Ultra-Low Latency Tech Streamlines NFL Team’s Remote Production

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MONTREAL —  A Quebec-based provider of real-time video streaming and networking products has won a contract with a National Football League football club that is now leveraging its “ultra-low latency” Makito X4 video encoder and decoder pair to stream synchronized multi-camera live video feeds from remote venues back to their broadcast studio.


This, Haivision Systems Inc. says, allows the team to produce unique and engaging pre-and post-game content for fans.

When the team travels to away games, Philadelphia Eagles live stream content to audiences watching on YouTube and Facebook, as well as to the team’s website and its mobile app.

“When working at remote venues, there are many complexities to overcome to achieve the low latency required to enable two-way audio communications between the production studio and to give fans the experience of being alongside their team while they’re on the road,” Haivision says. “On-field, sideline, and end-zone cameras need to be set up, and there are logistics involved in managing frequencies and wiring, often in an unfamiliar stadium. Once the cameras are in place, video signals need to be synchronized and brought back at sub-second latency to their studio in Philadelphia. This used to mean transporting a large amount of broadcast gear as well as the logistical challenges involved when traveling with up to seven staff members needed to operate the equipment.”

The Philadelphia Eagles are using Haivision’s Makito X4 Encoder to encode four HD video inputs simultaneously while keeping the outgoing streams in sync.

“The Makito X4 encoder allows us to simultaneously send streams from four cameras in sync back to our studio in 200 milliseconds,” said David Sullivan, the Eagles’ Senior Broadcast and Media Engineer. “We turned it on and immediately saw the benefits.”

Use of the Makito X4 encoder also led the Eagles to reduce the number of staff needed to travel to away games.


For more information about the Makito X4 video encoder, please visit https://www.haivision.com/products/makito-x4-series/.