Review: Digital Rapids TouchStream
Once streaming is completed—or even before—the configuration settings can be emailed by clicking a single button (once email settings have been entered). TouchStream accommodates those who find that they need to start over via the Reset Configuration option, which resets all audio, video, input, and trigger options to their default settings.
A final aspect of the TouchStream that we looked at was the issue of airflow around a portable unit; many units compensate by having a large fan (which the TouchStream also has) and running it full bore anytime the unit is turned on. The TouchStream seems to solve the airflow issue through the joint use of intelligent fan management coupled with an interesting piece of workflow enhancement, the front bezel.
The screen on the TouchStream can tilt up approximately 30 degrees, which is helpful for varying lighting conditions or angles of view. Beyond just allowing ease of viewing, though, the TouchStream employs the extra space around the tilted screen to enhance the unit’s front-to-back airflow. The unit has a solid top shell and solid sides, so airflow over the exterior portions of the unit is only critical at the bottom of the TouchStream, which has ribbed plastic to enhance airflow.
"The motivation for the tilting screen is more than just for user convenience," Nann says. "It actually helps increase airflow when the unit is in the field."
In other words, it pays to tilt the screen up if you’re standing above the field encoder. As an added benefit, in better-ventilated locations, two of these units can be used side-by-side in a 3RU space if the feet are removed, so the TouchStream can also act as an in-house encoder. TouchStream also includes an RS-422/RS-232 DB-9 connector and the appropriate GPI trigger protocols for even deeper integration into a studio environment.
"While we aimed to be competitive with other devices, maintaining encoding quality against a full-featured rack-mounted product was a high priority," says Nann, adding that he expected this portable device to be used in some installed locations where space constraints were critical.
If touching a screen repeatedly is not your idea of field production, Digital Rapids did include the KVM triumvirate with USB and PS-2 connections for the keyboard and mouse as well as a VGA connector for an external monitor. The unit’s backplane also includes a series of audio outputs for surround sound as well as headphone monitoring, although the 1/8" (3.5mm) microphone jack is not configured to use for streaming.
The other reason to use the KVM option is access to the archive files if you choose to use the internal drive to store archives. With a keyboard and mouse hooked up, using Alt-F4 to exit the application—or the Win-D combination to toggle to the desktop—allows the user to access files on the machine and copy them to an external drive.
"For file access, most users are either using remote desktop to pull the files onto external storage or over a network," Nann says.
From a broadcast format standpoint, using the HD-SDI card, Digital Rapids says the TouchStream will support video resolutions of 1080i, 1080p, and 720p in HD formats, as well as the 480i (NTSC) and 576i (PAL) formats for standard-definition "HD" signals. Frame rates for the various settings range from 60 and 59.94 fps at the upper end, down through 24 and 23.976 (pull-down) fps, as well as the 24, 25, and 30 drop frame and nondrop frame specifications. Since our test unit had analog-only inputs, we could not test these claims, nor could we test the format conversion features that are found on most Digital Rapids encoders, in which conversion from any input format to any output format (HD to SD, SD to HD, HD to HD) makes field input configurations a much easier proposition.
I can say, though, that this is the most intriguing portable encoding unit I’ve used. It worked equally well in an integrated environment as in its intended field use, and the touches (pardon the pun) that it had for field production show the level of detail in which Digital Rapids understands the production workflow.
I look forward to seeing how Digital Rapids further enhances the TouchStream’s hardware and user interface. One way that the company has already discussed is a remote interface tool. Digital Rapids already has a history of creating remote interfaces: Its StreamRemote tool for the StreamZ and StreamZHD systems is a Java-based web interface that mimics the physical box’s front panel.
"Our philosophy [is] that a remote interface should be identical (to the maximum extent possible) to the local interface," Nann says. "StreamRemote is from our StreamZ and StreamZHD systems—a remote interface that looked and felt exactly like the application did on the local system. We’ve had for quite a few years, but the TouchStream interface isn’t patterned after anything—it was a ground-up original design—so its remote interface is being developed to be virtually identical to the local UI on the TouchStream appliance."
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