Lecture Capture | News

Crestron Intros CaptureLiveHD Lecture Capture System

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 12/06/11

Crestron has come out with a new high-definition lecture capture kit that provides "one-button" operation. CaptureLiveHD lets users schedule, record, publish online, and view lectures, presentations, medical procedures, seminars, and training sessions. Students and others can view the presentations in high-definition from computer or mobile devices.

The kit includes a number of products:

• Capture HD High-Definition Capture Recorder, a box that captures presentation materials from a computer or other source, along with a live camera images and audio.
• Either a Sony PTZ or a Sony Compact HD video camera; the pan-tilt-zoom camera is better for filming multiple angles; the compact camera is better for stationary shots.
• CaptureLiveHD Software, which handles the workflow aspects of lecture capture, including scheduling of presentations; recording operations, including bookmarking of key moments in the lecture; stopping the recording process; conversion of the media file; and publishing to a Web server for viewing with a browser.
• CAPTURE-TPMC-4SM Touch Screen Controller, an optional touch screen for remote control of the Capture Recorder; the touch screen can display a live view of the room camera and a microphone level meter.

CaptureLiveHD records the presentation in 1080p and saves it in high-quality H.264 format. The recorded lecture includes captured multimedia, plus full screen, picture-in-picture (PIP), and picture-by-picture (PBP) video, from the instructor camera or any other presentation source such as a PowerPoint, DVD, or Web site. The only other component necessary for the recording process is a USB stick for saving the media.

The product comes in two versions. The standard edition provides composite input for lower-resolution cameras, in addition to recording high definition VGA and HDMI signals from AV presentation systems. The Pro edition has 3G SDI input to support SDI, HD-SDI, or 3G-SDI cameras.