Press Release

ViewCast Corporation (OTCBB: VCST), a developer of industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation, management  and delivery of professional quality video over IP and mobile networks, today announced new enhancements to its versatile Niagara SCX streaming media management software. Niagara SCX 6.1 includes a number of advanced features, including support for live encoding in H.264 via the Adobe Flash platform, profile grouping, Multiple Stream Redundancy (MSR), and Automatic Stream Reconnect (ASR), providing customers with greater capabilities for streaming real-time, rich media content, and enhanced encoder management agility. The software will be available on ViewCast’s Niagara Pro, Niagara Pro II, Niagara GoStream SURF, and Niagara 7500 streaming media systems, and is also available as an upgrade for existing owners of ViewCast streaming appliances.

“The Adobe Flash platform is transforming the streaming media technology landscape, by expanding the breadth and flexibility of content delivery capabilities for the digital media marketplace,” said ViewCast President and CEO Dave Stoner. “By enabling our Niagara SCX software to stream H.264 through Adobe Flash servers, we’re equipping Niagara customers with full support for the next-generation of video delivery that will help them achieve the highest quality, real-time, high-definition streaming available.”

Niagara SCX Version 6.1 adds key advanced features, including:

Live encoding via the Adobe Flash H.264 format.  Niagara SCX 6.1 software streams in H.264 Flash via the Real Time Message Protocol (RTMP) – a proprietary protocol <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_%28computing%29>  developed by Adobe Systems <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Systems>  designed for high performance transmission of audio, video, and data between Adobe Flash platform technologies. H.264 support enables Niagara customers to deliver rich, real-time Flash experiences for a broad range of streaming applications, such as the web-based delivery of sports, news and entertainment broadcasts, video-on-demand and streaming to mobile devices. An example application is the use of Dynamic streaming which incorporates seamless switching of bitrates to the end user to assure an optimal viewing experience.

Profile grouping. Niagara SCX 6.1 allows the assignment of multiple encoding profiles together in a single group. Utilizing ViewCast’s exclusive architecture, featuring simple “A-B-C” button selection, customers can select any pre-defined encoding profile group, and with the push of a single button, begin streaming to any number of destinations in any number of compression formats simultaneously over the Internet. This capability is particularly important for broadcasters seeking to stream in both high and low bit rates to accommodate a wider audience.
Multiple Stream Redundancy (MSR). Niagara SCX 6.1 can connect a media stream to a Content Delivery Network (CDN) using multiple entry points, each with unique credentials and delivered to different locations. This robust connection method significantly reduces the risk of interrupting a live event, and ViewCast accomplishes this with little system overhead.

Automatic Stream Reconnect (ASR).  A crucial component that protects the integrity of live video broadcasts, ASR automatically reconnects the user’s stream if the Internet connection is temporarily lost or the stream is dropped.

ViewCast Niagara SCX 6.1 provides a single, unified user experience for all of its supported streaming codecs, equipping users with unmatched flexibility to reach their audience via the most popular media formats. Users can capture and stream in Adobe Flash H.264, Windows Media®, Silverlight®, RealVideo®, 3GPP and other formats – simultaneously, in any combination – via one easy-to-use interface.

Niagara SCX 6.1 offers an unprecedented level of local or remote control. Users can view the captured video on-the-fly, check and adjust key audio and video settings, select A/V inputs and configure profiles that determine capture size, frame rate, data bit rate speeds and CPU loads. Users can even manage bitmap overlays (e.g., logos, graphics) on their streams, including transparency and positioning. With the Niagara SCX Web Services SDK, you can harness all of the power of the Niagara SCX “engine” into your own software application.

ViewCast develops industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation and delivery of professional quality video over IP and mobile networks. ViewCast’s award-winning solutions simplify the complex workflows required for the Web-based streaming of news, sports, music and other video content to computers and mobile devices, empowering broadcasters, businesses and governments to easily and effectively reach and expand their audiences. With more than 350,000 video capture cards deployed globally, ViewCast sets the standard in the streaming media industry. ViewCast Niagara® streaming appliances, Osprey® video capture cards, and Niagara SCX® encoding and management software provide the highly reliable technology required to deliver the multi-platform experiences driving today’s digital media market. More information on ViewCast, the Niagara 7500 and ViewCast’s SCX software is available at www.viewcast.com<>http://www.viewcast.com