We are delighted to announce that PanaCast 2, the world’s first 180° 4K Panoramic Plug-and-Play video camera along with its ground-breaking Intelligent Zoom feature, has been shortlisted for an AV Award in the Collaboration Product of the Year 2017 category.

Now in its 19th year, the AV Awards were established to recognise excellence across the Audio Visual Industry.   The aim of the AV Awards is to reward innovation and best practice, whilst encouraging others within the industry to raise standards across the board.

PanaCast 2 – 180° 4K Panoramic Video Camera

PanaCast 2 with Intelligent Zoom has been recognised for providing a new and innovative solution to meeting the challenges created by modern huddle room and classroom deployments where a much wider field-of-view is demanded than can typically be achieved using legacy PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras or low-cost webcams.  WIth PanaCast 2, everyone in the room is always in shot with whiteboards or flip-charts being clearly visible thanks to its industry-leading 4K (UHD, 4 megapixel) resolution.

And PanaCast 2 can capture a best-in-class 180° field-of-view without the excessive fisheye-type distortion typically created by single-lens, wide-angle cameras.

The Not-So-Dumb Light-Gatherer

The video meeting camera is changing its role from a dumb light-gatherer into the intelligent heart of the meeting room.  In-camera video processing capability (the PanaCast 2 has nine on-board processors) presents opportunities for new functionality based on advanced video analytics and processing algorithms that can greatly enhance the user experience.

Intelligent Zoom

Intelligent Zoom, recognised in this shortlisting, is a case in point.  Intelligent Zoom (IZ) detects participants in the room and automatically and dynamically zooms and pans to present the most appropriate framing.  If additional people arrive or someone leaves the room, IZ will adjust silently and unobtrusively in the background without the need for user intervention of any kind.

PanaCast Whiteboard Application

The just-announced PanaCast Whiteboard app extends this concept of camera intelligence even further to automatically capture a standard whiteboard (or wall), correct for keystone and radial distortion, enhance contrast and brightness for improved readability and present that image as a separate source that can be sent as shared content in a video call.   In many cases, this can obviate the need for an expensive interactive “smart” board, an important budget consideration especially when large numbers of huddle rooms are planned and where a Microsoft Surface Hub™ or a Google Jamboard™, for example, would be expensive overkill.

For more information about PanaCast 2 please click here 

For more information about the AV Awards please click here