Grow Your Audience and Maximize Your Program’s Distribution through Canon’s PTZ Camera Lineup

— Control and Single Cable Power-over-Ethernet with NDI|HX2 for the Perfect Live Set-up —

April 03, 2022 by Steve Cooperman, Senior Product Manager, Canon.

As the digital distribution of content grows, so does the opportunity for additional revenue streams and need to provide a better viewing experience for audiences. We continue to see collegiate sport programs at every level take advantage of revenue opportunities through their athletic programs by streaming content via OTT and digital platforms. Equipment packages as simple as a Canon CR-N500 PTZ camera and Tricaster unit can stream basketball games in stunning quality to ESPN+ or other digital platforms. For a modest cost, the incorporation of additional cameras allows a single operator to give smaller productions a big-budget look and feel.

As warmer seasons roll in, Canon’s outdoor PTZ cameras continue to allow programs to feed their audience’s appetite with game and program coverage. The new CR-X300 camera is ideal for use with outdoor sports, such as baseball, lacrosse and football, allowing cameras to be placed around facilities and fields without obstruction to fans and providing unique vantage points for game coverage. The CR-X300 offers a powerful combination of premium remote PTZ camera features and impressive optical zoom, all in an IP65 rated outdoor package.

Canon has a new line-up of IP capable indoor and outdoor Remote Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) cameras, which include NDI/HX2 capability. Their CR-N500 camera produces incredible 4K and HD image quality with the combination of a large 1” CMOS sensor, along with a 15x optical zoom (20x digital) with one of the widest in class angles of view at 73°. Other key features include image stabilization and Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS auto focus, as well as a smooth and responsive pan and tilt mechanism for great live production control.

The Canon CR-N500 and CR-N300 indoor PTZ cameras, as well as the new CR-X300 outdoor PTZ supports multiple professional interfaces, including single cable PoE connectivity, which utilizes NDI/HX2 to stream audio and video, as well as control, tally and power. The Canon models also support RTMPS, for streaming to social media sites, such as Facebook Live and YouTube as well as other protocols. As the flagship unit in the lineup, the CR-N500 can be controlled remotely by IP, Serial, IR or wirelessly via Wi-Fi and supports multiple control standards, including Canon’s new XC Protocol, as well as VISCA Protocol (serial and IP), for easy connectivity to a wide range of 3rd party hardware controllers.

The flexibility of an IP workflow helps keep costs low, while offering more ways for schools, concert halls, theatres and other venues to grow their audience and maximize their revenue opportunities.