DETS Classroom Equipment

A typical DETS studio classroom is equipped with 3 cameras. There is one camera located in the back of the room that follows the presenter and picks up written material from the white board. There is a second camera located above the presenter's desk that functions as a document camera. There is a third camera located near the front of the room that is set to pick up a view of the audience. The cameras signals are then sent to a switcher where an operator selects from a variety of video sources.

 

Presenter audio is picked up with a wireless microphone and audience questions and comments are picked up with ceiling microphones. Classroom audio and other audio sources are sent to a mixer where an operator controls audio levels.

 

Classrooms are equipped with PCs for the presenter to use for such things as PowerPoint graphics and software demonstration. The output of the computer is sent to a video projector for the in room audience and is also sent to the control room as a video source for the operator to select from.

 

 

There are tablet computers available that allow presenters to annotate their PowerPoint graphics or to use as a virtual whiteboard. A presenter can also bring in their own laptop and send its output to the projector and control room.

The control rooms are equipped with VHS and DVD players that allow presenters to integrate copyright free content into their presentations.

 

There are video monitors in the classrooms that allow the audience to view the signal that is leaving the control room. Audio from live distant viewers as well as other relevant audio is fed into classroom speakers. There are also monitors directed at the presenter that display video from distant viewers that are equipped for two way video.

 

Signals leaving the control rooms are distributed for use in a variety of applications.

Video teleconferencing

Video teleconferencing equipment is integrated into each classroom. Video teleconferencing provides fully interactive video and audio between the classroom and distant audiences. The equipment, referred to as a CODEC, compresses and packages the signal for delivery over the internet in a format referred to as video over IP (H.323). In addition to video over IP one of our facilities is equipped to provide teleconferencing via ISDN (high bandwidth phone circuits). We can support connection speeds of up to 1024Kbps for video over IP and 384Kbps for ISDN.

The manufacturer of our CODEC’s is Polycom. DETS is equipped to distribute real-time interactive content over IVN (Interactive Video Network), a high speed Video over IP (H.323) teleconferencing and bridging network operated by UMATS.

IVN is a growing teleconferencing network consisting of Universities, Colleges, and education centers throughout the state of Maryland. IVN operates over Internet2 and can deliver video over IP to most organizations that are connected to Internet2, allowing DETS to deliver live, interactive, high quality, full screen and full motion video content to organizations world wide.

Microwave: DETS distributes its programming to some of our more local customers over the air using microwave transmission equipment. This provides live audio and video to the distant viewer. Questions and comments from the distant viewer are handled by telephone as is done in radio and TV call in shows.

Streaming: The majority of our classes are captured (to computer/server) and packaged for streaming or download over the internet. Classes are usually online within 24 hours Students are able to view their classes using their Blackbord account. Each control room has two machines dedicated to it for video capture.

One machine captures in Windows Media format and is an off the shelf PC equipped with a high end video capture card. The online student views the video of the class on their PC. The Windows Media format is available for high and low bandwidth streaming. Content can also be downloaded directly to a viewers PC. Content is captured and encoded on the dedicated machine and then uploaded to our server.

The other machine is designed to deliver what is referred to as rich media, and is manufactured by a company called Mediasite. This is a dedicated machine designed to capture both the classroom video and the computer graphics being displayed in the classroom. The online viewer sees an image of the presentation along side a high resolution image of the computer graphics being used in the class (PowerPoint, software demonstration etc.) This is the best format to view classes that use computer graphics. A high bandwidth connection (such as DSL or cable) to the internet is required for this format. Downloads of the rich media format are not available at this time. Content is captured and encoded on the dedicated machine and then uploaded to our server.

Hard Media: Classes can be put on media on an as needed basis. We can burn classes to CD in Windows Media format. We also have the capacity, on a limited basis, to record content to DVC Pro, VHS and DVD.