The world of live streaming is one of continual change and disruption. For instance, many outreach-focused churches today have found themselves recently in the position of needing to transition their live streaming strategy to focus more on social media delivery rather than strategies centered around driving traffic to a dedicated website or app.
By and large, these kinds of upheavals are a good thing in that evolving technologies and approaches often reduce costs and complexities, making it easier than ever for teams with limited expertise to get up and streaming. In the past, issues such as transcoding and distribution made streaming difficult for tech ministries without specialized training and experience. The size of the essential hardware footprint, as well as unreliable network connectivity, also placed severe limitations on how churches, especially mobile churches, could dependably employ the evangelistic potential of live streaming.
With the introduction of the VidiU Go, Teradek is aiming to remove many of these roadblocks with a single device. After spending some hands-on time putting the VidiU Go through its paces, we’re confident it may well be exactly the kind of device many tech directors, especially those involved with mobile or event-driven churches, have been looking for.
The Big Picture
At first glance the Teradek VidiU Go appears to be just another compact, portable live streaming system, albeit one with design and build qualities several cuts above the norm. Once you take a closer look, however, discerning users will discover that there’s a lot more going on under the hood than meets the eye.
For starters, the VidiU Go features both SDI and HDMI input connections, allowing it to utilize signals from the vast majority of digital video cameras, video-capable DSLR and mirrorless stills cameras, and video switchers on the market today. The HDMI connections means it could be possible to stream directly from laptops with HDMI ports, while the SDI input means video teams won’t be limited as they graduate from prosumer-type devices to more professional options over time.
The VidiU Go utilizes Teradek’s proprietary networking technology, which creates a “bonded” network that combines all available Ethernet, WiFi and 3G/4G/LTE modem connections to provide the most robust, dependable stream possible.
The VidiU Go utilizes Teradek’s proprietary networking technology, which creates a “bonded” network that combines all available Ethernet, WiFi and 3G/4G/LTE modem connections to provide the most robust, dependable stream possible. This allows users to take advantage of iPhone and Android smartphones, cellular-equipped tablets and mobile hotspots for additional sources of bandwidth connectivity.
Video resolutions from 480i/60 all the way up to 1080p/60fps are supported natively by the VidiU Go, and can be streamed directly to destinations like RTMP, Facebook, YouTube life, Vimeo, Periscope, Twitch, Wowza and Ustream.
The unit can also record the video feed simultaneously to MicroSD cards for use after the live event.
Built to Go
The VidiU Go feels extremely modular, with fairly intuitive setup protocols and a boot time from powered off to ready to stream of about 13 seconds. The front of the device boasts a very bright OLED operator interface, along with a direction pad for navigation and dedicated power and recording buttons. The display shows internal battery life, connectivity status, cellular signal strength and basic streaming info.
The VidiU Go feels extremely modular, with fairly intuitive setup protocols and a boot time from powered off to ready to stream of about 13 seconds.
The unit can be powered by the rechargeable battery or via external power provided through a USB-C connection. While Teradek lists the battery life as being 2.5 hours, the review unit we tested seemed to be getting a little under 90 minutes. This discrepancy probably had a lot to do with the two Teradek Nodes that were drawing power from the device as well.
The device itself mounts to camera via an included hot-shoe mount adapter, can be connected directly to any 1/4-20 threaded stand, and has small rubber feet on the bottom of the unit for placement directly on flat surfaces. The body of the device is primarily a strong aluminum, which makes it feel extremely durable while keeping the over all weight under 14oz. With that in mind, users won’t want to be too cavalier with the front panel display, which is a hardened plastic composite.
The Teradek Nodes
To improve cellular signal connectivity and reliability Teradek has developed new modular modems called Nodes. Nodes are small side modules that can be connected securely to the device and draw power and data via USB connections. In our experience the nodes are very small, very elegant and extremely useful.
To improve cellular signal connectivity and reliability Teradek has developed new modular modems called Nodes.
Teradek claims the Nodes provide 2-3 times the performance of carrier branded modems, and while we weren’t able to quantify that ourselves we were still impressed with their signal connection strength and how well they incorporated into the VidiU Go. For professionals who make their living streaming live events from a variety of locations, the Nodes should probably be considered essential upgrades.
At the “Core”
While the VidiU Go supports H.264 compression for compatibility with current standards, probably the single biggest selling point of the device is its ability to take advantage of the emerging H.265 today. For users unfamiliar with H.265 / HEVC, it’s a next generation codec that provides superior video quality while being far more bandwidth-efficient than H.264.
While the VidiU Go supports H.264 compression for compatibility with current standards, probably the single biggest selling point of the device is its ability to take advantage of the emerging H.265 today.
When partnered with Teradek’s new Core cloud service, the VidiU Go encodes and transmits the superior H.265 codec, which is then transmitted to the Core service and transcoded to the standard H.264 for distribution. This means users get all of the benefits of H.265 when on location without having to worry about compatibility issues. Better still, the Core service can also stream your transcoded content directly to multiple destinations simultaneously.
The Core service can be monitored and managed either via web browser or a dedicated iOS app. Core is currently a pay-as-you-go service, which factors your data transmission and transcoding costs to arrive at your final charges. It’s an elegant solution for taking advantage of the power of H.265 before it’s been widely adopted, and it’s definitely the feature that sets the VidiU Go apart from every thing else out there right now.
In Conclusion
There’s no doubt that VidiU Go is a seriously impressive device. It’s powerful, compact and boasts a fantastic feature set and build quality. And it’s clear that this is not Teradek’s first streaming device, as there are a number of impressive refinements that really shine once when the device is deployed in real world settings.
It’s also clear that this is the kind of device designed with professionals like church tech directors in mind. The VidiU Go is probably as close to plug-and-play as a portable streaming device can be, especially for end users needing something higher quality and more dependable than a cell phone on a selfie stick.
It’s ... clear that this is the kind of device designed with professionals like church tech directors in mind.
The internal recording feature could also prove to be a crucial feature for churches looking to create a unique video-on-demand version of the weekend experience but don’t have a separate team to manage that process in real-time. The only drawback we can see at this point is the unit’s 80-minute battery life. This shouldn’t be considered a deal-breaker, however, as teams needing more power for mobile setups can take advantage of third-party mobile USB-3 battery power packs to easily make up the difference.
... the VidiU Go is not the cheapest product on the market, but with its build quality and technological advantages, it may well be the best value on the market for teams needing rock-solid live streaming performance over the long haul.
The unit we reviewed was the VidiU Go Deluxe kit, which comes with the main device, two Nodes, SIM card adapters, Ethernet, SDI and HDMI cables, a USB-C power adapter and a card with $500 of Core credit. Teams that already have reliable 3G/LTE USB modem solutions may not need this Deluxe version, but churches just starting out with mobile streaming may want to seriously consider the upgrade.
As will most Teradek products, the VidiU Go is not the cheapest product on the market, but with its build quality and technological advantages, it may well be the best value on the market for teams needing rock-solid live streaming performance over the long haul.
The Teradek VidiU Go has a suggested retail price of $1,490, and the Deluxe Kit runs $2,690. To find out more visit www.teradek.com.
