Haivision Furnace IP Video Delivery System Enhances Education, Content Sharing at Northwestern University in Qatar
Furnace System Simplifies Sharing of Student Content Between Northwestern Campuses, Enables Cost-Effective Video Distribution Throughout Doha Campus
MONTREAL and CHICAGO(16 Aug 2010)
Haivision Network Video today announced that Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) is using the Haivision Furnace IP video delivery system to enable easy, efficient sharing of student-created content with the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. They are also using the Haivision Furnace system to simplify delivery of university-branded content to 35 public displays across the Doha campus. NU-Q offers undergraduate degree programs in communication and journalism at its campus in Doha's Education City. NU-Q is a partnership between Northwestern's highly esteemed School of Communication and Medill School of Journalism with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development.
"Haivision's Furnace system offers our campus enormous value by enabling flexible delivery of high-quality video with remarkably low setup and maintenance requirements," said David Carr, chief information officer, Northwestern University in Qatar. "Media plays a large role in a Northwestern education, and Haivision's Furnace is our primary video distribution tool. Its performance, including support for video up to 1080p, is key for us as we continue to refine our facilities and course offerings. For students working in production, it's important that the quality of content not be diminished in any way, and Haivision's Furnace system can assure this quality."
The program channel runs through Haivision's Furnace system -- equipped with Haivision Makito(TM) HD H.264 encoders -- and connects the Doha and Evanston campuses. The Doha campus boasts students from more than 17 countries that study communications and journalism, and the content they produce is shared with students at the Evanston campus, and vice versa, via the program channel, delivered with Haivision's Bridge Receive and Bridge Transmit systems.
To further reinforce the connection between the U.S. and Qatar campuses, NU-Q is using 35 Haivision Stingray(TM) set-top boxes (STBs) to feature branded content in public spaces and, in turn, maintain the Northwestern identity campuswide. In the near future, students and faculty will also be able to use the Haivision InStream(TM) player to access a variety of content anywhere within the campus environment: whether online, in the classroom, or in the studios currently being constructed. This capability will give students at both the Doha and Evanston campuses greater opportunity to work on joint projects and productions. Additional plans for the Furnace system at NU-Q include use for recording and redistributing content, as well as video-on-demand (VoD).
The Furnace is a complete solution for end-to-end H.264 video-over-IP distribution. The powerful integrated solution supports the compact Makito HD H.264 encoder to manage and distribute live video to computers and STBs, to create scheduled playback channels for enterprise TV and signage, and to record content and deliver VoD in a secure, easy-to-use system. Haivision's Furnace Portal Server controls the direct and secure distribution of SD and HD H.264 video to both the InStream player and the Stingray STB. The Furnace Playback Manager supports scheduled channels for IP video broadcast and signage, and the Furnace Media Server leverages the efficiencies of H.264 to enable HD VoD.
Complete information about Haivision products is available within the download center at www.haivision.com.
About Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q)
At its campus in Education City, Doha, Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) offers undergraduate degree programs in communications and journalism -- fields that are rapidly changing, are of enormous social importance, and that offer abundant and exciting career opportunities. NU-Q prepares its students to engage in some of the most basic human activities -- to "Create. Inform. Connect." Northwestern University in Qatar is a partnership with Northwestern's highly esteemed School of Communication and Medill School of Journalism and with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development. More information is available at www.qatar.northwestern.edu.
About Haivision Network Video
Based in Montreal and Chicago, Haivision Network Video is a private company and a world leader in delivering the most advanced and intelligent IP video networking technology. Haivision's products are deployed worldwide within the foremost Fortune 100 companies; in the most rigorous military and defense applications; in state-of-the-art healthcare facilities for video collaboration and training; in highly renowned educational institutions for IPTV, teaching, and remote learning; in the most efficient interactive broadcast applications; and within the world's leading TelePresence suites. Haivision distributes its products through value-added resellers, system integrators, distributors, and OEMs worldwide.