The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD) has employed Matrox Maevex H.264 encoder and decoder devices to stream live low-bandwidth 1080p60 video of aircraft traffic footage from a camera in Hong Kong International Airport’s ATC tower to its HKCAD Education Path aviation gallery. The two locations are separated by a distance of 2km.
The aim of the HKCAD Education Path is to showcase the function and vision of Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department. With the new setup, visitors to the HKCAD can now experience the same view as air traffic controllers which is projected with the help of an Epson HD projector.
Initial requirements for the project were critical. It was necessary that the streaming of high quality, low latency feeds be achieved within the existing network infrastructure’s 8Mbps of available bandwidth, while keeping the IT network administration satisfied with minimal network bandwidth usage.
Although some of the initially selected AV-over-IP platforms were capable of streaming the airport traffic activity, the content was often transmitted at bandwidth-taxing bit rates of 12Mbps or higher. As a result, video delivery and performance were impacted at the end point.
Amara International, local IT solution providers, recommended an alternative video distribution option in the form of the Matrox Maevex H.264 encoders and decoders which can stream up to Full HD 1080p60 video and audio at low, adjustable bit rates between 100Kbps and 25Mbps.
The HKCAD also wanted to distribute content over their existing IP network using standard, commercial-off-the-shelf network cabling and equipment. The Maevex AV-over-IP devices met that condition with their open H.264 encoding. Amara International also demonstrated how the bundled Matrox PowerStream software allow for a wide set of control options which include remote device management, stream switching and streaming/recording parameter adjustment and most importantly, bit-rate customization.
The Matrox PowerStream software was essential in helping the project meet the needs and requirements of the HKCAD. Through it, Amara were able to set the bit-rate limit to 8Mbps. Jeff Lai, sales manager at Amara International, said: “After we configured PowerStream to the client’s bandwidth specifications, video distribution became a matter of plug and play. It was clear from the start that Maevex would be capable of streaming video across the existing infrastructure with minimal interruption, downtime and expense.â€
Michelle Siu, project officer at the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department, said regarding the project: “Pristine image quality, low-bandwidth consumption, high stability…these are the qualities that make Matrox Maevex a unique AV-over-IP solution. Matrox Maevex was instrumental in helping us stream video over our existing IP network and we are very satisfied with the equipment’s performance so far."