One positive aspect of the COVID-19 outbreak has been the chance to reassess some of the AV equipment we scope on a regular basis, particularly in applications that are being used more because of social distancing measures – like cameras and microphones.
We recently received a Panasonic AW-HN38 PTZ camera – love new toys – which we decided to put through its paces to test features and functionality. We have spec’d and sold Pana PTZ’s for a while now with the only issue being the highly competitive market that they are situated in. With the rise in popularity of cheaper brands coupled with the bridge of the AV-IT divide it is harder for end users to justify the higher retail price unless the product is being fully utilised.
This camera is a great investment.
Out of the box the camera has everything that you need. A great picture with a variety of output resolutions, a solid amount of optical zoom with optional SD recording, all the outputs you need (HDMI and USB) as well as POE and a number of control protocol options. There is even a cheeky 3.5mm Audio input to embed external audio via IP or HDMI.
Let’s look at this camera from a particular use case perspective.
Use-case scenario – Webcam use with PC
The HN38 works out of the box similar to what you would imagine, we connected via USB to Mini USB cable and pulled up a feed into our camera software – we used Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) for our testing. The only speed bump in this process was setting the cameras ‘Priority Mode’ to USB. We accessed the internal webpage and changed it (see below) which was all very easy. From here we also had a peak at the other Priority Modes available, basic stuff like time/date settings, password protection and IP configuration. Overall it was a very intuitive web interface and we barely needed any assistance from the manual.
Where this camera really shined in a USB Webcam environment was when we used it in conjunction with the Panasonic Virtual USB driver. We ditched the USB cable, ran purely Ethernet and power and changed our ‘Priority Mode’ to NDI|HX. From there we installed the virtual driver and ran the utility – see below. Something to also consider is this camera is POE compatible, we could even lose the power cable.
What we really liked about this was we weren’t limited by USB cable length and we could access the camera from anywhere on the network. The driver did most (if not all) the work and we pulled the feed into OBS. This feature could allow for additional applications such as small self-managed lecture theatres or places of worship, anything where an end user wants to push out content but needs to manage it by themselves (larger than single workstations). Couple this with multiple ‘Scenes’ in OBS – switching from a camera feed to a PDF, PowerPoint presentation or web browser- and an individual user can create high quality presentations (or web streams) that establish a connection with audiences though the use of the camera.
The next thing we did was add the HN38 into our existing Kramer Control system. The overall control experience was positive and was made easy by an existing driver in the database that worked as intended and took full advantage of the API. We found best practice was to make use of the camera position pre-set’s for streamlined movement. This reduced having to fire of multiple movement commands that resulted in moving too far or not far enough.
Overall the AW-HN38 was a great little camera. It is suitable for multiple applications, fits really well with existing control infrastructure and has great features and functionality. We can definitely see ourselves quoting this in for a lecture hall install with some Yamaha MA/PA amps and line array speakers.
For more information on the solutions AVAD create or you may have a solution you need assistance devising.. please visit www.avad.com.au or subscribe to the #avadblog .
Your Value-Add Distributor for AV & UC Solutions 