Offering resolutions and frame rates up to 1080p at 60 fps, the HS-1600T from Datavideo is a video synchronizer and mixer, camera controller, audio processor, monitoring system and video encoder/server in a compact package.
As churches begin streaming and recording their services, they inevitably discover that the world of video can pose quite a steep learning curve. Even more than in audio production, video streaming comes with a dizzying array of acronyms, standards, compatibility issues and technical nuance.
The fact that it's so portable would be a real plus for any church-in-a-box that sets up and strikes its equipment every Sunday.
The Datavideo HS-1600T portable video streaming studio is designed to be an all-in-one solution to the challenges of video streaming and recording. Offering resolutions and frame rates up to 1080p at 60 fps, the HS-1600T is a video synchronizer and mixer, camera controller, audio processor, monitoring system and video encoder/server in a compact package. With the appearance of a chunky laptop computer, the HS-1600T is also designed to be portable. This would be a real plus for any church-in-a-box that sets up and strikes its equipment every Sunday. We look forward to testing the HS-1600T in this portable role.
With four video inputs, the HS-1600T sits near the bottom of the Datavideo "Mobile Cast" line (the HS-3200, in comparison, offers 12 video inputs). What sets the HS-1600T apart from most other models in the line is its three HDBaseT inputs. These allow the HS-1600T to power and control three remote PTZ cameras over common Ethernet cabling. These cameras can be located up to 100 meters from the HS-1600T.
Camera controls include focus and iris knobs with auto/manual buttons, auto/manual white balance, pan/tilt joystick and zoom.
Dedicated controls in the camera control section include focus and iris knobs with auto/manual buttons, auto/manual white balance, pan/tilt joystick and zoom knob. A nice touch is a LOCK button to avoid unintentional camera moves. Each of the three camera channels has four buttons to recall preset shots. Finally, a speed button with three settings controls how fast the camera pans, tilts and zooms. A responsive, intuitive camera control section can have a huge effect on the smoothness and professionalism of your video production. We aim to put the HS-1600T through its paces in this regard.
The fourth video input is HDMI, designed primarily for the output of a computer. The HS-1600T offers no chromakey, instead it has a lumakey feature for superimposing computer graphics or logos. A luminance-based key is clearly more limited than a true chromakey, so we look forward to seeing how effective this method is. The HS-1600T has no capacity to store a logo or other stills internally. Instead, it offers a solid background generator with eight colors.
In the video transition department, the HS-1600T keeps things simple. In addition to crossfade and cut, it offers horizontal, vertical and center wipes. You can add a border of varying thicknesses to the shot transition. A T-bar allows for manual transitions at any speed, and the HS-1600T also offers an automatic transition with adjustable duration up to 200 frames. Finally, the HS-1600T has a picture-in-picture effect with adjustable size and position.
Of most interest to churches is the HS-1600T's built-in streaming server and Ethernet output. This allows for streaming over a variety of protocols to the common online video services (Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitch, etc.). The HS-1600T can also record the video stream to an SD card and, most importantly, it can stream and record to SD card at the same time. Doing both seems to impose some bit rate limits, however, so we'll watch for quality loss in our future tests.
The HS-1600T alone has a street price of around $5,000. A Datavideo package that includes three PTC-140T cameras and an extra 7" monitor comes in at around $10,000. For churches, it's all about value. Is the HS-1600T all-in-one streaming solution worth the price of admission? We aim to find out.
