Vidyo Receives Top Ranking for Technology Partners in Independent Research Report on Desktop Videoconferencing

Ranked as a Strong Performer, Cited as Having “Best Overall Video Quality and Performance”

Vidyo, Inc., represented by the Enright Company under the distributor DAS, www.directaccessinc.com, has been cited as having the “the best overall video quality and performance” by Forrester Research, Inc. The company also received top ranking for its technology partners among all vendors in addition to being ranked as a “Strong Performer,” overall. Forrester invited 10 vendors to participate in its September 2013 report, The Forrester Wave™: Desktop Videoconferencing, Q3 2013. A complimentary copy of the report is available here.

According to the report, “Vidyo’s routing architecture shifts the heavy media-processing power from bridges to the endpoints, significantly reducing the cost per port to deploy video conferencing.” Additionally, “In our demo, Vidyo clearly delivered the best overall video quality, even with a large number of participants. Vidyo is foremost a provider of desktop video conferencing but also sells room systems based on the same software and routing architecture. Its ability to deliver solutions from the desktop to the conference room put it more squarely in competition with room-based vendors…” The report also states, “In contrast to our 2012 evaluation of Vidyo, during the 2013 Forrester Wave, it provided impressive enterprise customer references, each using its technology on a large scale.”

“It’s an honor for us to be recognized as a strong performer in Forrester’s report for desktop video conferencing,” said Ofer Shapiro, CEO and co-founder, Vidyo. “We strive to advance the industry and develop the best video solutions for our customers and partners. Our collaboration with Google to bring Vidyo’s SVC technology to WebRTC and our work in standardizing H.265 SVC provide proof points that Vidyo’s architecture is both standards agnostic and future proof as we continue to lead innovation in this field.”

Vidyo offers great solutions in videoconferencing

Vidyo believes the report supports key trends that are core to its value proposition:

• The shift from hardware room systems to software endpoints
• The importance of a strong mobile solution
• The proliferation of WebRTC
• Scalable video coding (SVC) based architecture that Vidyo pioneered allowing the best video quality among all participants

The VidyoWorks™ communication and collaboration platform is software-based, highly flexible and can be easily customized for individual enterprise and vertical market video conferencing needs. The VidyoRouter™ is based on the company’s patented Adaptive Video Layering architecture and leverages the standard based Scalable Video Coding (SVC) technology. It eliminates the MCU and offers unprecedented error resiliency, loow latency and rate matching enabling natural, affordable, high quality video to work over the Internet, LTE, 3G and 4G networks. Vidyo has been active driving H.264 SVC, HEVC and SIP video conferencing interoperability in various standards bodies since 2005 and most recently announced it will collaborate with Google to enhance video quality within WebRTC by developing a scalable video extension for the VP9 codec as part of the WebRTC client open source project.

About Vidyo, Inc.
Vidyo, Inc. pioneered Personal Telepresence enabling natural, HD multi-point videoconferences on tablets, smart phones, PCs, Macs, room systems and telepresence installations that interoperate with legacy H.323 and SIP endpoints. Vidyo’s infrastructure makes it a leading provider of affordable cloud-based video conferencing technology. The VidyoWorks™ platform allows solution providers to integrate high quality visual communications into their applications, leveraging Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and Vidyo’s patented VidyoRouter™ technology. Learn more at www.vidyo.com, on the Blog or follow Vidyo on Twitter @vidyo and on Facebook.

DAS (Direct Access Systems)¸www.directaccessinc.com, has been active in distribution in the conferencing market for decades. Based in Southern California, they service and stock Vidyo, Polycom and many other key manufacturers products in conferencing.
w latency and rate matching enabling natural, affordable, high quality video to work over the Internet, LTE, 3G and 4G networks. Vidyo has been active driving H.264 SVC, HEVC and SIP video conferencing interoperability in various standards bodies since 2005 and most recently announced it will collaborate with Google to enhance video quality within WebRTC by developing a scalable video extension for the VP9 codec as part of the WebRTC client open source project.

George Washington University's School of Business Presents the Latest Video Wall Technology

The George Washington University enhanced its School of Business with a new state-of-the-art audio visual system. The plan was to create an impressive showpiece in the facility's atrium lobby. Supported by GWU Associate Craig Linebaugh and the Academic Technologies Department's Assistance Vice President, PB Garrett, Robert Hines, Manager for AT Support Services explained, "The Business School atrium is a collaborative environment, a common area for students as well as the passing public. The university wanted a high impact display system that would engage students and passersby in the University venue."

The George Washington University School of Business showpiece lobby captivates students and public viewers with its two multi-screen video walls powered by RGB Spectrum's MediaWall® processors.

To devise a captivating display system, the University enlisted the services of audio/video technology integration specialists, The Whitlock Group, in Alexandria, Virginia. According to Randy Stewart, Director of Engineering for The Whitlock Group, "The objective was to create a versatile display medium that could present an extensive variety of live and pre-recorded video as well as computer-generated visuals. The design team conceived of two video walls comprised of 2 x 2 displays. RGB Spectrum's MediaWall controller was selected as the video wall processor. The MediaWall was an easy choice. It delivers the full capability and real time performance the project required at a lower cost than other systems."

Content on the two video walls is dynamic and varied, designed to be informative and entertaining. Viewers can watch television news, sporting events, financial information, closed circuit university broadcasts, pre-recorded videos, and information on University curriculum, events, activities, and programs.

The MediaWall processors support up to six video and six computer sources. Video sources include high definition and standard video over-the-air television broadcasts, HD DVD players, and VCRs. Computer inputs include PowerPoint presentations, digital signage, and video teleconferencing.

Each MediaWall controller merges the visuals and outputs them to four Clarity Margay 50-inch rear-projection displays at their native 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. Up to twelve separate images can be displayed on each video wall simultaneously. Any image can also be displayed across the entire wall.

Operators use an AMX touch screen controller to remotely select content for viewing and display configurations. The MediaWall provides limitless display alternatives, giving operators complete flexibility to create any arrangement desired. Pre-programmed display arrangements can be implemented at the touch of a button. The MediaWall processors allow operators to choose image sources, resize, move, zoom, and pan images with click and drag simplicity. Features include custom borders, window titling, on-screen digital clock, and colored and shaded backgrounds.

Stewart concluded, "The MediaWall system operates 24/7. It is a rock solid, reliable product. Its combination of exceptional performance, signal versatility, expandability, ease of use, and low price point make MediaWall the best value in the video wall market."

Hines commented, "The MediaWall system is indeed impressive. The system has received rave reviews from visitors and students. Image quality is superb."

Vaddio says: We Are Not a Videoconferencing Company

A funny thing has happened to Vaddio ever since we announced our EasyUSB products, people have started to call us a video conferencing company. We first started hearing it in Vegas at the "Future of Video Conferencing" seminar that Elliot Gold has done for years. Since then it has gone from a couple of comments to a daily occurrence. In fact, Sally Blank, our international channel manager, was in Australia at a show with our local distributor and the local Polycom rep called her a competitor and wanted her to compare specs. She was dumbfounded and didn't even know how to address such a crazy idea that Vaddio could be a video conferencing vendor. Well I am here to tell you that "We are not a Video Conferencing Company" Damn It!!! We have been called all kinds of sleazy, low down, nasty, dirty things over the course of Vaddio's history, but a video conferencing manufacturer? Come on now, everyone knows that we are that cute little camera company in Minnesota that makes cameras and camera control systems. We believe in Peace & Love and a healthy serving of granola every day and as a result we play well with all manufacturers of PTZ cameras systems. Our PTZ cameras are designed be used with any video conferencing system and we LOVE them all equally.

So here is my confusion, everyone knows that a video conferencing manufacturer sells codecs, you know those little black boxes that cost a pile of cash to purchase and then another pile of cash to maintain. The same black boxes that have a planned obsolescence life cycle that started the moment you bought yours and installed it. And don't get me started about integrating the black box because the black box does not play well with others, PERIOD. They would much rather have you use their control systems, their cameras, their microphones, carts, mixers, cables, batteries and any other office products that they can sell you in the room. For years now, since the early days of CLI and PictureTel video conferencing, manufacturers have been telling us that the black boxes rule and the rest of the AV industry should just drool over them. And if we are really lucky and willing to fork over bushels of hard cash they just might make us a dealer providing we pledge our first born child and all control over sales to our customers. Well, if Vaddio really is a video conferencing company then show me the box, you know, that little black Vaddio codec box. I hate to disappoint you but you will not find one. Nope, there is not one to be found anywhere. Ok, I have one disclaimer "I did own a black box in the 70's that I used for rolling papers & a herbal substance but I didn't inhale". Outside of that we are clean, none to be found anywhere. So if we aren't the "Next Big Thing" well then what is? I think it is PC's. Personal Computers, you know those things we all love to hate but heaven help us if they ever go down. Computers are the "Next Big Thing" in AV, they create our content, their networks distribute that content, and we watch that content on them. Broadcasting has seen firsthand what the power of a PC can do to change a industry, from production to post everything, is designed for a PC work flow and what use to be very expensive black boxes are now a software applications running on PCs. So if broadcasting changed to a PC centric world, what's to say that AV doesn't do the same. My friends, I believe that those tail lights that are passing us by right now as we breathe it's green carbon neutral smoke are the PC applications that our customers are running and you know they will not slow down just because we don't understand them.

Since the demise of film and the birth of Power Point our industry has always been driven by the content that our customers adopt and then want to present, Hardware video conferencing which at one time was very complex and difficult at best, is now being replaced by these warm, fuzzy, easy to use soft codecs that happen to be free in a lot of cases. Free has always had a big impact on customer adoption just ask YouTube what free has meant for web based video content. In an interesting parallel between YouTube and soft codecs, the big dig on YouTube early on was that the video quality would never be good enough for corporate America. Go ahead and try to find a US Corporation that is NOT on YouTube these days.

So let's get back to talking about my favorite subject, Vaddio. We have always been a customer focused company that only builds what our customers want to buy. Our customers for the last two years have been asking us for a HD USB PTZ camera that they could use with these new soft codecs. They wanted it to be broadcast quality and have all of the normal inputs and outputs and control capabilities that a professional AV product would have. So we did just that, we built an HD USB PTZ camera that they integrate into their soft codec room designs. At the same time we were developing the camera we realized that the quality of USB microphones was ok for a desktop but not at all good enough for a room system. This led us to develop a true USB microphone system. Not a speakerphone with a USB jack, but a high quality WideBand echo cancelling microphone system that has discreet microphones and two twenty watt amps to drive whatever speakers the integrator desires for that project. We also upped the ante with the AV Bridge, which was designed for those integrators that REALLY want to integrate. Now the integrator can choose all of the equipment they want to use from any manufacture they like. The AV Bridge takes the Video & Audio outputs of those glorious AV devices of your choosing and encodes them into a USB stream that you can plug into the computer of your choosing. And in addition to AV inputs there is a control port (both RS232 & Ethernet) so you can use your favorite Crestron control system with it as well.

Well, I hope I have pleaded our case that Vaddio is not a video conferencing vendor, but we are still just that cute little camera company in Minnesota that makes cameras and camera control systems.

Latest Trends in Videoconferencing

For those who want to stay up with the latest trends in videoconferencing, Mark Basford, VC superman, has an eminently followable twitter feed.

Go to https://twitter.com/#!/avconferencing  look for and mash the big blue Follow @twitter button
at the top.

Radvision from HD Distributing - Leaders in Videoconferencing

Enright Company announces our new relationship with RADVISION, www.radvision.com, a leading technology provider for unified visual communications. RADVISION offers video network infrastructure, developer tools, desktop and mobile video conferencing systems, and now endpoint products. The SCOPIA XT1000 room system and SCOPIA VC240 desktop endpoint have revolutionized the high definition (HD) market.

Radvision's new VC240

With its acquisition of Aethra endpoint technology in February 2010, RADVISION has introduced its own HD room system, the SCOPIA XT1000. The SCOPIA XT1000 delivers the perfect blend of value and a high quality, high-end experience, making it stand out amongst the competition.
Key features of the SCOPIA XT1000 include:   

Dual Full HD 1080p 30fps: The SCOPIA XT1000 delivers two full HD (1080p 30fps) video streams as standard.  The included high end PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera supports 10x optical zoom and wide angle capability for viewing details as well as an entire group.  The second 1080p video stream can be used with an additional 1080p camera for complete visual coverage or with a PC for data sharing.

High Resolution PC Data Sharing: The SCOPIA XT1000 supports high resolution PC data sharing at 30fps so presentations and even video clips can be shared with zero loss of quality.  The quality of the data channel does not degrade even when the main video channel is operating at full HD 1080p 30fps.

Embedded HD Multi-party Conferencing: RADVISION’s multipoint expertise is embedded in the SCOPIA XT1000. Support for high definition, continuous presence meetings with up to nine participants are very affordable utilizing the SCOPIA XT1000’s built-in MCU.

Full Band Audio with Beam Forming Microphone Technology: The SCOPIA XT1000 provides 48 kHz (full band) audio encoding to ensure high clarity audio transmission with no loss of quality.  Beam forming technology is used in the 3-way microphone to put the focus on the speaker while isolating background noise.
The SCOPIA VC240 is the result of joint design and development between RADVISION and Samsung and leverages each company’s respective best of breed expertise.  The SCOPIA VC240 is the first product in the market to integrate all the components required for high definition desktop video conferencing into a single unit at an affordable price.  It can operate as a standalone desktop HD video conferencing device as well as a 24 inch high resolution monitor.

Key features of the SCOPIA VC240 include:    

All-in-One Desktop Video Conferencing & PC Display:  The 24” widescreen LCD, high definition camera, high fidelity speakers, echo cancelling microphone, along with an advanced video conferencing engine provide an elegant All-In-One standalone HD desktop video conferencing system and PC display.

High Quality HD Video & Data Sharing:  Enjoy superior quality desktop video conferencing with full 720p, 30 fps performance with bandwidth as low as 750kbps, while supporting up to 2Mbps. Sharing PC data and presentations with other systems couldn’t be easier with the SCOPIA VC240’s integrated H.239 dual video capabilities.

Making calls and connections is as easy to use as your mobile phone. Forget what you know about complicated user interfaces for sophisticated systems. Connecting with the SCOPIA VC240 is simple, fast and brilliantly designed. Get your last dialed calls, detailed history and phone book in an instant.

Seamlessly integrated with RADVISION’s SCOPIA total solution, including the XT1000 with uncompromised 1080p for conference rooms, the SCOPIA Elite MCU offering multipoint power and scale, SCOPIA Desktop enabling HD conferencing on the go, SCOPIA Mobile for touch control and SCOPIA Management Suite for deploying and managing distributed deployments.

The SCOPIA VC240 breaks down barriers to desktop deployment by allowing users to enjoy all the benefits of the HD video communications experience at a fraction of the cost of competing hardware solutions. With its market leading price point, the VC240 enables wide-scale deployment of HD video on the desktop, dramatically increasing the ROI of a video conferencing deployment.
Enright Company is representing RADVISION thru HD Distributing,in MN. For more information, please contact your Enright Company sales representative.