We recently go a HUGE upgrade to our equipment inventory. The LiveU backpacks are beyond what we thought was possible, and we’re just getting started! Don’t worry – This Won’t Take Long.
Live U is one of the leaders in the broadcasting industry and we are super excited to be expanding our capabilities with the addition of these new products. Let’s look at everything we got from Live U.
What equipment did we get from LiveU?
First off, we have a total of 4 backpacks, 2 LU800, and 2 LU800 PRO. That’s a lot of equipment! The LU800 is capable of 1 camera input stream up to 4k, while the LU800 PRO can do up to 4 camera feeds at 1080.
We also got a LU4000, a 4-channel decoder, the LU2000, a one channel decoder, and the LU610 which is a single channel encoder. All of the encoders and decoders use the LiveU Reliable Transport (LRT) streaming protocol.
This protocol was built by LiveU to accommodate the current needs of bonding on 4g and 5g networks in addition to traditional wired and wireless networks for a reliable streaming experience.
All the encoders and decoders are rack mounted and live in our server room where they are integrated into our broadcasting workflow through our NewTek TriCaster.
In total, we got seven (7) pieces of new equipment from LiveU!
Backpacks
Starting off with the Backpacks let’s talk about their cellular bonding. Each backpack can have 8 radios, 2 ethernet ports, and wi-fi capability which are able to be bonded through Live U’s patented bonding services. In our previous backpacks we had a maximum of 4 radios, one ethernet connection, and one wi-fi connection for a total of 6 internet inputs.
Having up to 11 internet connections INSANE.
The LU800’s also have dual sim functionality allowing us to put international SIMs in the B-side for international broadcast productions! With a flip of a switch, we can take these things anywhere and livestream. Talk about ease of use! Much like other livestreaming set ups we can connect one of our broadcast cameras to the backpack via SDI, turn it on and start streaming!
The live feed gets sent to our decoders in the server room. Let’s head over there and talk about some of the other amazing gear we got from Live U.
Decoders
The LU4000 which is the 4 channel decoder. The LU2000 serves the same function as the LU4000 except it only does one channel. Having both allows us to have a dynamic workflow to meet all of our customers’ needs.
We have both of these units set up to integrate directly with our NewTek TriCaster. The live feed from our Backpack is being sent here and then being brought into the TriCaster for production. Once we have it ready to go live it gets sent to our LU610 which encodes the stream and sends it to its final location. This is the LU610 which is the final step in the broadcasting process before it gets sent to its final destination.
One of the coolest things about this device is that it can send the broadcast feed back to a backpack for live monitoring in addition to sending it to Facebook, Twitch, YouTube or whatever streaming platform is desired.
That’s all of the hardware we got, but there are some additional features we love about this ecosystem.
Additional LiveU Features
First is the LiveU University where we can learn all of the intricacies of the units and master our craft. Another great feature of the LiveU ecosystem is the ability to use collaborate with other LiveU users. With our backpacks we can be onsite camera operators for a remote broadcast produced by another Live U customer.
We are excited to see what opportunities this brings and how we can collaborate with other creators.
If you would like to learn more about the units we touched on please follow for more or contact us!
I told you this wouldn’t take long.