Fencing Streaming with Matrox VS4 and Telestream Wirecast

The Matrox VS4 quad HD capture card in conjunction with Telestream Wirecast allows Kabcom to stream fencing competitions held on up to four courts at the same time.

Kabcom, organizer of competitive fencing events worldwide since 1992 and provider of services such as on-court scoreboards, data processing, television graphics, and video refereeing systems that allow referees to watch replays and make decisions, has just begun streaming the sport.

Noureddine Kaabi, director of the sports department at Kabcom, acknowledges that "unlike other sports, fencing takes place on four courts simultaneously, so there are four matches taking place at the same time. We needed a streaming solution that would allow us to capture all four videos using a single unit. When we learned that Matrox VS4 was being developed, we knew it was exactly the hardware needed."

Matrox VS4 is a quad HD capture card and ISO recorder for Telestream Wirecast on Windows that streamlines live streaming production.

In a single PCIe slot, Matrox VS4 provides up to four independent high-definition inputs with up to 8 channels of embedded audio per source. It not only sends the video channels to Wirecast for broadcast, but also simultaneously provides the ISO recording of all the video and audio, ready for later editing of the event.

Thanks to this setup, Internet viewers can choose to watch one particular competition or all four at the same time. "Before using Matrox VS4, we did not have a solution to this problem. We had used other capture devices in the past, but the results were not at our level. VS4 was the only product that met our requirements. SDI capture is excellent and we can run cables up to 300 meters in SD and 100 meters in HD," said Kaabi.

"We are now able to offer multiple streaming views with multiple cameras simultaneously filming the competition, giving our viewers a look and feel of a traditional television broadcast. We have also developed a system so that commentators can switch between tracks or comment on just one track at a time. A viewer can watch the action on track A, for example, without being interrupted by commentary on track B. We are convinced that the VS4/Wirecast solution would be very useful in other sports such as judo and athletics as well," says Kaabi.