Review: NewTek TriCaster 410

Streaming Media by Tim Siglin

When Dan Parker, an events technical specialist with NewTek, pulled the TriCaster 410 out of its shipping box to set up for our demo session, I was sort of underwhelmed. The backplane on this one-rack-unit (1RU) device was rather spartan. With only four 3G SDI inputs, capable of offering either quad SDI or HD-SDI inputs, by all appearance it seemed a bit limited for the $9,995 price.

An hour later, though, after Dan and I had put the unit through its paces, my sense of the TriCaster 410’s power and abilities had completely reversed itself. This TriCaster represents the next generation of affordable--if not fully portable--TriCaster units, with a number of features and capabilities that had only been part of the much more expensive TriCaster units. In retrospect I shouldn’t have been surprised, having covered the news of the TriCaster 410’s launch around the time of the 2013 IBC show.

"We're bringing many functionalities from our $39,995 unit down to our $9,995 unit," said Carter Holland, NewTek's chief marketing officer, in an interview at the time, "so that someone just getting started has the same level of capability on a limited number of inputs and within a more limited budget."

Seeing is believing, and in this case, what I saw was impressive.

Inputs

To best understand the power of the TriCaster 410, one needs to think beyond physical inputs. While it is true that there are only four 3G-SDI input connectors on the backplane there are a number of virtual inputs that more than double the input possibilities. read more...

NewTek TriCaster 410
New! $9,995.00

Great for delivering medium-sized webcasts and events with SDI cameras and TV-style production visuals—streamed or aired live, or saved to drive.

• Broadcast, stream, publish, project and record—all at the same time
• 4 M/E compact, live event streaming production system tuned for digital
• Turnkey webcasting solution to replace a table full of gear
• Lightning-speed setup and teardown from event to event
• Simple SDI connectivity
• Extensive automation, control, social media, and professional visual capabilities
• Streamlined to produce a professional live show and move on to the next project
• Compatible with both the TriCaster 40 Control Surface and TriCaster 460 Control Surface

NewTek TriCaster 410 with
TriCaster 460 Control Surface

Great for delivering medium-sized webcasts and events with SDI cameras and TV-style production visuals—streamed or aired live, or saved to drive.

• Broadcast, stream, publish, project and record—all at the same time
• 4 M/E compact, live event streaming production system tuned for digital
• Turnkey webcasting solution to replace a table full of gear
• Lightning-speed setup and teardown from event to event
• Simple SDI connectivity
• Extensive automation, control, social media, and professional visual capabilities
• Streamlined to produce a professional live show and move on to the next project
• Compatible with both the TriCaster 40 Control Surface and TriCaster 460 Control Surface