - Preparation for Nexus upgrade and VieBit implementation
Rockford - Playback Rack repair issues, Rocktoberfest festival video coverage
Dassel- VieBit Upgrade, Staff training, Video On Demand online work and support
Watertown—upgrade council control room system with new TriCaster and other equipment,
staff training
Maple Lake—work on playback system and other repairs
Trailer- repairs to cameras, tripods, other equipment and parts, remote productions
SWTV and Commission —work on VieBit upgrades, Handling day to day commission
questions, phone calls and email, Phone, Email or direct meetings with commission executive
committee members, Trailer work for winter shoots, work on city playback systems, streaming
upgrades, software updates, Phone calls with Commission Attorney Robert Vose, Phone calls
and emails and phone calls with Charter and anything else I'm asked to help with.
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Purchase Request for Nexus Upgrade Equipment for Delano and Elk River
I have been working with Leightronix, our playback controller provider on the
SWTV and Buffalo Nexus-HD upgrades which will be up and running during
December.
The next (2) Nexus-HD upgrades we had planned on were the devices for Elk River
and Delano. The normal price for a Nexus HD is $13,995 each. We also need a 2-
TB Raid Drive system normally priced at $1,799 each. Leightronix is giving us a
Technology Partnership Discount for our consulting role in helping them improve
their products. The normal total would be $31,588. With the discount the total
cost is $26,849.80
Action Requested: Approve purchase for Delano and Elk River Nexus-HD and 2-
TB Raid Drive system for a cost of $26,849.50