Vaddio USB: game changer or marketing hype?

[Thomas, Harry (CIV)]

This claim from Vaddio, regarding their just announced USB products, is pretty bold. Should make for some interesting debate. Ready, set, go!

"We believe we have delivered just that with our new line of EasyUSB products. Now you can build an enterprise-quality videoconferencing system with affordable soft codecs like Microsoft Lync, Skype or Google Talk."

Sent from my iPhone digital leash.

[Scott Tiner]

Has anyone used any 3rd party USB products to do this? I have a need
for a Vaddio camera to be used with skype, but the Composite-USB
converter I have been using won't work with skype.

ST

--
Scott Tiner, CTS
Assistant Director for Digital Media, Classroom Technologies& Event Support
Bates College
207.786.6396 (office)
207.240.1154 (cell)

[Doug Smith]

Vaddio just released their new USB cameras. http://vaddioeasyusb.com/

On 3/16/2012 7:57 AM, Scott Tiner wrote:
> Has anyone used any 3rd party USB products to do this? I have a need
> for a Vaddio camera to be used with skype, but the Composite-USB
> converter I have been using won't work with skype.
>
> ST
>
> On 3/15/12 12:59 PM, Thomas, Harry (CIV) wrote:
>> This claim from Vaddio, regarding their just announced USB products,
>> is pretty bold. Should make for some interesting debate. Ready, set, go!
>>
>> "We believe we have delivered just that with our new line of EasyUSB
>> products. Now you can build an enterprise-quality videoconferencing
>> system with affordable soft codecs like Microsoft Lync, Skype or
>> Google Talk."
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone digital leash.
>>
>

--
Douglas A. Smith, Ph.D., CTS-D
Director, Classroom Support
Illinois State University
Campus Box 6380
Normal, IL 61790-6380
ph 309-438-3685
fax 309-438-3623

[Scott Tiner]

I saw that release, but have several cameras in place and don't want to
switch them out. Also, I have a need to keep composite video in some
places. So, wondering if anyone has a solution that does not require a
USB only camera.

On 3/16/12 9:18 AM, Doug Smith wrote:
> Vaddio just released their new USB cameras. http://vaddioeasyusb.com/
>
> On 3/16/2012 7:57 AM, Scott Tiner wrote:
>> Has anyone used any 3rd party USB products to do this? I have a need
>> for a Vaddio camera to be used with skype, but the Composite-USB
>> converter I have been using won't work with skype.
>>
>> ST
>>
>> On 3/15/12 12:59 PM, Thomas, Harry (CIV) wrote:
>>> This claim from Vaddio, regarding their just announced USB products,
>>> is pretty bold. Should make for some interesting debate. Ready, set,
>>> go!
>>>
>>> "We believe we have delivered just that with our new line of EasyUSB
>>> products. Now you can build an enterprise-quality videoconferencing
>>> system with affordable soft codecs like Microsoft Lync, Skype or
>>> Google Talk."
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone digital leash.
>>>
>>
>

--

[Thomas, Harry (CIV)]

Haven't tried it with Skype, but I've used converters from StarTech that work with Ellluminate.
Harry

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[Eric Himes]

I looked at the Vaddio camera yesterday and is not USB only. It
doubles as an IP camera and appears to have analog connections.

Eric Himes
Marshall University

--

[Thomas, Harry (CIV)]

I was hoping to see some debate about the idea of using proprietary free video services to create an "enterprise" videoconferencing solution. The current skirmish between Cisco & Microsoft in Europe over open standards requirements, combined with the recent release of free Jabber Video (beta) here, LifeSize embedding Skype in an H.323 hardware endpoint, these all have, I think, huge implications for hardware based systems, not to mention the standards themselves. Blue Jeans Network ability to provide a gateway between Skype, Google, Lync & the standards world blurs the boundaries, but does it make them ripe for a takeover and subsequent disappearance? Does a service like that threaten Cisco & Polycom because it makes free proprietary solutions viable? If Blue Jeans fails, will others pop-up to fill the void?

The Vaddio USB products are pretty interesting, and they target a challenge I've been facing for a couple of years now: The pressure to integrate Skype and web conferencing tools into a traditional VTC facility or VTE classroom. I've done it, but not really happy with the results or the Rube Goldberg solutions it demands.

This promotional video from Vaddio is pretty amusing. There are product overview videos as well. (Interestingly, I didn't see any mention of echo cancellation.)

http://youtu.be/p6eSe8_WHSQ

To summarize, all these products use standard USB drivers:

"Broadcast quality" PTZ camera
Conference table microphone
USB pendant ceiling mic (looks similar to the Polycom HDX mics)
Active 60ft USB cable
USB extender system
USB AV "bridge" converts audio, HDMI, RGB, component, composite video to USB, and supports streaming over its ethernet interface.
Web based AV controller, supports mobile devices

Regards,
Harry

******************************
Harry Thomas
Educational Technologies
Naval Postgraduate School
******************************

[Matthew Silverman]

I definitely don't see this as a replacement to VTC, but I do see as being a really interesting product. I can see using this with our BlackBoard Collaborate solution or a better way to do software based lecture capture.

IMHO, I don't ever seeing Skype/Lync replacing hardware VTC like Cisco or Polycom. Both have their place, but I'd liken trying to kill off VTC with Skype like trying to replace broadcast video with a Flip camera. Both have their place, just different segments.

I think it's a neat product, but the $4k MSRP on their camera may make it cost prohibitive for many applications.

Matt

On Mar 16, 2012, at 10:18 AM, Thomas, Harry (CIV) wrote:

> I was hoping to see some debate about the idea of using proprietary free video services to create an "enterprise" videoconferencing solution. The current skirmish between Cisco & Microsoft in Europe over open standards requirements, combined withthe recent release of free Jabber Video (beta) here, LifeSize embedding Skype in an H.323 hardware endpoint, these all have, I think, huge implications for hardware based systems, not to mention the standards themselves. Blue Jeans Network ability to provide a gateway between Skype, Google, Lync & the standards world blurs the boundaries, but does it make them ripe for a takeover and subsequent disappearance? Does a service like that threaten Cisco & Polycom because it makes free proprietary solutions viable? If Blue Jeans fails, will others pop-up to fill the void?

[Wadlinger, Greg]

The VTC vs. UC (and/or Skype) question provides a huge, multifaceted issue for us to debate.

Skype is what people ask me about most lately, so it's the springboard from which I get to introduce them to VTC.

We have a Lync deployment here on campus, and I imagine it gets some use, but it's video connections with off campus sites that bring people to my door, and our tests with Lync have been mixed for this.

I have two faculty (husband and wife, actually) who I mentally refer to as "the wild frontier" folks. They routinely use their own laptops to bring in remote guests in their field(s) via Skype to their elective courses - usually seminar size - and they love itt

This doesn't bother me because they don't use me at all for this. I can't get a black eye if it doesn't work.

So Skype generates first time interest in live two way vid among formerly uninitiated people, and for that it is indeed a blessing. From there it's the wild frontier of self-service, or it's a paid Webex service, or it's standards based VTC, all depending on how much terror I can strike into their hearts.

g

Greg Wadlinger
Instructional Technology
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
100 Tuck Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
USA
603.646-0228
wadl...@dartmouth.edu

Instructional Technology
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
100 Tuck Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
603.646-0228
wadl...@dartmouth.edu

[Booker, Vaughn]

Hey Scott,

Unrelated but while we are on the subject of Skype, have you tried installing one of the older versions of Skype? I needed to connect composite video from our videoconference classroom cameras to our classroom PC, but the most recent version of Skype would not recognize the Osprey 260e capture card video filters until I installed version 4.2.0.187.

http://download.cnet.com/Skype/3000-2349_4-11386772.html

Vaughn Booker, CTS
ITS Classroom Hotline
UNC-Chapel Hill
919-962-9734

-----Original Message-----
From: av...@googlegroups.com [mailto:av...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Scott Tiner
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 8:58 AM
To: av...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [av-1] Vaddio USB: game changer or marketing hype?

ST

--

[Elaine M Mello]

The problem for our group here is those that want to do it all - and Skyping has turned into a ubiquitous phrase much like Kleenex these days in terms of connecting.

Our group offers Movi / Jabber/ whatever they're calling it today as an alternative, but folks on campus don't want to force someone to download and install it, and would prefer to use whatever they have on hand to connect. So the business school is using Bluejeans to connect their hardware endpoints to folks for one off conferences. They then dial into the TCS to record it - in fact I was just processing a file capture of a Google+ conference that they recorded in a classroom yesterday.

People will use what is convenient and what is easy to use. Cisco giving away Jabber video will certainly affect my cost recovery department in regards to deploying it on campus (licenses that were paid for that may not be used in the future when folks can get it for free.) What technical support they get will be an interesting question, given the amount of support we do for folks who want to do inter conferencing between different systems, formats and protocols. We even get the Webex questions shunted to us since we happen to be those video conferencing folks, and isn't that just one more thing.

Greg, my wild west are the folks who write their own SIP protocol and expect it to work with what's already out there. That can be fun! ;)

But walking around campus I see people conferencing wirelessly off their laptops from wherever they get a signal, including the ladies room lounge in the building next door - whether it is iChat, Skype, Jabber, EVO or a combination of all of the above, those who are self-sufficient will do it on their own, but those who aren't will be calling us up to help them out.

Elaine Mello, CTS
Distance Education & Streaming Operations Manager
MIT Libraries -  Academic Media Production Services
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue - Rm 10-337
Cambridge, MA 02139

    Tel:  617-452-2172
Mobile:  617-719-5279

Call me on Movi: emell...@amps.ms.mit.edu

[John H. Steitz]

Scott:

For lecture capture, we use a Lightsnake XLR to USB adapter to link
Audio Technica AT-3100 system XLR balanced line-level audio outputs,
with the USB audio inputs of Dell PCs.

That doesn't help you on the video side, but I would start by contacting
SoundTech, the manufacturer of the Lightsnake cable line. If they don't
make a converter cable for video-to-USB, I bet they might know who does.

I'd also contact Vaddio. Yes, they're hyping their new USB camera.
But that's probably not the *only* USB-related device they manufacture.
Tell 'em you're interested in their products, but don't have $4K per
site to spend.

Good luck, and please let us know what you find. Thanks.

JHS

John H. Steitz, CTS
Assistant Director
Classroom Educational Technology Services
121 ICC
Georgetown University
37th & O Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20057
(w) (202) 687-2509
(c) (202) 569-3119
(f) (202) 687-5879
ste...@georgetown.edu
http://cets.georgetown.edu