Soliton Systems, a Japanese technology company specialising in mobile video encoding and IT security, were the first to market with an H.265 mobile encoder in 2015 with the ZAO product, which has been used extensively in public safety, broadcast, and video surveillance applications throughout the world. It is a mobile device that provides live video streaming in high resolution HD over the 3G or 4G mobile network. The ZAO is a mobile unit that can be easily installed in video surveillance vehicles. The vehicles can then be located in remote places such as natural disaster areas or where there is public disorder to provide live video feeds back to the control centre.
Soliton’s new worldwide announcement of ZAO-S for public safety opens up a range of mobile streaming applications, from body cams and clandestine locations where space and utilities are limited. It is a miniature entry level device that provides H.265 HEVC encoding direct from the camera, that allows streaming over multiple “bonded” 3G/4G telephone carriers, to anywhere in the world.
Compact & lightweight
“The ZAO-S is not much bigger than an iPhone folded in half,” claimed Shinya Hyakutake, the Head of Mobile Broadcast Division at Soliton Systems. “Given its miniature size and weight, it has numerous applications where it could be used to stream live HD video to control rooms for use in applications that demand high picture quality such as real-time facial recognition applications.”
Given its miniature size and weight, it has numerous applications where it could be used to stream live HD video to control rooms |
H.265 HEVC hardware encoders provide approximately 50% more efficiency in the usage of carrier bandwidth compared to traditional solutions such as the H264/MPEG-4 solutions. This means it is much more reliable where cellular bandwidth is limited.
Hyakutake continues, “We know the ZAO-S product will change the market, and will open up new applications that were previously impossible with traditional H.264 encoders that rely on the mobile phone signal being strong. There will be no compromise on picture quality or reliability with ZAO-S. In such a competitive and cost sensitive market, we know Soliton is the first to market with such a small H.265 device, but given the sensitivity to production costs, the price will also be extremely compelling.”
RASCOW bonding protocol
The ZAO-S product will continue to use the RASCOW bonding protocol that allows the aggregation of multiple mobile phone carriers to add to the reliability of the solution. This is a real-time algorithm that combines multiple telecom carriers together and adjusts the video streaming through each carrier simultaneously, depending on each of the signal strengths, in real-time. This is ideal for moving vehicles and helicopters that move through different terrains with ever changing signal strengths, giving an extra layer of reliability, encryption, and picture quality.
The ZAO-S was launched on the 8th of September at IBC 2016. The members of Soliton Systems will also be attending The Emergency Services Show on 21-22 September, 2016 at the NEC, Birmingham.