买家在线直播硬件指南

While there are a number of software-based webcasting tools, including several covered by Jan Ozer 直播平台买家指南, 有些情况下，体检, 用于控制直播的触觉装置会派上用场.

本文将介绍便携式网络广播硬件的几种形式因素, 从单按钮硬件一直到便携式视觉混合器. 请注意，产品列表是具有代表性的, not exhaustive; if your company has a product that should be considered with those listed, 请把它作为评论添加到下面.

一个按钮流式传输他们所有

In instances in which there's one video input and the stream is fairly straightforward, 网络直播硬件的最佳方法是减少按钮. 这意味着在上线之前需要进行一些预生产设置, 除非每个直播流都使用相同的URL和元数据.

The smallest of the single-button devices that also houses a video input is the Mage好吧 Ultra Stream. 该设备有两个版本:Ultra Stream HDMI和Ultra Stream SDI, and both have a single green button to start the stream and a red button to stop it. 除此之外，该装置的其余部分包括电源和音视频输入.

Mage好吧 Ultra Stream

The HDMI version has a loop-through HDMI signal, so there are two HDMI connectors. The input side captures HDMI and any audio embedded in the HDMI signal and can extract the embedded audio to a headphone jack for monitoring. 在视频方面, 除了环路通过HDMI信号进行监控, Ultra Stream能够捕捉4K 60 fps渐进视频(4:2:0), 这意味着它可以被使用, 据公司介绍, “从PS4 Pro和XBOX One S等最新的游戏机上抓取, 并自动缩小到2K录制或流媒体." That downscaling is due to the same Mage好吧 video engine found in its higher-end encoder and USB capture devices.

还有一个板载芯片用于记录内容, 以及一个web界面来配置各种设置. 总之, this type of device is good for repeatable webcasts in which the operator doesn't have to think beyond starting and stopping the event with a single button.

更多的输入，更多的按钮

At CES 2020, Roland announced a thin, paperback book-sized device that it calls : Livecast. One of our intrepid contributing editors is planning a review of the product, 针对实时网络广播工作流进行测试, but it appears to fill a middle ground in both size and feature sets when it comes to multiple video inputs.

罗兰:Livecast

: Livecast, which Roland refers to as a "livestreaming studio for smartphones" that combines hardware and software, has a panel of buttons laid out somewhat like the old Radio Shack solar calculator you might have had as an elementary school student. 一个按钮控制直播开始和停止, 而其他的则致力于各种音频和视频需求. Some mute or modify the audio input, and others launch music cues or prerecorded video clips. The unit also has a built-in microphone and two potentiometers ("pots") to adjust line input audio and microphone audio, 分别.

奇怪的是, 对于具有音频控制的设备, as 好吧 as a Neutrik combination 1/4" and XLR audio connector with user-selectable 48v phantom power, there's no discrete monitoring of individual audio inputs at the source and no basic LED meter to confirm that audio is making it into the device. Any form of monitoring requires that a smartphone be plugged into the device, 智能手机有四重功能:作为视频输入, 音频混频器和监视器, 流输出设备, 以及聊天或评论工具. 和, 正如该公司所说, ，如果你使用的是安卓智能手机, 首先使用智能手机的音量按钮来调节音量, 然后调整“: Livecast”硬件上的耳机旋钮.

然而, 因为智能手机上的软件是可以升级的, it should make one-button encoding for popular live-stream platforms easy to launch. 罗兰说, 该应用程序“登录你在脸谱网 Live上的账户, 抽搐, YouTube, 以及其他主流流媒体服务."

从可移植性的角度来看, 该公司表示，5v微型USB接口允许灵活性. 在户外使用时, you can supply power from a mobile battery (sold separately) instead of an AC outlet,罗兰的文件中写道.

最后, 对于那些想要使用第二个摄像头输入的人, the software application allows one additional smartphone to be linked to the primary smartphone as a "satellite camera," provided that a) the app is installed on both smartphones and b) both smartphones are on the same Wi-Fi network.

摄像机视频混频器

While devices like the Ultra Stream and : Livecast are designed to sit on a flat surface alongside the camera, there are a few hardware setups that are portable enough that they mount on the camera being used. 设备使用热靴槽, which can be found atop most digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras or even on the top of all but the most basic video cameras.

许多这些带摄像头的设备都有相当基本的功能, 处理来自摄像机的单个流. 本质上, these hardware units replace software-based streams from an 和roid or iOS device with a smallish box that doesn't contain a screen but may contain a Neutrik TRS-XLR combo connector for audio as 好吧 as a video input. 其中一些还包含集成蜂窝或Wi-Fi无线电, so that the broadcast can be live streamed via one of several paths without requiring an Ethernet cable tethered to the camera.

去年出现了一种新产品, 虽然, that offer a combination of the functionality of hardware with the flexibility of software. 超越热鞋安装的单流设备, this new class of devices strongly blurs the line between raw streaming and multi-input streams mixed together at the source.

VidiMo去StreamGear的一款新硬件流媒体产品就是这样一种设备. 结合视频显示软件, 它形成了一个有趣的混合, 好吧, 视觉混合多个音频和视频源.

StreamGear morphed out of Gerard Virga's PowerStream and StreamDynamics companies. Virga由Darryl Spangler加入StreamGear, whose other company is a market representative and distributor for products like the Mage好吧 Ultra Stream. Vidi-Mo Go于2019年发布, 但直到2020年1月才发货, 此前，StreamGear在拉斯维加斯的CES 2020上展示了这款产品.

表面上看, 在这种情况下，vidmo Go看起来像一个连接智能手机的奇特夹子, 安卓手机, al虽然 Virga said during an interview at CES 2020 that an iOS version of the control software is coming—to the top of a DSLR or video camera. 虽然它确实可以作为智能手机夹, securing the phone horizontally above the camera—in much the same way as the inexpensive JOBY Sure Grip that we previously reviewed—the VidiMo去 is both sturdier and so much more than a clamp. 巧妙的设计, 事实上, was selected by the Industrial Designers Society of America as a finalist in the 2019 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).

在金属支架内是一个用户可更换的电池, 可以通过vidmo Go上的USB-C接口充电, 还有一个USB-C接口，用于连接安卓手机. 此外，还有两个1/8“(3).5毫米)连接器, 一个用于麦克风或线路输入，另一个用于遥控, 对于那些可能把数码单反或摄像机安装在三脚架上的人来说，这是一个好主意.

虽然我们还没有评测过vidmo Go的硬件, 硬件上似乎没有音频监控, 这意味着智能手机将不得不承担音频监视器的三重职责, 视频混合器, 流媒体设备. 最后一个输入连接器是微型HDMI. 这与大多数配备HDMI输出的数码单反相机的外形相同, 比USB-C接口略小.

在视频混频方面, the VidiMo Show application allows users to switch among six fully customizable scene layouts. 这些布局可以混合HDMI输入和智能手机的摄像头, as 好吧 as lower-third graphics (titles and crawls) or text or prerecorded video clips.

“是时候上线了,据StreamGear报道, "the show can be recorded onto the smartphone and streamed live to a private server or popular third-party services,，包括YouTube, 脸谱网, 和抽搐.