Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Telepresenter™ M3 do?
Can I stream directly to PC's?
How many participants can the NCast Telepresenter™ M3 support?
What type of administration does the NCast Telepresenter™ M3 require?
Can the Telepresenter™ M3 be used behind a firewall?
What types of video inputs can be connected to the NCast Telepresenter™ M3?
Why use MPEG-4?
Is there a way to reset a forgotten admin password?
Can the M3 record without streaming?

What does the Telepresenter™ M3 do?

The Telepresenter™ M3 is a multimedia production appliance that does several important tasks, including:

• Capture - The Telepresenter can capture two of four simultaneous independent sources in up to UXGA resolution. Sources can be RGB, DVI, S-Video or Composite, and can include SD or HD Cameras, PCs and Laptops, DVD Players, Document Cameras, and more.
• Compose - The Telepresenter™ M3 allows you to take all these incoming streams, plus external audio, Logo's, and/or text strings, and composite them into a single multimedia image stream of up to UXGA (1600x1200) resolution.
• Cast - The Telepresenter encodes this multimedia stream into MPEG-4 format, and streams it on to your network using RTSP protocols and/or archives it on it's 160 GB Hard Disk for later retrieval, or for automatic offloading to either the NCast N-Way Server, or another VoD or Content server. These multimedia streams can be received by either another Telepresenter™ M3, or by popular media players, including Quicktime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player.
• Collaborate - Finally, the Telepresenter™ M3 affords full collaboration by allowing you to multi-directionally communicate with other Telepresenters in real time using floor control, but with the added benefit of graphic overlays, and typically at a much lower cost.

Can I stream directly to PC's?

Yes, the Telepresenter™ M3 will stream directly to PC desktops in your network. Users will be able to see and hear you from their desktops using standard Media Players; they will not need to have a Telepresenter™ M3, or any other specialized software at their desks.

How many participants can the NCast Telepresenter™ M3 support?

The NCast Telepresenter™ M3 allows virtually an infinite number of users to simultaneously watch presentations over an IP network using multicast. With NCast multicast streams, the network is enabled for telepresentation delivery without having to tightly control bandwidth usage, all without having to alter your existing LAN. If a unicast network is used, then up to 30 users are supported.

What type of administration does the NCast Telepresenter™ M3 require?

Who wants to waste time running around? We want you to relax and experience high impact DVD/TV-quality video and audio over the network. NCast solutions require little, if any, administrative effort, just plug-n-go, pick a channel to view and start collaborating - it's that simple!

Can the NCast telepresentation solution be used behind a firewall?

Yes, NCast understands that security is a paramount issue when dealing with the proprietary information that is contained inside an organization's network. Thus, our solution can easily be used behind the safety of a company's firewall. In addition, the solution is easily configurable to allow a stream enabled outside of a corporate firewall to communicate with a different company. Configuration may also be administered remotely. NCast will provide detailed information about this process.

What types of video inputs can be connected to the NCast Telepresenter™ M3?

The NCast Telepresenter™ M3 can support two simultaneous inputs of S-Video, RGB, DVI, and Composite. The feed from these inputs will then be transmitted as a stream onto the applicable network. This means that you can connect a PC, a video camera, TV, VCR, DVD player, etc to the Telepresenter and capture the output of these devices.

Why use MPEG-4?

MPEG-4 is an ISO standard supported by a wide range of companies. This means that an MPEG-4 file can be played by many different players, not only on personal computers, but also on cell phones, PDAs, and television set-top boxes. This is a step forward from a proprietary environment, where you deliver content using different compressors and multiple formats––such as Real, Windows Media, and QuickTime––just to serve your Mac and Windows customers.

MPEG-4 audio uses the Advanced Audio Codec (AAC). This codec provides better quality than mp3 audio at any given bitrate. At higher bitrates, AAC supports multichannel surround-sound audio.

Is there a way to reset a forgotten admin password?

The way to reset the password is for NCast to connect through SSH into the box and reset it. The box would have to be available on a public internet connection. Contact support or help with this.

Can the M3 record without streaming?

You setup a channel with the localhost address (127.0.0.1) as the IP address, and that effectively cancels any streaming.

Have we answered your questions? Please email us at info@ncast.com if you would like to learn more.