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I'd like to talk about streaming live video, and I hope this doesn't bring back any bad memories. This is about a very different approach than when producing a live streaming event meant wheeling in racks of servers and costs wafting about on the currents of hard-to-predict expectations of bandwidth usage and number of streams. VBrick Systems' VBXCast cuts through the IT consultant quagmire and lets you just do it, for whomever needs to see it.
VBrick Systems now supports real-time MPEG-4 encoding, including the new VBrick 4200 ($4,995). But it's VBrick's VBXCast product series, which includes the 4200 hardware and a partnership with streaming service provider PowerStream, that offers a way to stream live video to virtually anyone on the Internet, no matter what size your organization or what experience you may have with streaming.
If you tried streaming three or four years ago, this is probably difficult to imagine. There are no negotiations, no yearlong contracts, no streaming servers to configure, and no hassle other than plugging in a VBrick and connecting a video source. Better still, as part of your Brick purchase, VBrick picks up the tab for you to get started.
Wash, rinse, and stream
VBrick Systems makes video network appliances that, like household toasters, washers, and blenders, do a specific job at the touch of a button. For VBrick appliances with conventional video and audio inputs and Ethernet "outputs," the task is turning media into data packets and serving them onto a network.
Until recently, VBrick MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 realtime encoders streamed high bit-rate video across wide bandwidth LAN or WAN. With the addition of the VBrick 4200 and its low...